It’s starting to look a lot like Christmas here in Aruba. These decorations were installed at the Radisson Hotel.

The Arubans go all out for Christmas, not just at the hotels, but their homes as well. There are roads you can drive with one home after another totally lit up with lights and scenes. It’s worth a few hours drive to see them. Of course the hotels do a good job, complete with Santa Claus visits for the kids and special events leading up to the big day. If you find yourself here, you won’t be disappointed… unless you’ve been naughty.

Bon dia.

Aruba’s first commercial wind turbine site is on its way to completion. Here at The Bent Page we updated over the summer on the construction phase. Now the Vestas turbines are spinning in the wind. Still some work to be done, but this is a beautiful sight:

Tour buses now take visitors past this area, as do the private guides. It’s worth a look. These units hardly make a sound and yet they produce a handsome amount of electricity.

Bon dia.

Here’s another video of a departing flight from Queen Breatrix Airport, Aruba, DWI.

I can’t get enough of that view.

Bon dia.

Many people who visit Aruba comment on the beautiful sunsets. There have been some truly spectacular ones the last couple of weeks. Here’s one my wife snapped a few evenings ago.

We were just driving along and looked over and there it was, the brilliant hues flashing across the sky. Nice.

Bon dia.

Here is an assembly of photos to create a 360 degree panorama looking off Colorado Point at the south end of the island of Aruba, DWI. It doesn’t fit here to try this link:

http://www.danielputkowski.com/main/colorado_pt360/colorado_pt360.html

The point can be bleak, but that’s the striking beauty of it. The colors of the rocks vary, as does the sea. It’s worth a stop at this point for a photo op if you find yourself on the island.

Bon dia.

It’s been a long time since I put together a little video footage of Aruba. So here’s one. It starts on the south end of the island, looking off Colorado point. Then takes a look at Baby Beach, the former Esso Colony and refinery. You’ll see Roger’s Beach, too, and Lourdes Grotto. Then it skips up to the middle of the island at Arikok National Park. From there see a small church in Piedra Plat then Eagle Beach, Arashi Beach, and finally California Lighthouse. Here it is.

Bon dia from Aruba.

My wife is an excellent photographer and created a beautiful 360 degree panorama of an Aruban landscape the other day. She took a series of photos then stitched them together with her computer wizardry. (Don’t ask me how this is done. I understand the darkroom but not the digital process.) At any rate, the final product is too large to put directly here on the blog. However, here is a link to it:

http://www.danielputkowski.com/main/aruba360/aruba_360.html

A viewer must use the link directly as you will not find it anywhere on my regular website. You can click on it above or copy and paste it into the address bar of your web browser. (Or so they tell me.)

So where was this photo taken? Well, we were headed out to the Natural Pool in “Old 918,” which would be my Chevrolet Silverado previously mentioned on this blog. The road to the natural pool gets gradually worse until you come to a sort of “last stop” for regular vehicles. Of course we proceeded up the worst hill as Old 918 never shies from a challenge. It climbed that hill like a roll through the mall parking lot. Now we were basically one ridge away from Aruba’s eastern edge; the windy side that is. We stopped for a look around. My wife hopped out with her camera and walked about 50 yards away. As she started taking photos, another truck, the red one you see, started climbing the hill. Naturally, he stopped to chat with a fellow pickup aficionado.

Back to the photo. As it loads, the extreme left of the photo would be looking south by slightly west. Scrolling to the right you gradually look west, then west by north, then north, then north by east, east, and finally a piece of south by east before turning west again. I think so, anyway. But check out that landscape? Hardscrabble rocks and cactus, Hooiberg (the haystack like mini-mountain), distant sea, tiny hotels far off, the WEB plant making smoke, it’s all there.

Enjoy and bon dia from Aruba.

Many thanks to my wife who is a genius at such things.

In fifteen years rambling about Aruba, I thought I saw most everything there was to see. However, yesterday I happened upon a white peacock. Here’s a photo to prove it:

Maybe they are more common than I know. Nonetheless, this is the first one I’ve ever seen in my life. I saw the colored ones many times in the same area as this one but never a white one. I was driving up through Jamanota on my way to San Fuego, which is just about the center of the island. There is a small farm-like area there, where all sorts of animals can be found. Sure enough, by the side of the road was the creature pictured above. Amazing.

You just have to take the fork in the road when you come to it. You might happen upon something fascinating.

Bon dia from Aruba.

Harry the Iguana lives at the Paradera Park Apartments, located as you would expect in the Paradera neighborhood on the island of Aruba. Debby de Weerd, the manager at PPA took this photo of him.

Brilliant photograph of Harry, eh? There are tons of Iguanas on this island, most of them not very large. However, from time to time, you come across one that is three feet long. Just one of the many types of wildlife, like those owls I posted about a while ago, that can be found here.

More important, if you’re looking for a different place to stay for your island retreat, give the Paradera Park Apartments a try. They are located inland, away from the crowds of the high-rise area. Yet, the beaches, restaurants, and sights are only a short drive away. The rates are more reasonable, which allows for a longer stay on the same budget. Furthermore, you’ll meet interesting people who like to get off the beaten path, explore, and experience a culture from the inside out. This year, I had the good fortune of meeting Judith, who introduced me to her friend Will, and so on and so on and so on. This is an aspect of Aruba that makes it the cross-cultural mecca that it is, thanks to places like the Paradera Park Apartments.

So, if you see Harry, say, “Bon dia,” and if you’d like check out the Paradera Park Apartments, give this link a try: http://www.paraderapark-aruba.com/. It’s a good place to start your travel planning.

Bon dia from Aruba.

This example of the Church of the Immaculate Conception is located in Santa Cruz, Aruba. The interior has been repainted a beautiful sky blue on the ceiling and around some of the niches. Take a look at the video.

The church is located in the center of Santa Cruz. The blue cross atop the bell tower is illuminated at night and can be seen for quite a distance. As the sun sets to the west, northwest, it is a striking backdrop for the bell tower and this cross. Another interesting sight is the adjacent cemetery were there are many examples of fine statuary and haunting photos of the deceased.

There are several more large churches in Aruba and I hope to make videos of every one. Bon dia from Aruba.