Aruba – History and general info
Aruba – History and general info
Tourism is Aruba’s main industry.
People here speak Dutch and Papiamentu (which is an amalgam of Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch), as well as in many cases English and Spanish. Children start with Papiamentu, and then in school routinely learn multiple languages. Their passports are Dutch.
The basic history of the island, as told by our tour guide/taxi driver (who was great until he just left us at the Butterfly Farm and lost whatever tip he would have been given), is: “Arawaks were on the island digging for water, but found gold instead. Spaniards came and made them slaves.”
Reality, from Britannica (https://www.britannica.com/place/Aruba):
The island’s earliest inhabitants were Arawak Indians, who left behind red cave drawings and clay pottery and stone tools. After Aruba was claimed by Spain in 1499, it became a centre of piracy and smuggling. In 1636 it was taken by the Dutch and occupied by the Dutch West India Company. As part of the Netherlands Antilles, Aruba came briefly under British rule during the Napoleonic Wars but was returned to the Netherlands in 1816.
I brought a UV umbrella for me, and one for my mom on this trip. However, all of these islands were so windy it was nearly impossible to use them most of the time. So now I’ve bought this, which will help in the windy places in the future. Available in colors other than hot pink, lol. Just click on the picture. 🙂
