Thursday, 9 December
The island’s slogan is most appropriate. From the time we disembarked Grand Princess this morning to when we returned to the ship, the
bon bini (welcome in Papiamentu) greetings and cheerful smiles were freely dispensed.
Google Maps Image of Aruba
(the inset shows where we docked in oranjestad, and where we played
on boca catalina and eagle beaches.)
We had a great day on Aruba, though it’s ending on a bit of a sour note for me … I got a bit too much sun. No one to blame but myself, of course. I don’t know why I neglected to put sun block on when we left the ship. Maybe it was the clouds and the gentle, cooling breezes that lulled me into a false sense of security. Duh … what about the reflective power of all that sand and sea!!! In any event, it’s nothing serious, and I’ll be fine by tomorrow morning.
Welcome to Aruba!
As the lights of Aruba recede into the distance, I’m once again on the veranda. The ship seems to be barely moving. No surprise I guess; our next port of call is a mere 110 nautical miles (127 miles/202 km) away. At this southerly latitude, the humidity is more noticeable, but the gentle breeze wafting across the aft of the ship is keeping me comfortable as I write today’s blog post.
We were up at 6:00a this morning. After getting ready for the day ahead, we went off to the Horizon Court for breakfast. The aft deck was deserted and we enjoyed our light meal in solitude. By the time we made our way to the bow, Grand Princess was already docking smack-dab in the middle of downtown Oranjestad.
The familiar wedding-cake building of the Royal Plaza Mall greets us.
Today’s visit to Aruba is our third time on the island. On our first visit in 2002, we rented a car and explored the island, making a point of seeing Natural Bridge, a 100-foot (30 m) long coral formation. It’s a good thing we saw the bridge then as it collapsed in 2005 and we would have been unable to see it when we returned to Aruba in 2007. Our second visit took us to the white sands of Palm Beach … a good choice as it was an incredibly hot and humid day.
Scenes from 2002 and 2007
We were off the ship by 8:00a this morning and on the #10 Arubus by 8:10a. (The public bus terminal is across the street from the port; $2.35/person R/T). Our destination: Boca Catalina, the first of two beaches we had on our agenda for today.
Inexpensive and convenient, Arubus is the way to go.
Boca Catalina Beach
There was just one other couple on the beach when we arrived, with a few more people arriving on our heels. The small stretch of beach is said to offer good snorkeling. Unfortunately, Mui didn’t find that to be the case. The visibility was impaired by the chop and he saw only a couple of colorful fish. By the time a Princess shore excursion group arrived at 10:00a, we were ready to move on.
Mui dons his snorkel gear in hopes of seeing tropical fish and coral.
Scenes from Boca Catalina
Gathering our belongings, we hopped on the next bus heading towards town. Getting off near Amsterdam Manor, a low-rise hotel across the street from the beach, we rented two lounge chairs and a palapa ($20 for the set), and settled down to spend the next several hours on Eagle Beach. With its white, powder-sand beach and calm waters, this was my kind of beach. The water was just a tad bit too cool for my taste, however, so I was happy to just roam the shore and dip my toes in while Mui went for a swim about every 20 minutes or so. The rest of the time, we sat in the shade of the palapa and watched the other beachgoers enjoy their beach activities.
Even on a cloudy day, Eagle Beach is inviting.
Divi Trees, a common sight in Aruba, grow at a 45-degree angle
because of the constant winds.
Our front-row palapa is at times used to sell parasailing adventures,
but not today. A shame; I was ready to give it a try.
The colors change when the sun comes out.
Around noon, we ordered a grilled chicken wrap and a beer to share, and remained on the beach until 2:30p, enjoying the quieter experience in comparison to Palm Beach not far down the road. We were glad for the partially cloudy skies and the cool breezes as they made it possible to stay on the beach longer than we might have otherwise.
Plenty to share and quite tasty.
Having used our return bus ticket to get to Eagle Beach, we bought one-way tickets from the driver for $1.30/person to get back into town. A quick shower and change of clothes, and we were back in town for a meandering walk that took us to the grounds of the Renaissance Resort where we were entertained by crabs scurrying about and iguanas warming themselves in the sun. A brief rain shower was a welcome respite from the late afternoon temperature that had risen to 81F (27C).
A closer look at the Royal Plaza Mall.
On a back street, we find more colorful buildings with
Dutch-influenced architecture.
Iguanas galore.
The brighter green the color, the younger the iguana.
There were hundreds of these crabs hiding amongst the boulders.
(If anyone knows what kind of crab this is, let me know.)
Grand Princess docked in Oranjestad.
Returning to the ship around 5:30p, we picked up a few goodies from the buffet and settled down on the veranda to enjoy a glass of wine as we watched passengers returning in droves to the Grand Princess and Carnival Miracle, the only other ship docked in Aruba today.
carnival miracle — Up close and personal from our veranda.
With an 8:00p sailaway scheduled, we were already at dinner when the ship silently pulled out of Oranjestad and headed on a southeasterly course towards our next port of call.
A late sailaway means we get to enjoy the sunset from our veranda.
And for dinner:
Mui: sea scallop and shrimp cocktail; field greens salad; roasted cod spiked with chorizo.
Me: chicken and eggplant empanadas (yummm); frosty mango and pear soup; roasted cod spiked with chorizo.
Dessert: skipped since we enjoyed a couple of sorbets while ashore. (Aren’t we being good?)
Neither one of us had an interest in seeing tonight’s featured headliner, a vocal impressionist, so we returned to the cabin for an early night. In fact, Mui’s already fast asleep, and I’ll be joining him in slumberland as soon as I put a period at the end of this sentence.
Next Up … Video: Aruba
