Lost in Paradise – Aruba

Lost in Paradise – Aruba

Aruba is a small tropical island located in the southern Caribbean Sea, just off the coast of Venezuela. It is known for its stunning beaches, perfect weather, and endless activities. The island is a mix of cultures (mostly Dutch, American, and Aruban), natural beauty, and cuisine.

Basic Information

The island is rather small. It is around 32 km long and 9.7 km across. You can visit it in one week, or less. The best is to rent a car and explore it by yourself.

Aruba is one of the ABC islands being a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. There are many different cultures, which makes Aruba stand out from the other islands in the Caribbean. Interesting fact is that Arubans speak four languages.

The best time to visit is from January to September which is dry season. The island has a very tropical climate, with temperatures between 27 and 32 degrees year-round.

Local Cuisine

There is a big variety of food options in Aruba. Stoba (stew) is made of chicken, goat or konkomber (local squash). Aruba side dishes are pampona (pumpkin), fried plantain, and funchi (polenta). Funchi is often fried and served with melted cheese. Another staple is pan bati, which is a firm cornmeal pancake.

Dutch influence includes some Indonesian dishes as Indonesia is a former Dutch colony. Basic dishes include bami (lo mein noodles), nasi goreng (fried rice) made from leftovers. These basic dishes include small servings of pork (sate), chicken, or beef skewers with pinda sauce (peanut), coconut shrimp, chicken, fish, and fried, sweet banana.

If you like pastry, pastechi is a great option. It is a half-moon shaped fried pastry filled with cheese, chop suey, curried fish, chicken or beef. They are made of cornmeal. Malta is accompanying those dishes. It is a strong root beer.

There is plenty of fish to choose from. The fish is sweet, and moist like nowhere else. They have snapper, barracuda. And moochi is a preparation style. The fish is cut into steaks and flat fried.

Best Beaches to Relax

All day beach is always a good option! Aruba has lots of great beaches to choose from.

Eagle Beach and Palm Beach are one of the best options in Aruba. They have fewer people and bigger waves.

The most beautiful are Baby Beach and Roger Beach. They both have artificial lagoons, which are great for swimming. They have white sand and are surrounded by greenery and carved stones.

Arikok National Park

Arikok National Park has the most beautiful sights in Aruba. The park is divided into two parts: Arikok National Park and Arikok Natural Reserve. The first section has hiking trails going through mangrove forests, secluded beaches, and mountains. The second offers nature trails through the salt flats, which makes it perfect for bird watching.

Fontein Cave is a nice option to explore. It used to be the source of fresh water for native Arawak Indians. It is very popular thing to do in Arikok National Park.

I recommend also swimming at the Natural Pool, and snorkel at Baby Beach.

Akademos Students, we wish you good relaxation and great vacations!

Vocabulary

endless – having no end or limit (nieskończony)

explore – to traverse for the purpose of discovery (eksplorować, badać)

pumpkin – a large rounded orange-yellow fruit with a thick edible flesh and many seeds (dynia)

cornmeal – rough yellow flower made from corn used to make bread, tortillas (mąka kukurydziana)

staple – basic food (podstawowe pożywienie)

pastry – a food made of mixture of flour, fat, and water, rolled flat, and either wrapped around or put over or under other foods and then baked (tu: pasztecik)

root beer – a fizzy brown drink, without alcohol, flavoured with the roots of various plants (piwo korzenne)

artificial – made by people, often as a copy of something natural (sztuczne)

carved – to make something by cutting into hard material (rzeźbione)

secluded – quiet, private, not near people (odosobniony)