“Mom, this fruit juice tastes funny.”
My daughter complained.
“Let me taste it.”
Lifting the strawberry daiquiri to my nose, The strong aroma of dark rum assaulted my nostrils.
Honey, I think you got the wrong drink.” “Lets try a virgin daiquiri.”
In Aruba, there is no age limit for drinking. We all ordered virgin drinks. This was one of many surprises on the visit to this Caribbean port of call.
The island has reminders of their Dutch past. Several working windmills are found on the west side. Constant trade winds blow bending the Tamarack Trees to grow sideways, nature’s bonsai. Our twelve year old daughter, finishing her drink asked,”Where is our room?”
“Here, take the map.”
The Tamarin Resort sported a large pool near the shoreline. Wandering through two story bungalows, Ruth spots it first.
“Wow, Right on the beach.”
Grabbing her bathing suit, Ruth changed, following, her example, we watched as she played in the breakers.
“I’m hungry! whats to eat?”
“This is an all inclusive facility, check the map.”
“Pizza at the pool, all right!”
Sipping my drink, I watched as Ruth devoured a pizza.
In the room, we found descriptions of seven restaurants.
“Lets, try the barbecue.”
After ordering, we waited. The waiter brought raw seafood and veggies. He lit the gas grill in the middle of the table .
“Enjoy”
We were to cook our own meal, we made quite a mess of our table.
The next day, we signed up for a jeep tour. Two young men appeared with 5 jeeps.
“Who wants to drive?”
John said no, but three men jumped at the chance to drive a jeep overland. Over desert terrain, the leader pulled into an Ostrich farm.
“Would you like to feed the birds?”
A small boy nodded and he was given a bowl of feed. Looking worried, he extended the bowl towards the fenced birds.
“I could do that.” remarked Ruth.
Smiling, the host picked up ruth and deposited her and the food bowl into the enclosure. A half dozen of the ostriches circled her and lowered their heads to munch the seeds, while other tourists snapped photos. I was too worried to get a shot.
The next day, waiting at the bus stop, we rode to the town. In the port, a large cruise ship was moored to a weathered wharf. Shopping for souvenirs, we passed by an open shop advertising corn rolling for hair.
“Mom, Can I get my hair done in corn Rolls?”
“Let’s see how much it costs.”
The shop owner inspective Ruth tresses and quoted a price of one dollar a corn row.
“I think her hair will need 40 corn rolls”
How long will it take?”
“Come back in an hour.”
We left to explore the other shops. Returning in an hour, We saw that Ruth still had 40 corn rows and still had her left side to be done. Calling another assistant over, the owner admitted she under estimated the work.
Her fingers were cramping and she needed help to finish. Ruth ended up with 55 rows in her air. We gave ten dollars as an extra tip.
Riding on the yellow city bus back to the resort, We passed miles of empty beaches.
“Don’t people use the beaches?”
“This is in the middle of the week, they are working.”
That evening we tried another restaurant at the sister resort the Diva. It had a French restaurant. We had teased our daughter that she would be given snails to eat on her trip to France. To our chagrin, The appetizer was snails cooked in butter.
“Mom, The snails look gross.”
Maybe they will taste better than they look.”
My husband and Ruth balked and would not try them. I tried them and had to admit, they were correct. They were slimy.
The next day we took a tour to the northern end of the island. The terrain was arid and rocky. We toured a small chapel perched on a high cliff. Our guide informed us that in several weeks on Good Friday, many pilgrims would climb to the top for sunrise service.
” Mom, I need a bathroom!”
“Go ask our guide.””
After a short while, Ruth returned with an odd expression.
“I can wait until we get back to our hotel.”
“Why? What did he say?”
“He said the bushes on the right side of the chapel were for women. The boulders on the left were for men.”
We all decided to wait.
The tour ended on another high cliff overlooking the ocean. In the water scores of shark fins protruded Several large dump trucks turned to back up to the cliff’s edge.
The guide explained that each day the leftovers and food scraps were brought to this overlook and dumped into the ocean. The fish, especially the sharks, have learned to wait for the free meal. As the first truck dumped it’s load, violent activity churned the waters below. The ocean erupted as more sharks joined the melee.
Returning to our hotel were glad to use a real bathroom.
It was our final evening at the Tamarin. We thought to take an early evening swim. We put our beach bag on a rock away from the waves and waded into the ocean. We forgot to check the tide schedule. Looking down the beach , John saw the waves were over the rock outcropping and our bag was slowly floating out to sea.
Splashing through the water, John reached the bag before it disappeared. The next day we packed to return to our home. Our daughter commented to herself,
“Nice place to visit but there’s no place like the U.S.A.”
My husband and I agreed.
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traveling up and down the blind highway 