All things Dutch

Aruba despite what they tell you, is part of Holland. Not many people have heard of the Great Dutch Empire, but I have seen evidence of it. Back in the day (which was a Tuesday) the Dutch “acquired” a bunch of islands in the Caribbean as trading posts. One of which is Aruba. The influence is heavy. Most people speak Dutch, and Arabians even have citizenship in Holland. When I asked what the “native” people of Aruba where like I was told that the Spanish moved them all off the island to become slaves. But they didn’t make good slaves, so they just vanished. Someone else told me that there were NO people living on the island before the Dutch. Much like there was no one living in America before the Mayflower. Besides an abundance of Heineken, and silly Dutch food, there is bar trivia…. In Dutch. If you have heard someone speaking Dutch you will agree that is sounds like they are making it up as they go along. It cannot possibly be a legitimate language. Nonetheless, there I was deep in Dutch bar trivia. I took 5th place. Lucky for me there was a music round and a geography round.
The “city” portion of Aruba only exists on one side of the island, and only for a mile or so. This means there is lots of uninhabited nature to explore. I did my best to see everything. With guidance I managed to see a natural bridge carved by crashing waves, a few costal caves straight out of pirates of the Caribbean, and many tide pools full of unsuspecting ocean life to harass. I love foraging through tide pools playing with all the sea creatures locked in private lagoons until the next high tide. I even managed to find star fish and a huge blue crab that was very grouchy. There was also some trilobite looking things clinging to the rock. I found them creepy and discomforting. Proof of alien life perhaps. I never found a treasure chest full of long lost pirate gold, I did see lots of booty though!