Our second stop was in Aruba. Aruba is one of the six island countries that are part of the Dutch Caribbean, and thus under Netherlands rule. I mean, that sounds slightly more stringent than I mean. They are part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, sort of like a territory or a commonwealth, with their own government, elections, and independence, but citizens still hold a Dutch passport. They call the islands the ABC islands and the SSS islands. A: Aruba, B: Bonaire, C: Curacao, S: Sint Maarten, S: Sint Eustatius, S: Saba. We had a VERY informative tour guide today, otherwise how would we come up with this stuff? ;)
We chose to go on a jeep off-road adventure! Yippee!!
One thing you might not think about the Caribbean is the word "desert".Yeah, I know - it's not a desert, it's an "arid climate". Whatever! You're not here! It's H-O-T, dry, and there are cactus everywhere! We piled into some "jeeps" and our guides told us we were going to the "dry side". All I was thinking was: Where are we now? Ha!
Thelma and Louise have driven some rough roads in our journeys. Lanai comes to mind. Or that road in Montana where we switched drivers because I was sure I'd high centered the car. Or the old railroad I had to back out of. The difference on this adventure was that we weren't the drivers! We lumbered through town in our rigs, and then set off on some back roads. We didn't get to sit together, so here is our selfie in two shots.
I'm not sure you can appreciate the quality of the road. The rocks were huge, and the dips were significant valleys of several feet in places. I tend to get a little car sick, and so I was so lucky to get a front seat next to the driver. I had the best view by far, but that meant that I also saw exactly what we were driving over. I shouted helpful comments that can be categorized as cheerful hysteria. Luckily, if you're laughing and smiling, sarcasm is interpreted positively. It was fun in that unhinged sort of way.
Our first stop was a natural bridge area in Arikok Natural Park. They lost a large natural bridge in 2005, but the small one we stopped at was nice too! It was a short walk downhill on gravel, so I skipped that part, but mom went on this short adventure!
That's Darvin, possibly one of the happiest people on Earth. He and his partner, Jason, were fabulous. Darvin drove our "jeep" and Jason did most of the talking. One of the things we learned that was fascinating was about the languages spoken in Aruba. The two official languages are Dutch and Papiamento, a local language with Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and Creole influences. They also all speak English, and most speak at least one other language. As language learning does not come easily for me, I am in awe of those that are multilingual.
On the way out of the park, still on some questionable roads, Darvin all of a sudden said, "SH_T". And in his hand came the gear shift. Like out of car. Loose. Free forming in the front seat with me. As we came to a stop next to the other car, he honked the horn and Jason got out of his car: "Damn!" I'm nothing if not helpful, so I added while pointing at Darvin, "He used a different word," which got me laugh. ;) They jammed that thing back in, muttered some encouragement to it, and we were on our way. A replacement "jeep" (they were not Jeeps!) met us at our next stop.
Our last stop was at an old gold mine. Honest to goodness, Jason told us a lot of good info, but I was hot, and keeping my eye on a lizard, so I lost the finer points. But took some good photos! I shoot in black and white when I'm hot....
I will leave you with this last picture. That's me on this chic Caribbean vacation with a giant smudge of dirt on my forehead. I found that HOURS later. Honestly Louise!
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