Oranjestad – We were to meet through the gate at 8:45 for our 9am Aruba Fantasy Tour. Michael Angelo (I swear that was his name – at least that’s what he said) corralled us to wait for our ride. Blessed is what we were to have Ato as our driver today. I’m not sure I have the words to describe this man (but ya know I’ll try LOL). Let me just start with he is a happy guy on the happy island. Everyone is happy happy happy. Yup, that’s what he said. He was full of information about the island, its history, culture and anything else anyone needed to know. And he talks incredibly fast. I guess he has to in order to get everything in. More about him later, for now I’ll stick to our stops today.

Our first stop on the Full Island Tour was the Aruba Aloe Plantation. Who knew there is actually an aloe plantation? They farm aloe here. What we saw was just a small part of it. But the factory was very interesting. Much of the cultivating and preparation of the aloe leaves are done by hand but the rest of the process is very technical and scientific. They have a ton of different products and the ones we tried felt very nice. We came back with some hand lotion, face lotion and face sunscreen along with a couple of sunscreen lip balms. Can’t wait to try them all!

On the way to the California Lighthouse we went by Eagle Beach and Arashi Beach, both of which we have been to. We also went through the area with all the high rise hotels and to be honest, we liked what we saw – and that’s usually not our thing. But the way they have it laid out is very interesting. It just seems more laid back and islandy (I know that isn’t a word) than most places we’ve seen. It wasn’t what we were expecting. We liked what we saw enough that we’re considering researching staying on the island as a destination instead of a stop on a cruise. Anyway …

The California Lighthouse. I always wondered why they named a Lighthouse in Aruba the California Lighthouse. Well, Ato explained all that (and so much more LOL). There was a ship that sunk off the coast before there was a lighthouse. It was the California. So when they built a lighthouse they named it in honor of that sunken ship. Cool, eh?

On the way to the Chapel of Our Lady of Alto Vista we went by a house with a cactus fence. Apparently that’s pretty common on the island. People just plant cacti close together and that’s all they need for a fence. Ato said it’s better than barbed wire in keeping anything unwanted out.

De Palm Tours is the largest tour company on the island and they monopolize all the hotels, so it makes it challenging for the little mom and pop companies to advertise and get new business. The smart ones make sure they have facebook pages (Aruba Fantasy Tours on Facebook), are on tripadvisor.com and cruisecritic.com. There were three ships in port today and after we docked this morning we watched bus after bus after bus roll into the pier for excursions. It was insane. There were about 20 buses for the MSC ship docked next to us. Those blasted buses followed us everywhere throughout the island. They hold over 50 people. We had 10 on our tour. The service and intimacy on those smaller tours can’t begin to compare to those major companies you book through the ship. We have rarely been happy with those on the few occasions we’ve booked them.

I thought Arizona had a lot of cacti. I think Aruba has them beat. Honestly they’re like trees at home. They are everywhere! And huge! It was fascinating seeing the acres and acres on our drive throughout the island today. We learned there are seven districts on the island and there is a Catholic Church, graveyard and school in each one. Eighty percent of residents are Catholic so it’s the main religion on the island.

Our next stop was a rock formation park. This part of the island kind of reminded me of Joshua Tree in California. It was just a small area with gardens and some food and shopping. Just another tourist trap. We decided not to climb to the top of the rock since we were in flip flops – too many people and unsure footing are not a good mix.

On the way to the Natural Bridge (which has fallen and so is no longer a bridge) and Baby Bridge we made a quick pit stop at the Bushiribana Gold Mill Ruins. The diversity of the landscape was fascinating. The island is only 20 miles long by 6 miles wide yet there is sandy beaches, rocky beaches, cliffs and rocks where the waves pound and lagoons and coves with water as smooth and clear as pools. There are areas that appear as desolate a desert, forests of cacti, low income homes and luxury homes. This was the first stop we noticed the stacked wishing rocks. People will stack the rocks and make wishes (we first saw this on Jackson Lake in Tetons National Park). I don’t know how effective it is but it sure makes for a cool picture. And yes, I even stacked my own to add to the landscape.

Before we left a tour of 4×4 jeeps came barreling through the area. That really looked like fun and something we will check out on future excursions.

Natural Bridge and Baby Bridge is yet another tourist trap but a beautiful area for pictures. The western side of the island is very rough with strong currents. Swimming is forbidden. We saw a couple of lizards and grabbed some kind of chicken pocket thing to munch on, took a few pictures and we were on our way again.

Our final stop was Baby Beach, which is supposed to be one of the most beautiful beaches on the island and reported to be good for snorkeling. It was a pretty beach and the water was beautiful but there was no snorkeling. Maybe on another day? In the lagoon the water is only 3′-6′ deep. We got about an hour to float and it was heaven.

Back on the van we enjoyed a Balashi Beer (local) for our ride back to the ship. Ato continued to entertain us with all kinds of trivia about the history of the island – everywhere we passed it seemed he had a story about. He talked about the politics of the island and current issues they were facing. Took us down Main Street and showed us which bars we could grab a beer in and which ones we could grab a hooker in. LOL We learned his mom is 89 and he has 14 siblings – he is the youngest. No wonder he talks so fast! He had to in that family to get a word in edgewise!

All the residents of the island grow up learning four languages – Papiamento, Dutch, English and Spanish. It’s required in school. Ato also speaks German so that puts him at five languages. I can’t even image. Hell I have a hard enough time trying to speak one language well.

Ato also informed us about the importance of the colors of their flag. They all mean something. The blue symbolizes the beautiful blue water surrounding the island; the yellow represents the sun; red is the blood shed from Indians who originally lived here; the star … (something about a compass) and the white around the star is for the white sandy beaches.

We initially had reservations for Barefoot Restaurant for the 21st because we were supposed to be in Aruba overnight but because of the mechanical glitch we lost that day. So even though we didn’t have reservations we decided to see if they could squeeze us in. They did, although all tables on the beach were booked so they seated us at one on the deck. The view was still beautiful and the food absolutely amazing. Bob got their grouper and Niki, our server, recommended the snapper so I went with that. Oh. My. Goodness. Mmmm, so good. There was also creme brûlée and key lime pie for dessert. We needed a crane to lift us out of there. We had been there before so knew what we were in for.

Back on the ship we made a bee line for Al Bacio to get a mint tea to help settle and digest our dinner. Sitting there still soaking up the evening who do we run into but Steve and Christina from the mangrove excursion on Bonaire. It was lovely to spend the evening visiting with them and swapping stories. I’m sure we’ll run into them again. They have a connection on St. Thomas and has offered to let us tag along with them that day so they can show us their favorite sites. We can’t wait!!

Tomorrow sea day! Thank goodness. We need some down time. Hahahaha.

Sea Day …