Cruising the Caribbean and the Panama Canal: It’s Aruba, my Darlings!

Boarding the Coral Princess

The boarding process in Fort Lauderdale was fast and easy, and we are now comfortably settled and loving life on the sea. We are quite impressed with the “Coral Princess:” nice cabins, pretty public spaces, good food, fun entertainment, friendly people, and excellent customer service.

Drinking champagne with Charlie and Mary

We are also enjoying sailing with our friends Charlie and Mary, taking in the best that the “Coral Princess” has to offer. As you can imagine, this ship has no shortage of food and drink. (Note to Anne’s Silver Sneakers friends: Anne has been doing laps around the Promenade Deck and hikes up and down the 14 decks of the ship to work off the extra calories!)

Beautiful Aruban beach

Our first port of the cruise was Aruba, a sun-drenched Dutch island known for its beautiful beaches. The small island (about 25 miles long, and 6 miles wide) is extraordinarily flat and arid (averaging only one inch of water per month), with cactus and stubby, twisted Kwii trees growing everywhere.

Frank and our taxi cab driver, Iris

We decided to hire a taxi and do our own tour of the island. Friendly cab driver Iris was more than happy to show us around. Iris was a lot of fun but quite strong-minded. She kept grabbing Frank’s camera to “make good pictures for you.” She meant well, but you can imagine that this started to work on “Frank the photographer’s” nerves after a while. Iris loved to call us “darling” and liked to preface her comments with, “Oh my darlings, let me tell you…”

Colorful houses on Aruba

Iris gave us an overview of the island including local neighborhoods with small colorful houses and wealthy enclaves with gated condo communities and large homes by the beach (often owned by the Dutch).

Climbing up Casibiri Rock

We climbed to the top of a giant boulder known as Casibiri Rock for great views all around the island.

Beach scene with one of the famous Divi Divi trees

Iris also drove us to the California Lighthouse and past beautiful beaches with the famous Divi Divi trees that only grow in one direction because of the strong winds, as well as the ever ubiquitous Kwii trees.

Gorgeous butterfly at The Butterfly Farm

The highlight of our day was a stop at The Butterfly Farm (recommended by our friend Mary) to see the 34 varieties of butterflies that are carefully grown and protected here. Joan, this one’s for you! (Our neighbor Joan back in Pennsylvania grows Monarch butterflies). We entered a special net-covered enclosure where gorgeous butterflies were constantly fluttering past us, free to land anywhere, including on the people who passed by. We also received a tour explaining the growth of a butterfly from tiny egg to caterpillar and from chrysalis to actual butterfly. Fascinating!

Another stunning butterfly

For one thing, before butterflies mate, they fly around, checking each other out to making sure they are the same species. Then, the male releases his scent which, if they are compatible, is very alluring to the female. However if he is a different type of butterfly, his scent is the equivalent of (in our guide’s exact words) “a fart in her face!” After chasing the female around, the male gets ready for a good time; however, the female only allows the heartiest and prettiest male to “have” her. She only mates once in her life, so she needs to get it right the 1^st time! If the male gets the job, he completes it and is off to the next worthy female; and so on, and so on. Yes, the male gets about 10 or so matings before exhaustion sets in, but the female only gets one. Such is life.

Downtown Oranjestad, Aruba

Around noon, Iris dropped us off near the docks in downtown Oranjestad, a boom town of modern buildings in the Dutch style, housing row after row of vendors selling Chinese junk and local handicrafts plus some upscale shops like Louis Vuitton. The result is something that feels a bit like Disneyland for shoppers! We strolled among the shops and then made our way back to the ship, taking advantage of the cheap internet available in the terminal.

Here are some more pics of Aruba: