Last week we explored Curacao. Today we’re arriving at Aruba and will dive into some of the highlights of our shore excursion across this desert island. As I said last week, the ABC islands are much more arid and deserty than I believed them to be. Aruba is quite flat and there are only a few places with sandy beaches for spring break enthusiasts. Most of the island is pretty desolate. Not tropical. At all.
After a fairly long bus ride to the rugged north shore or the “windy” side of the island, we reached our first stop: the Natural Bridges. Before collapsing in 2005, the largest and most photographed of these bridges was the famous Natural Bridge between the Bushiribana gold mine ruins and Andicuri Beach. It was recommended that we not walk near the collapsed bridge as it was deemed “unsafe,” but we were allowed to cross the “baby bridge,” close by.
This area was very rocky with lots of coral limestone and volcanic rocks piled up everywhere. It was a little difficult to walk around but we explored a little. And, of course, we had to build our “rock altars.” This area is full of wishing stones. The idea is to gather seven stones and make a wish like the many tourists before you. This ritual was started by tourists and has no meaning or significance to the locals. Because we were tourists, we gathered our wishing stones and built our masterpieces.
After a VERY quick stop at what remains of the Busiribana gold mine operation, we boarded our coach and scurried off to our next stop. In 1824, gold was discovered in Aruba, and eventually, the industry produced more than 3 million pounds of gold. These remnants are one of the processing mills where the ore was hauled from the nearby mines.
Studio Murano Art’s artist and cofounder, Giuliano Pinzan, comes from an Italian family with deep roots in the glass craftsmanship. His grandfather, a post-war immigrant, taught his children, whom in turn taught Giuliano this unique trade.
After years of hard work, he got the opportunity to open his own workshop on the island of Aruba, where he hoped to show, residents and tourists alike, his art. Opened for business since 2019, in the area known as Ayo, the workshop is located in an ancient Cunucu house, traditionally from Aruba, adapted in a way that guests can enjoy their visit to the workshop and showroom.
Next we headed toward the center of the island, north of Hooiberg, to the Casibari Rock Formation or boulders composed of quartz diorite. There was nothing special about this stop, just an opportunity to stretch our legs and do a bit of rock climbing, albeit with steps and handrails. Even the view from atop the largest boulder was just bleh. Some of the rocks were cool though. And, for such a relatively flat island, the presence of the unusual huge boulders was somewhat of an enigma.
Our final stop, after cruising past some swanky part of the island with walled off private beaches and posh hotels, was the California Lighthouse. The California Lighthouse is located at Hudishibana near Arashi Beach and the Sasariwichi dunes on the northwest tip of Aruba. The lighthouse was named for the steamship California, which wrecked nearby on September 23, 1891. We didn’t have a bunch of time to spend here so we just walked around a little and took some pictures. In order to go up to the top of the lighthouse you had to pay an extra fee and climb at least 120 steps (that wasn’t to the very top). Because we were short on time, we opted not to go up.
At the base of the lighthouse, a short walk from the actual lighthouse, is a restaurant that’s quite popular with the locals. I understand you can book a very private 3-course meal for 2 at the very top of the lighthouse itself. Here’s a link if you’re interested.
Anyway, after a few minutes to “enjoy” the lighthouse grounds, we traveled back to the cruise ship port, did a bit of shopping at the terminal mall, and boarded the ship for our next destination. Costa Rica!!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this photo journey of the ABC islands. Have you ever been to Aruba? Do you like lighthouses? Would you have paid the extra fee and quickly climbed to the top?
I’ve got more exciting things planned for the rest of year that only my newsletter followers will know about. I promise you’ll only get 6 newsletters for the entire year, so I won’t clutter up your inbox. Here’s the link if you want to sign up and be the first to know things: http://bit.ly/JansenSchmidtNewsletter
Word of the Day: Beriberi
Fun fact about me: Aruba was a one and done for me. I really have no desire to go back. It just wasn’t that interesting.
Original post by Jansen Schmidt, August 2022. Images by P. Rickrode and C. Rickrode.
jansenschmidt 
Hi Patricia. I have to agree with you…based on your photos, I never expected Aruba to look so arid and flat. I envisioned lush forests and mountains. Is there a major tourist center for night life, etc?
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Al, I was very disappointed with Aruba. Not at all what I was expecting. There are a couple of swanky areas where all the commercialized hotels and private beaches are but we only drove past there, we didn’t stop. Most of the beaches are walled off so you can’t get good pictures from the street.
I truly do not need to go back to Aruba.
Thanks for visiting today.
Patricia
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I’m surprised that Aruba is desert and not tropical…that Cocomo song tricked me! 🙂 The water does look nice, though. I probably wouldn’t have paid to climb the lighthouse stairs. Oregon has so many lighthouses that I’ve explored. In my experience, they’re not much different from each other. Thanks for sharing more of your adventures!
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Yeah, I was so disappointed. It was truly like a desert. And there were no real “pretty” areas (in my opinion). We drove by the posh hotels and private beaches but couldn’t really see anything from the bus. It held no appeal to me. I don’t need to go back.
Thanks for visiting today. Have a wonderful rest of the week.
Patricia
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