Blogs from Aruba, Central America Caribbean - page 12

Aruba Today’s plans were all about party and fish. Bill, Diana and I took the local bus out to the hotel strip and boarded the Jolly Pirate Ship. The bar opened as soon as we sailed. The passengers were mostly younger and from the hotels. We were the only group from the Noordam and there were a few Princess folks with us. Our first snorkel spot was over the wreck of a German freighter from WWII. We arrived at the site along with a large catamaran and I watched as dozens of folks drifted into each other. Definitely not my idea of fun so I enjoyed the show the birds put on. Someone was dropping food in the water and the birds dove down to get a bite. I felt a bit sorry for the snorkelers ... read more

6AM Wake up call. A quick breakfast in our room with a view of one small island and a tree. We were docked with our side out to the ocean so there was no hint of what our first Aruba looks like. We only had until noon in this port so we had to leave by 7, one of the huge disappointments of these port stops is nothing opens until 9. It was a beautiful day at 28C. Aruba was discovered by the Spanish in the early 1600’s and acquired by the Dutch in 1634. It was the A in the ABC Islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao) once a member of the Netherlands Antilles it now stands independently since 1986. The Arubans speak their own language Papiamento it is a combination of Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, English, African ... read more

We learned our lesson the day before, and decided we'd book an excursion for Aruba to help fill the day and learn more about the area than just what a map would point out. We found a catamaran snorkeling tour that took us to the sunken Antilla ship, not far off the coast near the California lighthouse. We learned this ship was intentionally sunk by its own captain to prevent it's capture. We also snorkeled in the same area in shallower waters. I pointed out to Jason a light colored striped eel I found moving along the bottom. I followed it around wishing I had my camera on me. After we surfaced, Jason told me it was really a sea snake. Sure enough, they are very poisonous!! Luckily they aren't aggressive and I was never very ... read more

Aruba is a sandy dessert island where you can rent a quadramoto and see the highlights in a day. The language spoken by locals is very, very cool--Papamiento--a hybrid of many languages, which can be easily understood by any novice. Below sample basic survival words and phrases. Welcome: Bon Bini Good Morning: Bon dia Thank you: Danki How are you?: Con ta bai Very Good!: Hopi bon I am fine: Mi ta bon I or I am: mi Have a good day: Pasa un bon dia See you later: Te aworo Food: cuminda: Bread: Pan Soda: Refresco I love Aruba: Mi stima Aruba ****************************************************** On to Cartagena, the walled fortress city where one can find anything one wants, provided, of course, that one can understand the Colombians when they speak. My little Mexican Spanish didn't cut ... read more

EASTERN CARIBBEAN CRUISE January 10 - 17, 2009 Our first foray of 2009 was a delightful cruise on the Celebrity Summit to five islands in the eastern Caribbean: St. Martin/St. Maarten, Dominica, Grenada, Bonaire, and Aruba. A four-hour, first-class Continental flight took us to San Juan, Puerto Rico, the departure port for the cruise. Early the next morning, we arrived in St. Martin/St. Maarten, nicknamed “The Friendly Isle.” This dual-nation island is part of the Lesser Antilles islands and is only 37 square miles in size (roughly the size of Washington, DC). The divided island is the world’s smallest territory shared by two sovereign states. In the early 1600’s both the Dutch and the French established small settlements on the island and decided to share the island and fight together to prevent a Spanish invasion. According ... read more