Aruba - March 19 (Part 1)

 I was awake by 5:30, discovering we were about to dock in Oranjestad. Off to deck 16 for a few photos.

It was overcast and gloomy but the streams of sunlight assured me that it would be another pleasant day.

I always find the architecture of the ABC islands; Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao so interesting. It's clear that the Dutch influence is strong here.

After breakfast on Deck 15, I had a bit of time before my excursion so relaxed and read by the pool until it got too hot for me. Down to deck 7 for more reading before I had a quick bite to eat at the International cafe. I was even able to catch a quick 30 minute nap in my stateroom before I packed up and went to meet my tour group at the terminal.

Today's tour was the sights, sounds, and scenes of Aruba. There were so many guests in attendance we needed to fill two buses. Our bus driver, Marvin, was also our guide and he did a wonderful job of telling us what we were seeing while on the bus , all while navigating the large bus. 

From this point, I'll let the photos tell much of the story.

This was one of the many beach scenes from the bus window. If memory serves, this is Eagle beach home to many resorts as well as a public beach. 

At a round-about on Eagle beach is this two-ton Leatherback sea turtle. The beach is a nesting ground for the turtle.

This was the largest resort we saw - a Palace by Riu. I'm not a fan of resorts at all and this one, frankly looked out of place among the others. In the islands there is often a height restriction and this definitely surpasses what I would expect to see.

Aruba is a dry, desert island with a number of varieties of cactus. I'm sure my readers who spend time in Arizona in the winter will recognize the type, far better than I.

Our first stop was the California lighthouse. The structure is the tallest, at 90 feet tall, on the island.

Built between 1914 and 1916 of stone, lime, and cement. The tower was built after the S.S. California crashed on the north-west shore of Aruba, hence the name. It took until 1919 for the light to be installed because of WWI.

The lighthouse was automated in 2007, and taken out of operation in 2015. Today it is open to public tours, and there is a restaurant across the parking lot. The day we were there, a food truck set up offering cold drinks and snacks. 

While my fellow passengers and other tourists were climbing the tower, or partaking in the beverages, I went for a bit of a wander.

Beyond the restaurant looking out to sea.

I believe we were given about 20 minutes at this stop before we headed off to our next stop, Chapel of Our Lady Alto Vista.

I could not get a decent photo of the chapel while everyone was wandering about, so this was taken from my bus window. The original chapel was built in 1750. This building was built in 1952, but not made any larger than the orginal. Those cement pews you see outside the church as used for the overflow. 

There was some vegetation outside of the chapel inlcuding these cactus. The other plants did not seem to be flourishing in the dry heat.

Our next stop on the tour was the Natural Bridge (baby bridge) in Arikok National Park. As this post is quite lengthy already, I'll do another post in the next few days. But, here's a hint of what is to come.