Background: Discovered and claimed for Spain in 1499, Aruba was acquired by the Dutch in 1636. The island's economy has been dominated by three main industries. A 19th century gold rush was followed by prosperity brought on by the opening in 1924 of an oil refinery. The last decades of the 20th century saw a boom in the tourism industry. Aruba seceded from the Netherlands Antilles in 1986 and became a separate, autonomous member of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Movement toward full independence was halted at Aruba's request in 1990.
March 7th 2008Central America Caribbean » Aruba » Oranjestad Yesterday was another day of sun and beach. And an hour walk to the beach, in that same unrelenting sun. Everything would have been great, if my sunscreen would have been strong enough (or maybe I sho ... [full story]
March 5th 2008Central America Caribbean » Aruba » Oranjestad Ookal gaat deze weblog in principe over mijn tijd in New York, ik voeg mijn weekje Aruba ook maar toe. En vanaf hier ga ik het in het Engels typen, dat stellen mijn Amerikaanse vrienden (ja, die heb i ... [full story]
December 15th 2006Central America Caribbean » Aruba After spending 3 days in intense conference activities (and one fun night at the conference dinner where 50 year old academics started doing playing limbo), it was time to hit the tourist trail again. ... 14 photos[full story]
December 11th 2007Central America Caribbean » Aruba Aruba - been here one day already and all I've seen is flab, flubber and overhang. Goodness, these American tourists need to diet. Today, a friend and I decided to venture out of the comfort of the ... 8 photos[full story]
February 10th 2008Central America Caribbean » Aruba Aruba - known to me solely from its brief mention in the Beach Boys song, Kokomo. Its one of the many gorgeous islands in the carribean thats been converted into a tourist haven, and thus is the cons ... 3 photos[full story]
January 27th 2008Central America Caribbean » Aruba » Oranjestad Por Favor...
Realize that I write these things in the early morning without any sort of proof-reading or spiellchaker....and to make matters worse I cannot delete entries eaning my errors will ta ... [full story]
Map of Aruba
Aruba's Flag
