ARUBA Tours, Travel & Activities

This parched speck of an island off the coast of Venezuela has guaranteed sunshine and is blessed with beaches that make you say 'ahhh.' Tourism is the big business in Aruba and it's served in a double scoop of sun bunnies from North America and Holland.

Although large-scale tourism dominates the island, there are still undeveloped areas on the exposed northern coast, and much of the interior is inhabited by nothing more than goats and contorted divi-divi trees.

ARUBA TOURS & TRAVEL: Oranjestad Tours,

ORANJESTAD Tours, Travel and Activities

Oranjestad (English: "Orange City") is the capital and most important city of Aruba located on the southern coast near the western end of the island. In the local language, Papiamento, Oranjestad is often referred to simply as playa

The town was built around Fort Zoutman shortly after it was built in 1796 and Oranjestad has been the capital of Aruba ever since. The fort is still one of the town's attractions, others being the tax-free harbour and the Willem III Tower, located near the fort.

Small portions of the city are formed from a series of man-made expansions of land into the sea. Present-day Renaissance Marketplace (formerly Seaport Marketplace), as well as the adjacent Queen Wilhelmina Park, lies within part of this expansion.

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SUGGESTED ITINERARIES: ARUBA

There's no bad time to visit Aruba. New Year's Day is welcomed with midnight fireworks to ward off evil spirits, while wandering minstrels serenade outside of houses and hotels.

The Hi-Winds Pro-Am Windsurfing Competition is held at Eagle Beach in June. In late June, there's the harvest festival of Dera Gai - it used to involve the burying of a rooster, but these days a gourd is substituted.

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Oranjestad, Aruba