When we returned to Aruba from our week in Curacao, we were driving to the California Lighthouse to check out the view. It’s a scenic drive, through virtual desert conditions with huge cactus and big sand dunes. They don’t even allow motorized vehicles on the dunes because they say it is part of their heritage.

As we slowly rounded a corner, we saw an obviously very hungry, very thin female dog. She looked like she hadn’t had a good meal in about a year! Aruba has lots of wild and uncared for dogs. It’s a different culture there, and dogs, for the most part, are just another animal. Many just roam the streets, and people don’t seem to care for them quite like we do in North America.

It was quite emotional for both of us, and we decided we’d try to do something. We got to the Lighthouse, and bought a ham and cheese sandwich, a hotdog, and a sausage. We tried to find her again, but we could not. Pam was in tears. We left the food by the road near where we’d seen her last, and hoped she’d find it.

That night in the grocery store, Pam bought some tins of dog food, some “crunchies” and some treats. The next morning we went back and found her! She was nervous and wary and wouldn’t let us approach. We put the tinned food into a dish, set it down, and moved away. She approached, keeping an eye on us, and proceeded to wolf it down! We gave her some crunchies, and she loved those too.

We left some food for her in a pile, and as we drove away, we saw her eating the new pile as well. The next day we were late getting there, and thought we wouldn’t find her. We parked the car just north of Arashi beach, got out and called for her, and whistled and she came out of somewhere and came to us. Her tail wagged a little, not much, but a little. We fed her just like the day before, and she devoured everything.

The next day, we arrived at the same time, and she was perched near where we had fed her the two days before! It reminded us of a movie about a dog named Hachi, who waited for his master to return every day at five o’clock. Since her home seemed to be around Arashi Beach, we started calling her Arachi, a combo of Arashi and Hachi. It just seemed fitting!

We fed her most days over the next two weeks, missing her one day I think. She came to trust us and wagged her tail all the time, and even let us pet her and scratch her ear! She was really a sweet dog. One of her favorite things was cheese flavored Pringle potato chips! It was funny to see her devour those things.

A couple of days before we left, we brought her lunch. We couldn’t find her, at first. Then we spotted her under a tree with a couple of young ladies. One claimed to be her owner! Pam talked to them, and discovered she was just a dog who lived there, for whatever reason. One of the women wanted to “adopt” her but was having trouble convincing her boyfriend. We saw her the next few days, and she said that she was going to take her home that Friday! We were delighted, needless to say!

When we first saw her, she was a total bone rack. But our feeding her everyday had noticeably improved her look. The young lady even remarked how good she looked. She figured some kind tourist had been feeding her, since the locals really wouldn’t be doing it.

Anyway – we hope it has a happy ending. We wish Arachi a long life!