From Aruba to Africa

The next cruise stops came quickly:

First up was St George in Grenada where the Turtles took a slow water taxi to Grand Anse beach, getting soaked by a rainstorm on the way there.  The beach was rather dirty and many stray dogs sniffed around the water, hoping to find a tasty morsel.  At first the Turtles hung around the beach café, drinking juices until the rain eventually subsided.  They took a walk along the beach but were followed very closely by one of the said stray dogs.  Tiny is currently terrified of dogs which meant that, even thought the poor dog meant no harm and was not in the least aggressive, Tony was compelled to carry Tiny (“You want to carry me, Pappa?”) all the time.

The sand was fairly gritty, due to broken shells, not necessarily dirt. But, being spoilt by the most gorgeous of powdery white beaches, the Turtles decided to ditch the current beach.  The Turtles boarded the water taxi and spluttered towards Port Louis Marina, rumoured to have a good restaurant.  Unfortunately the restaurant was in the process of being renovated and the opening night was about 6 hours away. 

The Turtles then took a taxi (land based, this time) back to the ship.  The route took them through Bridgetown and, 6 years after Hurricane Ivan, there are still buildings that have not been repaired.  Possibly as a result of a lack of funds or due to the infamous island time.  Who knows?

The next stop was Bonaire, one of the three islands forming the Dutch Antilles.  Dutch is one of the official languages which made communication much easier for the Turtles.  Although it was raining again they decided to take a gamble, and a glass bottomed boat, to go snorkeling.  As the boat chugged across the channel to a small island called Klein Bonaire, the most beautiful coral passed under them and the skies cleared somewhat.  Tiny screamed excitedly when she saw the fish.  They made a stop close to the beach and the passengers (there were about 8 of them) had the option to snorkel.  Myrtle was keen (to snorkel…) so Tony offered to look after Tiny first.  He would have a turn upon Myrtle’s return. 

Myrtle, sporting her goggles swam to the beach, walked out and across before heading back into the ocean for the swim back to the boat. The coral reef starts at a fall in the ocean floor and swimming off the edge caused a tremendous feeling of vertigo.  Myrtle started floundering about wildly almost gulping mouths full of salty water.  She calmed herself down, concentrating on breathing regularly and finally started enjoying the wonderful sights under the sea. Close to the boat she turned to see a school of fish at her feet.  She was convinced that she felt them nibbling at her toes and she foamed up the water behind her as she hastened back to safety.  By that time the wind had picked up again and Tony didn’t feel like snorkeling (of course he was sorry later).

Curacao was the next, and biggest island, in the Dutch Antilles (no longer called the Dutch Antilles as Bonaire is now a municipality of Holland and Curacao and Aruba are independent).  Willemstad, the capital city, is split in two by a canal.  You can cross from one side to the other using a pontoon bridge.  When a large ship needs to sail out to the ocean, the bridge has to open – slowly.  It is great fun to stand on one side watching people running across and jumping the gap before it opens completely!

There is also a floating market where Venezuelan merchants peddle fruit and vegetables from their boats.  They cross the 70 kilometres of ocean between Venezuela and Curacao every single day (a ship owner from Rotterdam told us that it would probably take 3 and a half hours to do the 70 kilometres.  That’s a lot of travelling to get to work…those of you who have to brave the N1 between Pretoria and Johannesburg on a daily basis will probably have sympathy for these poor people).  Another interesting fact (or legend) about Curacao is that a previous governor suffered from migraines and he ordered that all homes in Curacao be painted pastel colours as bright white painted houses exacerbated the suffering. It made Curacao a sight for sore eyes, that’s for sure!

The Turtles spotted a playground and Tiny ran, jumped and squealed with the rest of the children.  A local girl of about five came up to Myrtle and asked something in a foreign language.  Myrtle assumed she asked where they were from and she answered: “South Africa”…  Myrtle only realized much later that the child was asking what Tiny’s name was, as she ran after Tiny yelling: “Africa, Africa!”

Aruba was the final island on the Turtles’ itinerary and they visited two beaches:  Arashi and Palm Beach.  Arashi is ideal for snorkelers but not so much for swimmers and children so the Turtles headed off to Palm Beach after about 10 minutes.  Palm Beach is heavily commercialized and the beach is filled with permanent tiki huts and many bars and restaurants that line the strip.  The Turtles didn’t spend much time on Aruba but it looks like an okay place for a family holiday.  But then again, so is Margate and, for South Africans, at least, much easier to get to.

After Aruba the Turtles headed back to Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Starbucks and wi-fi…  Not necessarily a good thing but not so bad either…