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A tour of ORANJESTAD, capital of ARUBA

Hi everyone! This is episode two of my Dutch Caribbean series. In this episode, I explore the main tourist areas of Oranjestad, the capital of Aruba. The vlog starts with me explaining the meaning behind the flag of Aruba. Flags tell the story of any place in a very interesting way. It has four colours – blue, yellow, red and white – and there are different meanings for most of these colours. Aruba is one of the so-called ‘ABC’ islands. ABC stands for Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. However, if you look on a map from west to east, it is actually Aruba, then Curacao and then Bonaire. Aruba is the smallest of these three islands in geographic size, but it has the second highest population after Curacao. The ABC islands are part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and part of the Dutch Caribbean. Many people often forget that they form part of the Caribbean, but they very much are part of it and is situated in close proximity from Venezuela in South America. Oranjestad is named after King Willem I of the Netherlands. It means ‘Orange City’ or ‘Orange Town’. It has a real eclectic mix of architecture but it notably features several colourful buildings in the Dutch colonial style. Aruba has been an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands since 1986. I walk along the main street of Oranjestad – Caya G.F. Betico Croes – for a bit, and notice the relaxing vibe on the island. Aruba is also known as ‘One Happy Island’ and seem to embrace island time, which is a welcome change from the rat race in so many countries! I also notice lots of shops (particularly clothing shops), lots of blue horse statues (and I talk about them in the vlog as well as mention the history re Paardenbaai, the former name of Oranjestad) and many cars on the roads (which give the island a bit of a traffic problem). I then talk a bit more about the history of the island. The Spanish arrived on Aruba c. 1499 / early 1500s. It is said that Alonso de Ojeda was the first Spaniard to arrive on Aruba. The Spanish, however, never settled on Aruba permanently. The Dutch West Indian Company then took control of the island in 1636, with Peter Stuyvesant as the first governor of Aruba. I also talk about the Dutch period more generally, and mention that the 17th century was also when the Dutch (Jan van Riebeeck, 1652) arrived in South Africa. The British also controlled Aruba for parts of the 19th century during the Napoleonic Wars, but then Aruba was returned to the Netherlands as part of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814. I also briefly mention Aruba’s history as part of the Netherlands Antilles and the interesting story re Betico Croes, who never saw an autonomous Aruba despite being the key figure behind this movement… After this, I notice an information board with several street names such as Klipstraat and Kerkstraat, which sounds very similar to Afrikaans! This makes me feel right at home as an Afrikaans-speaker. I head towards Fort Zoutman and the Willem III Tower, which is situated at the western end of the Fort , where I also explain more of the history. On the way, I notice several colourful buildings including a cunucu, which I learn more about. After visiting the area around Fort Zoutman, I walk next to the Parliament building and notice a statue of Henny Eman, a former Aruban politician and founder of the Aruban People’s Party. Opposite the Parliament is the Renaissance Marketplace where I stop for lunch at the Dutch Pancakehouse. I order a Hawaii (or Hawaiian) pancake as well as a Picasso (or fruit medley with cream and ice cream) pancake. After lunch, I walk around the Marketplace as well as the harbour area, noticing the beautiful surroundings, the flamingo statues as well as (randomly) a red British-style phone booth! I then walk to the Renaissance Resort building where I talk about visiting the flamingos on Renaissance Island and notice the luxurious interior of the building. After this, I walk along L.G. Smith Boulevard towards the Royal Plaza, arguably the Instagram hotspot of the town itself. Along the way I notice several restaurants, street markets and tourist shops as well as lots of traffic! Next, I walk around some different parts of the town and notice that car wash businesses are prominent – as you would expect on an island with lots of traffic! I also notice a canoe that was given to Aruba by the Wayuu people of Colombia. I then head to Wilhelminastraat (named after Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands) which features several colourful buildings and lots of restoration projects. Finally, I notice the tram of Oranjestad before deciding to head to the beach (with a bus, not the tram). This is also where this vlog ends. I hope you enjoyed this vlog of Oranjestad! If you could give this video a like and post a comment in the comment section, that would be much appreciated :) Note – I have not been sponsored by anyone in the making of this video. Happy exploring on One Happy Island! Willie