Notes from Professional Reporter.
In the not so distant past Aruba was filled with a multitude of American and
Dutch beach boys. They stood leaning against the poolside bar during the day and
trying their fortune at the casino well into the night. By contrast, he thought
about the ghostly atmosphere of the caves of Guadirikiri in the Arikok National
Park, on the east side of Aruba and the legend that is told. It is a story of
love and death between the daughter of an Indian chief and her lover. Locked up
in the caves they were left to die but their spirits were stronger than the
flesh and the stone. Rebels even after death they managed to break through the
rock and went to heaven where they learned the language of the angels. Returning
invisibly on Aruba they gave the residents the ability to speak languages.
Today there are many who speak at least four: Dutch, English, Spanish and
Papiamento, sometimes in the same conversation. Papiamento is a language whose
melody comes from all cultures that have had impact on the region: with traces
of Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, French and indigenous languages. Spoken in all
the DUTCH ANTILLES, in Aruba it has more similarities with Spanish due to its
close proximity to South American.
Bon Bini (welcome) is the first word you hear Papiamento. And another one is
Dushi, meaning sweet or cute. Especially during the festivities so rich in
music. The most popular music are a very passionate calypso, a rhythmic soca,
meringue and an indigenous mixture of steps known as socarengue.
Form of Government:
autonomous status inside the
Netherlands
crown from 1986
Capital:
Oranjestad
Area:
193 kmq.
Population:
71.890
Language: dutch ( official language)
English, Spanish and
Papiamento (spoken)
Currency: Aruba's florin
(Guilder AWG) - 1 AWG=0.44 Euro
Time
zone: - 5 GMT - UTC
DocumentS:
pasaport
Phone:
networks of mobile phone
compatible with GSM standards are available
International dialing code:
+297
Health:
Good quality of health care and hospitals, both
public and private,
a special care must be taken agains the mosquito "dengue"
carrier
Electricity:
115 volts.
American flat plugs,A, B and F type
(See Picture)
900 km south of the
Benedewindse eilandes (St. Marteen, Saba and
St. Eustatius),
the DUTCH ANTILLES are Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao, called ABC from their
initials names. Dry climate, cactus, ruins of gold mines, desert; Alonso de Ojeda, first white
man to land in Aruba,
gave the name of "la isla inutil": the useless island.
Aruba is the most western of the
ABC, only 24 miles off the Venezuelan coast, long
and narrow, low and flat
32 km x 10, a total area of 193 kmq
on the west coast the sea is quiet and smooth, white sand and palms;
on the east coast always rough.
The inhabitants are 71.890 the capital is Oranjestad from the first of january 1986
Aruba is a separate entity inside netherlands and
belongs directly to Amsterdam.
CLIMATE
Tropical
dry, the average temperature is 27 °c, only small
changes during the year, the heat of the sun is
mitigated from the aliseo constant breeze, the Aruba's
rainy season runs from october to december, but even in
this period rainfall are not copious, the isle is out of
the normal hurricanes route, tourism is at the top all
year long.
