Trish Berry, May 2025
Banana Republic Silky White Pantsuit, Lands’ End Scarf/Wrap; Gold, Diamond and Pearl Jewelry
Aruba in the ‘A’ in the ABC Islands of the Southern Caribbean, located off the coast of Venezuela, in the Dutch Caribbean area in the Lesser Antilles. It is called the ‘Country of Aruba,’ meaning a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Dutch is spoken, as well as English. The people are hugely friendly and will answer any question you have. If they don’t speak your language, they will find someone to help translate. The island is one of the more popular islands because of its beauty and friendliness of the people who reside there.
The list of things to do in Aruba are many. You can snorkel with giant sea turtles. You can go on a UTV or ATV excursion (only for the young and brave), where high speed is involved. There is catamaran sailing, horseback riding on the beach. Sea Glass Island is a wonderful excursion, but you cannot take anything away with you even though you find wonderful pieces of sea glass in wondrous colors. That sea glass belongs to the island, to Aruba. The shells belong to Aruba. The rocks belong to Aruba.
On any excursion, make sure you get back to the ship on time. Some excursions cut close to ending at the time your ship is departing. Your ship will leave you if you are not on board at the appointed time.
We discovered a gem of a place to go to on Aruba. The Butterfly Farm. We took a city bus and had no difficulty in getting off at the correct stop because the people who were on the bus and live on the island helped us with changing buses and getting off at the correct location.
I was fearful of going at first because I had a bad experience in Puerto Rico twenty-five years ago. We went to a butterfly museum in Old San Juan. I walked in and almost fainted. All these beautiful butterflies were underneath glass and pinned to the wall. They were all dead. We turned right around and left. But you can see from the photos below that the butterflies were loved and well taken care of at the Butterfly Farm in Aruba.
Butterflies filled the air, like a murmuration of birds. They were so quick that I could not get a good photo of them swirling in the air together, moving back and forth and all around, but I was able to get some cute photos of solitary butterflies. Below shows the delicacies that were laid out for them to dine on, much like Main Dining on a cruise ship.
The Butterfly Farm is a screened enclosure, but there is ample room for the butterflies to feel free. Lush greenery is all around, providing a natural environment.
There are numerous koi ponds at the butterfly sanctuary.
The waters are blue, the beaches are white, and nature is being preserved in Aruba.
Always take water with you. Exercise. You can grow muscles on Aruba and have fun at the same time.
You see in all our photos that we have a sea pass on a lanyard around our necks. You cannot get off a cruise ship or back on a cruise ship without this sea pass. We take our passport ports with us when we get off a cruise ship because we are old people. We keep them safely secured so no one can see them. If we are injured or have a serious attack of dehydration or something else horrible happens, we would be able to be airlifted off the island back to our home country. On your phone app you can contact the ship and let them know what is happening. If you don’t have your passport with you, the cruise line will do everything possible to get your passport to you. But there could be a delay in their being able to do that in time.
Safe travels. Have fun and drink water!!