Part of the Netherlands Antilles and one of the ABC Islands (Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao), Aruba is located roughly fifteen miles off the coast of Venezuela in the southern Caribbean Sea, making daytrips to Curacao and Caracas (both of which I took) easy to do from there. Aruba is an independent partner within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and its political status within the Netherlands is that of a commonwealth. Until 1986, Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao, together with St. Maarten, St. Eustatius and Saba, made up the Netherlands Antilles, which is part of the Dutch Kingdom. In 1986, Aruba became independent from the Netherlands Antilles, but is still a part of the Dutch Kingdom. Today, the Netherlands Antilles consists of the remaining five islands. The government seat of the Netherlands Antilles is in Willemstad, Curaçao and controls Bonaire and the other three islands. With just over 20 inches of rainfall annually, Aruba is a very dry island and its climate has more in common with the arid American Southwest than with other islands of the Caribbean. The hottest months are August and September, the coolest January and February. Also, Aruba is outside the hurricane belt, so there's no need to worry about a big blow during the June-to-November Caribbean hurricane season. Over a dozen different types of cactus thrive on the island. After the bottom fell out of Aruba's economy on March 31, 1985, when the oil refinery closed, islanders turned to tourism and made it Aruba's main industry.
Aruba's 74 square miles, slightly larger than Washington, D.C., have the best beaches in the Dutch Caribbean and arguably some of the finest in the region, especially if you don't mind lounging in the shadow of large hotels. The island's most popular beaches are along the developed stretch of the reef-protected leeward coast, northeast of Oranjestad. They include the resort areas of Druif Beach, Palm Beach and Eagle Beach. Less crowded beaches include Arasji Beach, on the island's northwestern tip; the cove at Baby Beach, at the island's southeastern extremity; and undeveloped Boca Grandi, one of the few places to swim on the exposed northern coast.
The population of Aruba is of mixed descent and can trace its ancestry back to 40 different ethnic backgrounds from around the world. The native language of Aruba is a Creole dialect called Papiamentu, yet nearly everyone on the island is able to speak English and Spanish, in addition to Dutch, which is the official language of Aruba. 'Papia' is the Papiamentu verb for 'to speak' and "-mentu" is the suffix that forms a noun, meaning approximately 'the way of doing something'. Papiamentu translated would then be something like 'the way of speaking'. Papiamentu is a mixture of Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, English, French, and it also has some Arawak Indian and African influences. It is one of the few Creole Languages of the Caribbean that has survived to the present day. Papiamentu is predominately a spoken language among the local people of Curaçao, Bonaire, and Aruba. Compared to other languages, it is spoken by very few people, less than one third of a million in total. It was considered a local dialect and of no significant interest until the year 1995. Three years later, the Government decided to teach Papiamentu officially in the schools as a new language subject. Papiamentu books can be found in local bookstores and the language is rather easy to learn. Papiamentu is a fairly simple language, and it is quite common that certain expressions or more complicated grammatical constructs have to be simplified in order to be translated into Papiamentu. From island to island, small variations in Papiamentu, mainly in spelling and vocabulary, can be observed. Some efforts have been made to standardize Papiamentu and its orthography, however, Aruba decided for a spelling that is closer to Spanish, whereas the other islands tried to stay closer to the roots in that respect. As a result, some words may still have more than one way of being spelled, e.g. Papiamentu - Papiamento, Korsou - Korsow, kwater - cuater, sinku - cincu, etc. In general, words are spelled exactly as they are pronounced, e.g. "flet tair" for flat tire. Making an effort to use a few Papiamento words will delight your Aruban hosts. "Bon bini" (welcome) is the first Papiamentu you'll come across. Another word you'll hear is "dushi", which means sweet or lovely; obviously, women will hear it more than men.
The capital city of Aruba, Oranjestad, offers excellent duty-free shopping for visitors to the island. The cuisine of Aruba is wonderful, though somewhat expensive. I can honestly say that I never had a bad meal on the island, and I highly recommend restaurants such as the Old Mill, the Old Cunucu House, Pavarotti, Tango, and Paparazzi. Cafe The Paddock offers a great lunch to break up your day of shopping in Oranjestad, and I loved the pumpkin soup at Boonoonoonoos. When you're all shopped out, stop at Iguana Joe's Bar at the Royal Plaza Mall for a drink. It's a great place to relax, chill out and just watch the people.
When visiting Aruba, a tour of the island is a must. DePalm Tours is the main tour company on the island, and the Aruba Safari offers a wonderful overview of the major sights to be seen. Starting at the hotel zone and heading toward Malmok and the California Lighthouse, the tour then continues on to the Alto Vista Chapel. The next stop is the Natural Bridge, then on past the Ayo Rock Formations through Arikok National Park, which offers some of Aruba's most beautiful scenery. A stop at the Fontein Caves was next on the list, followed by a drive to San Nicolas and a short stop at Baby Beach. From there, we continued on through Savaneta to spend the rest of the afternoon lounging on DePalm Island. At the end of the tour, you can either return to your hotel or be dropped off in downtown Oranjestad to shop and enjoy dinner. I highly recommend DePalm Tours as they offer many things to do on the island, as well as trips to nearby Curaçao and Venezuela. I took three tours and all were well organized and informative. The guides were always friendly and offered many insights into the places we visited. Have a look at their website at http://www.depalm.com/.
Though it's not as cheap as Jamaica or the Dominican Republic, Aruba is an excellent vacation destination. It's a very clean island, and you don't have the poverty and the beggars that you see in other parts of the Caribbean. The people are very friendly and welcoming, the temperature is constantly in the '80's, and the white sand beaches are spotless. Diving, snorkeling, four-wheeling and other activities are available for those who enjoy an active vacation, and Vegas-style casinos and nightlife are there for those who prefer to be active after the sun goes down. I thoroughly enjoyed my week on Aruba and look forward to returning at some point in the future.
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