Dutch Antilles

Willemstead, Curacao is the most prosperous place visited for many days. There are large offices for companies like PWC and Deloittes and the town centre is mostly renovated. Many of the buildings are brightly painted, giving the town the atmosphere of a Scandinavian port.

TSH and Diva did an early morning trolley train tour, leaving Silver Spirit at 7:30. This early start was because the trolley was booked for the rest of the day by a large cruise ship – Caribbean Princess (Princess cruises). When the tour finished in the middle of the morning, they walked around the town and then back across the pontoon bridge to the ship for brunch. This was easily the biggest breakfast-time meal either of them had eaten during the entire voyage. Crisps (Diva) and ice-cream (TSH) for lunch.

In Oranjestad, Aruba, TSH and Diva went to an Aloe Vera factory (harvesting, manufacture and packing), a butterfly farm (many large butterflies and a knowledgeable person to explain the life cycle), followed by some rock formations, the most dramatic (and heavily advertised) of which collapsed a few years ago. They saw some of the island, which normally has little rainfall and is desert-like in some places. Diva saw a large lizard on the driveway of a house.

However, this was an interesting tour on another island which looks quite prosperous and is very welcoming to tourists. But the guide, who was otherwise quite competent, acted as though she was organising a primary school outing. She tried hard to get the (oh so bored, sophisticated and wordly) Silversea guests to chant local phrases one syllable at a time. This attempt was a total failure. When it was time to get off the bus at any time, she announced that either right of left side had priority and could get off first. Normally, Silversea guests manage to exit a bus one row at a time from the front, alternating right and left with no apparent trouble.

TSH and Diva took a short walk in the afternoon but it was so hot that it was impossible to get beyond the shops just outside the port. These were either international designer brands or very cheap souvenir shops, with hardly anything in between.

There is an interesting feature on the tourist map of Aruba. The crashed plane in the sea at the end of the runway is prominently marked.

Other cruise ships in Aruba: Caribbean Princess (Princess cruises) and Adventure of the Seas (Royal Caribbean).