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I recently returned from Aruba, my first trip to the Dutch Caribbean island, during which I visited the resorts, too briskly toured the backcountry, and sampled a small fraction of the island's dining, entertainment and recreational offerings.
I admit, at first and at times Aruba can feel overdeveloped. Especially in the high-rise resort strip, visitors sometimes seem hip to hip on the beach and at the bar. But then I went out to De Palm, a sort of all-inclusive day-trip island, snorkeled with the blue parrotfish and rode the waterslides (the red one about five times). I took a windsurfing lesson — Aruba has world-class wind and windsurfers — my third time learning the difference between mast (the tall stick) and boom (the other stick). Also I got a steel-drum lesson from windsurfing prodigy Wesley Connor, brother of Quincy and son of Pan Man Lee Connor.
Perhaps best for me, I properly scuffed myself up trying to climb the wrong side of Hooiberg (Haystack Hill), and now I know what "poisonous plants" means in a Caribbean context. Good times. For those with a lick of sense, there's a stairway on the north side, and the panoramic island views are equally awesome however you ascend. Speaking for myself (still), the Caribbean looks best as panorama, but the view from knee deep is also pretty cool.
All that is to say that Aruba's sense of fun is infectious — inoculations of Balashi beer proving oddly ineffective against it — and other people having fun around you finally compounds it. I witnessed a few visitors refusing the perceived indignity of actually enjoying themselves. "Why do you hate fun?" I said. By the by, they smiled in spite of themselves.
My hotel, Renaissance Aruba (renaissancearuba.com) sits at the harbor edge of downtown Oranjestad, a 10-minute ride from the airport (five minutes if it's 2 a.m.). The Renaissance and the mall it sits atop feels like Aruba's commercial center of gravity. A new giant cruise ship appears at the adjacent port every morning and sets sail every evening. The hotel has a roundabout boat dock in its lobby where guests can board a runabout for the run out to the hotel's private island, which has Aruba's only private beaches and reportedly therefore topless sunbathing, so consider yourself warned and/or encouraged.
I enjoyed excellent meals, heavy on great seafood — at Divi Aruba's Windows on Aruba (windowsonaruba.com), at Moby Dick's in Paseo Herencia Mall, at Papiamento restaurant (papiamentorestaurant.com) and at Flying Fishbone in Savaneta (flyingfishbone.com). Bucuti Beach Resort (listed in ISLANDS 2007 Blue List) fed us Aruban delicacies like keshi yena (stuffed cheese) and pastechi (stuffed pastries). Aruba knows how to eat (stuffed guests). Riding from one meal to the next, I asked after the local specialty, "Where can I try iguana soup?" Does it taste like chicken, I wanted to know. "Oh no, you can't have that," our guide said. The iguanas are protected, I'd also heard, actually from the same person who recommended eating one. I didn't see any iguanas on this trip. In pictures they do not look delicious, but then neither do cows or lobsters. I asked our guide if she'd tried iguana soup. "Yes," she said and then right away, "but I don't like it." Notice the present tense. Not everyone likes the taste of chickens.
I enjoyed excellent treatment also at the Radisson's Larimar Spa and Okeanos Spa at the Renaissance. I say excellent treatment, but what does that mean? Honestly I don't think I noticed enough detail, didn't pay enough attention to amenities (ample), atmosphere (soothing), treatment options (countless) and salon products (beautifying and delightful). These are just words (inadequate). I need to go back and take better notes (please?).
We spent one interesting day driving northwest to California Lighthouse then southeast along the north coast. There's a lovely church out there, serving what must be commuter worshipers. Aruba's popular Natural Bridge collapsed in 2005, but "Natural Bridge Ruins" is still a pretty scene and the snack bar still sells snacks. So-called Baby Bridge remains and could survive another millennium.
Aruba sits south of the hurricane belt, which spares it the periodic destruction experienced by many Caribbean islands. The weather is consistently warm, breezy and comfortable, vacation-perfect especially if your vacation includes kites. The island gets little rain. Flora runs to cacti and signature divi divi trees growing bowed to the south with the prevailing breeze.
The nation desalinates all its drinking water. As a result, the tap water is phenomenal, better than a lot of bottled brands I've tasted. I gained five pounds on the trip, all water weight (OK plus another two pounds of butter weight). One local said Aruba desalinates more water than any country except Saudi Arabia and has water quality second only to Israel. I have not confirmed these fun facts. I was also told the desalination process also produces electricity, and for a second I got pretty excited imagining worldwide water and energy shortages could cancel each other out! But the electricity-generating desalination process burns a lot of oil. Even island travel includes occasional disappointments.
The desal plants and water-storage tanks are visible around the island, along with the one remaining oil refinery and other industrial hardware. Aruba makes little effort to disguise these necessities, and I prefer that approach to a false idyll. Aruba seems to suggest you just rotate your beach chair a few degrees and sip some more tap water. For one example, after lunch at charmingly cluttered Charlie's Bar in San Nicolas, we visited Baby Beach at the far southeast end of the island. It sits right next to the refinery, and it's one of the most pleasant spots I visited.
Aruba has a truly pleasant natural, climatic, cultural atmosphere. I felt safe everywhere I went even late at night. You can even avoid the thorns if you feel like it. It seems a sort of honest paradise, not flawless but not hiding its minor flaws. And the people seem genuinely friendly — as if by choice. Why hate easy living, sunshine, fun? Why not smile?
Click here to view a few more of my Aruba snapshots.
Matthew
ISLANDS
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