Together with Bonaire and Curaçao, Aruba forms a group referred to as the ABC islands. Collectively, Aruba and the other Dutch islands in the Caribbean are often called the Dutch Caribbean. Europeans first learned of Aruba following the explorations for Spain by Amerigo Vespucci and Alonso de Ojeda in the summer of 1499.

After disembarking, we caught the public bus and headed to Eagle Beach. Eagle Beach is a beach and neighborhood of Oranjestad (one of only two towns). The neighborhood is famous for its many low-rise resorts and wide public beach. It has soft white sand and has been rated one of the best beaches in the world.
The colors are unbelievable. We've seen the photos, but until we saw this magical place with our eyes, we couldn't believe something could be this colorfully vibrant and beautiful.
In addition, the warm water is so salty, we were buoyant. Floating, surrounded by all that blue, was absolutely a highlight. Wow.


We had never seen one of these flyboards in action. What an amazing "show" this guy put on for us.
Had we thought about it sooner, we would have brought a bunch of this Chill Beer home. Brewed by Brouwerij Nacional Balashi right here in Aruba, it would have been fun to share it with you... to chill with a Chill.
We stumbled upon the Aruba Open for Beach Tennis. Interestingly, beach tennis was formalized in America in 2005 by Marc Altheim. He discovered the game on a trip to Aruba two years prior. The sport had been played here since 2000, having been introduced by a Dutchman.


The island, with a population of just over 100,000 inhabitants, has only two cities and we visited Oranjestad, the Capital.

The Iguana here are known as Yuwana. Of all the reptiles running through the hot and dry sand looking for shelter in among trees and cacti, the iguana is the most remarkable. A fully-grown male can reach a length of  six feet including his tail. We saw these cute, smaller ones, along the water front.