Shaped like a banana at nineteen miles long and six miles wide, Aruba is "One Happy Island". It is difficult to be unhappy in Aruba, this island has recently emerged as a major tourist destination while preserving a rich and colourful history. To understand the complexity of this island just have a look at its flag. The red star represents the ancient industry of Brazilwood which was brought back to Europe by the first explorers, the yellow strips represents the island's economic history in gold mining, and the white outlining the star symbolizes both the white sand beaches and the purity to the Aruban people. The overall blue background of the flag represents the ocean and the sky surrounding the island. The star itself has four points, said to invite visitors from all corners of the world. Tourism is very important to Aruba as it is the number one industry, check that really the only industry - everything done here is for tourism
Our stay here was short but just wonderful as we jumped on the HAL shore excursion, Kukoo Island Tour and Beach Getaway. With a small fleet of hand painted buses Carlos our guide and driver took us on half island tour, including the first Catholic church on the island built in 1750, the California Lighthouse and then a very nice two hour stay on Palm Beach. This was no ordinary bus as it was open windowed and played Caribbean style music as we smiled and waved at the passerby's all while shacking our maracas - yes a crazy good time. Richard the owner of the company was one strange dude that if you saw him on the street you would think he would have his hand out looking for some spare change. Great Half day….
Today we had the Mariners presentations and lunch so we were able to catch a picture with Hotel Director, Craig Oakes and the Master of the vessel, Captain Colm Ryan. Finally one great picture of our assistant dining room steward from a previous cruise, Willy. Another wonderful day, looking forward to Georgetown, Grand Cayman tomorrow…
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