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It was the second day of our stopover: Aruba! The Happy Island.
Aruba has a fascinating history: it was discovered by the Spanish in 1499, who believed It was a virgin island, so they never colonized it. In 1634, after many wars, the Dutch occupied the island. Gold was discovered in 1824, and 1,368 tons were mined until 1913. When production was lower, aloe vera became the main agricultural production on the island, making it the largest aloe producer in the world. In 1929 a large refinery was built on the southeast end, which is still in operation today. But it was especially in the 1950s that tourists discovered Aruba’s superb white sand beaches and turquoise waters, ensuring the island’s prosperity for many years to come!
By typing Aruba into Google Maps you can find your location on the island:
The cruise ship docked in the capital, Oranjestad.
This is the Royal Square:
In the distance, we can see the hotel building located on the seaside:
It’s a very nice bus! It’s not ours, what a shame I love it!!!!
What awaits us is very ordinary. It is much more fun to take a funny photo indoors!
Here we go!!! Well, the roads are the same on all the islands! Broken and with no sidewalks!!! This must be a speciality of the Netherlands Antilles!
The driver stopped in front of this tree: It grows in the direction of the wind!!!
We then stopped to climb these interesting rocks: Casibari Rock Formations.
We need to go in, are you sure??? Plus it’s the same road both up and down, so I won’t tell you about the traffic jam!!!
We are at the top! As you can see, it is very windy!!!!
On the other hand, our views were amazing!
It felt like we were in the South American Pampas! We were not far from it, must say.
Considering the size of the cactus, I let you imagine the climate!
We hit the road again, where we encountered the still colorful houses
Definitely a patchwork block!!!! And each colour has a meaning but I don’t know which one anymore!!!!!! Must say, English is a short trip and after a while you let it go!
The house is beautifully decorated
And this one doesn’t even have windows! Just close the blinds at night!
Even the cemeteries are of various colors, just like the houses:
Then our guide took us to the north of the island
This is a pilgrimage route. The road is going up, the sun is shining, you must be brave!
But hey, the turquoise sea in the background must be inspiring!
We arrived at a small church: the Alto Vista Church.
amazing!
But there is really nothing around!!
Then the driver took us to a chic neighborhood:
There is a big villa!
Not bad right?
He then offered to either take us back to the boat or drop us off at the beach. Of course we decided on the beach!
So he stopped us at Palm Beach, which, as you can see, is one of the most beautiful beaches on the island!
This is the view from the left:
To the right:
in front!
This blue is one we’ll never get tired of!
Loïc is making the most of his time off!
Lena ran into the water…
…Today is Zoe!!
Some pictures of our girls playing at the beach:
Oh! A little crab came out of the water! ! !
Now let’s get down to business: sand pies! Otherwise it wouldn’t be a real beach for Zoe!
Léna made the most of the water, as usual!
But hey, the boat won’t wait for us! Let’s enjoy those colors a little more!
We’ll tour the streets of Oranjestad before returning to the ship
We saw colonial style houses there.
Modern Church:
Renaissance Market:
This is Barbie’s store!!!!
market:
Considering the road, the New Beetle is for decoration only!
Opposite a large jewelry store.
And luxury stores!
Just like that, our day was over and the boat was leaving! We really enjoyed Aruba and we had a great day!
As I was leaving, I discovered a hotel with a natural swimming pool:
They also have a beach at the end of the slope, you just have to swim there!
Oh la la!!! That has to be their pinel! There is so much more to see and we will definitely be back!
Goodbye Aruba! See you soon!
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