Oranjestad | Snorkeling the ABC Islands

The weather has been quite windy the last couple of days, so snorkeling has been less than stellar. The water has had pretty big waves, and the visibility has not been great. It’s kind of disappointing for Mike, with his abbreviated vacation as it is, the not so great conditions are almost not fair!

Wednesday was rainy to start, and we never really got going to do anything. We spent a while in the water at Malmok Beach, but it was pretty cloudy for most pictures. We ate dinner in, so it was a pretty quiet day. We wandered around the Paseo Harencia, the local mall that’s open late for tourists, but surprise! We didn’t buy anything – no watches, no jewelry, no masks! Amazing.

Thursday we decided to check out the museum housed in Fort Zoutman in downtown Oranjestad. It’s a smallish museum, but quite interesting. They have displays of early Aruban life, when the Arawark Indians lived here. They follow it up with the Spanish conquest and elimination of the native population, through the slave cultures of both the Spanish and Dutch. There are displays of early tools, fishing implements, and music instruments. It’s a nice way to pass an hour or two.
We decided to try Mangel Halto again, the tricky snorkel site, but it was very rough. So, on down to Baby Beach, and it was just as rough. On the way back, we took Mike the “back” route through to Casabari rock, sometimes called Aruba’s Stonehenge. It seems to have been some sort of meeting place, perhaps a religious site. It’s origins are really unknown, but it’s very old.

We snorkeled a bit more at Malmok Beach, but the water clarity was not great great. We did see a turtle, but basically it was just a swim in the ocean!

For dinner, we went back to Barney’s for their All You Can Eat Rib dinner. We were here a few days ago, and the hostess, bartender, and waitresses all welcomed us back! It was nice to be recognized. Service was again impeccable. And the first serving of ribs was impressive and large! It was served with vegetables, coleslaw, and fries. None of us could order any more ribs! The one plate was enough.

As we were leaving, the hostess (and partner to the bartender/owner) came over and shook our hand, and said, “Thanks very much for coming back. I hope everything was good.” A very nice touch.

We were at the museum of Natural History today, and we were lucky enough to stumble on some shaman helping people exorcise some demons. He told Pam she was having problems with her hip and back, and he was absolutely right! Check out the movie here.

The Museum is really an amazing experience. It’s laid out just wonderfully. Each of the large rooms are jammed to the rafters with a wide range of artifacts. Each period in Mexican history has a dedicated room. There is a room for the Toltecs, the Aztecs, etc etc. You could spend several days seeing this place. There is just so much to see.

Marlene and Jorge have been amazing tour guides (I’m sure I’ve mentioned this many times, but it bears repeating!) and they’ve really shown us a lot of things we wouldn’t have seen. Now the Museum we would have seen, but it’s been great to see it with someone who is truly proud of it’s achievements.

Check out this one of a cool dog statue! It was in the room with a Chac Mool, the famous reclining figure, who is Mayan or perhaps Toltec. So I’m guessing the dog is either from the Mayan or Toltec civilization as well.