From the lighthouse, we started off roading. The dirt road was pretty dangerous at place. I had to plod along at about 10 miles per hour. I am not an excellent driver – especially on highways – but I am certainly more confident of myself on dirt roads and broken roads. And this one took all my attention and ability to maneuver. A couple of times, I had to back out and look for alternate path. The problem was that there were parts of the roads that were under water. There must have been some rains and the water just could not seep thru the hard rock. And I had no ability to decide how deep the water might be. Eventually, we made it though.

We stopped a couple of times on the way to look at the ground and the water. Here, I am standing on rock hard surface that has been washed and eroded by the water over eons and mostly ends in cliffs. The waves on the north side is decidedly bigger and were constantly lashing at the rocks. The water seemed deeper too.

As the constant heat of direct sunlight beat mercilessly down upon us – only to be relieved by the air conditioning of the car, the first thing Sharmila spotted upon reaching the lighthouse was not the lighthouse itself. But the guy who was selling “daab” (Bengali word for green coconut)! I am sure that triggered off a lot of memories from the early days in India!

She not only got the guy to open up the coconut after she was done with the water so that she could eat the whatever that inside white mushy thing is called – she even got a curious Nikita to try it out!!

There is something jarring about the cacti juxtaposed against a background of cerulean ocean…

The northwest end of the island is essentially a big limestone plateau. This lighthouse – built during the first World War – sits on the vantage point of being able to see water from pretty much every which way. The lighthouse itself is made of limestone rock. We did not go in but certainly took in the breathless views of water all around. And plotted to come back in the evening to watch the sunset from there…

Not sure if you can see the name of the company for the ship – Jolly Pirates!!

I had a very mistaken notion of Aruba. I had assumed that it would be a tropical kind of island. Certainly the hospitality, humidity, local music and customs will remind you of tropical places. Today, we explored about half of the island (the north and west side). Outside of the beaches, it is as barren as it can be. Not too many trees, extremely rugged and dry soil. In fact, it is called a “desert island”. Funny part is that there was a lot of humidity in the air. But wherever it bordered on water, it was one heck of a blue ocean though. Here is a shot of the typical road we drove on today. Note the dryness of the soil. And the divi divi trees!!!

One of the hallmarks of the flora in Aruba (and I believe the neighboring Bonaire and Curacao islands too), these shortish trees (more like big bushes) are noted for their looks – they are bent and look like pointing towards the west (due to the trade winds).

This one was near Catalina Cove.

The water was even more beautiful here…

About 35 years back, my brother, sister and I used to spend endless hours playing cards (we called them poker and fish but that has nothing to do with the poker and go-fish you know now) sitting out in the light breeze on warm nights in Durgapur before dinner.

Nikita and I did the same today (same two games) on this warm night with nice breeze in Aruba. 35 years later and 8,000 miles away…