A tour of ORANJESTAD, capital of ARUBA
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 มิ.ย. 2023
- Hi everyone! This is episode two of my Dutch Caribbean series. In this episode, I explore the main tourist areas of Oranjestad, the capital of Aruba.
The vlog starts with me explaining the meaning behind the flag of Aruba. Flags tell the story of any place in a very interesting way. It has four colours - blue, yellow, red and white - and there are different meanings for most of these colours.
Aruba is one of the so-called ‘ABC’ islands. ABC stands for Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. However, if you look on a map from west to east, it is actually Aruba, then Curacao and then Bonaire. Aruba is the smallest of these three islands in geographic size, but it has the second highest population after Curacao. The ABC islands are part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and part of the Dutch Caribbean. Many people often forget that they form part of the Caribbean, but they very much are part of it and is situated in close proximity from Venezuela in South America.
Oranjestad is named after King Willem I of the Netherlands. It means ‘Orange City’ or ‘Orange Town’. It has a real eclectic mix of architecture but it notably features several colourful buildings in the Dutch colonial style. Aruba has been an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands since 1986.
I walk along the main street of Oranjestad - Caya G.F. Betico Croes - for a bit, and notice the relaxing vibe on the island. Aruba is also known as ‘One Happy Island’ and seem to embrace island time, which is a welcome change from the rat race in so many countries! I also notice lots of shops (particularly clothing shops), lots of blue horse statues (and I talk about them in the vlog as well as mention the history re Paardenbaai, the former name of Oranjestad) and many cars on the roads (which give the island a bit of a traffic problem).
I then talk a bit more about the history of the island. The Spanish arrived on Aruba c. 1499 / early 1500s. It is said that Alonso de Ojeda was the first Spaniard to arrive on Aruba. The Spanish, however, never settled on Aruba permanently. The Dutch West Indian Company then took control of the island in 1636, with Peter Stuyvesant as the first governor of Aruba. I also talk about the Dutch period more generally, and mention that the 17th century was also when the Dutch (Jan van Riebeeck, 1652) arrived in South Africa. The British also controlled Aruba for parts of the 19th century during the Napoleonic Wars, but then Aruba was returned to the Netherlands as part of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814. I also briefly mention Aruba’s history as part of the Netherlands Antilles and the interesting story re Betico Croes, who never saw an autonomous Aruba despite being the key figure behind this movement…
After this, I notice an information board with several street names such as Klipstraat and Kerkstraat, which sounds very similar to Afrikaans! This makes me feel right at home as an Afrikaans-speaker. I head towards Fort Zoutman and the Willem III Tower, which is situated at the western end of the Fort , where I also explain more of the history. On the way, I notice several colourful buildings including a cunucu, which I learn more about. After visiting the area around Fort Zoutman, I walk next to the Parliament building and notice a statue of Henny Eman, a former Aruban politician and founder of the Aruban People’s Party.
Opposite the Parliament is the Renaissance Marketplace where I stop for lunch at the Dutch Pancakehouse. I order a Hawaii (or Hawaiian) pancake as well as a Picasso (or fruit medley with cream and ice cream) pancake. After lunch, I walk around the Marketplace as well as the harbour area, noticing the beautiful surroundings, the flamingo statues as well as (randomly) a red British-style phone booth!
I then walk to the Renaissance Resort building where I talk about visiting the flamingos on Renaissance Island and notice the luxurious interior of the building. After this, I walk along L.G. Smith Boulevard towards the Royal Plaza, arguably the Instagram hotspot of the town itself. Along the way I notice several restaurants, street markets and tourist shops as well as lots of traffic!
Next, I walk around some different parts of the town and notice that car wash businesses are prominent - as you would expect on an island with lots of traffic! I also notice a canoe that was given to Aruba by the Wayuu people of Colombia.
I then head to Wilhelminastraat (named after Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands) which features several colourful buildings and lots of restoration projects.
Finally, I notice the tram of Oranjestad before deciding to head to the beach (with a bus, not the tram). This is also where this vlog ends.
I hope you enjoyed this vlog of Oranjestad! If you could give this video a like and post a comment in the comment section, that would be much appreciated :)
Note - I have not been sponsored by anyone in the making of this video.
Happy exploring on One Happy Island!
Willie
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Another wonderful walk with Willie! Thanks for sharing!
Cheers Jim! Hope all is well is Tucson!
Beautiful place beautiful and bright 🥰
It was such a privilege to visit this beautiful island and its capital! Thank you for watching and for leaving a comment, it is much appreciated :)
Fascinating to see these places off the beaten track. Love your history and informative approach
Cheers for the kind words! I enjoy reading up and learning about new places so the pleasure is all mine!
As a fellow colour lover, I enjoyed seeing all the architecture in this beautiful place. Difficult to decide which building I liked best but I think it has to be the pink shopping centre. Food looked delicious too, especially the dessert. Worth the money I am sure. Thanks for all the information you gave us about the town, as usual👍. The art depicting the boy and the nurse doll is a copy of Banksy's art he released here in the U.K, Willie, after the pandemic, celebrating our NHS.😊
Cheers Sheila! Some very interesting architecture in Oranjestad. Growing up in South Africa, I am used to seeing Dutch colonial buildings and houses, but they are almost always white - certainly not the colourful touch as is the case in the Dutch Caribbean! I cannot choose between the Hawaii and the Picasso pancakes, they were both delicious and satisfying. I was really hungry so one was never going to cut it :) And thanks for providing the information about the boy with the nurse doll, I never even realised it was Banksy!
Hey man i stumbled upon your channel accidentaly and i really like your content you got yourself a new subscriber 🙂👍
Greetings from Canada
What a wonderful message to receive, thank you! Really pleased that you enjoy my content. Happy exploring :)
Thanks for always taking us along on your adventures, Willie Explore! Great to see you're almost at the big 3K!
Small steps my friend! Cheers for your continuous support :)
Very educational thank u
Thank you so much for watching and supporting my channel :)
Very beautiful place and inspiring interesting stuff and facts essential for travelling thanks
My pleasure, as always! Thanks for exploring with me :)
The buildings and colours are amazing to see, plus the history of the Island. I have to say the island time is experienced in the south Pacific Islands also. PLus New Zealand by its name also has a dutch influence from the Dutch Explorer Abel Tasman who discovered the New Zealand Islands. But it was the British Queen Victoria who signed a treaty with our Maori people. Thank you once again Willie for an amazing tour of a beautiful part of the world. . .Kiwi from Virginia
Amazing to think how far the Dutch influence stretch Swanoaks! Glad you enjoyed this video - my absolute pleasure - and thank you so much for your wonderful continuous support and encouragement!
Betico Croes is considered as the "liberator" of Aruba, he has a plaza dedicated to him not too far away from the main street. As part of his fight for Aruba, the island was meant to become independent 10 years after breaking away from the Antilles, however subsequent governments chickened out and the idea was scrapped.
While there are some good arguments against Aruban independence, like Venezuela being right there and sometimes acts unfriendly towards others and Suriname going through dictatorship and violence after their independence, it's worth noting that while the population was asked in a referendum if they wanted to break away from the Dutch Antilles (95%+ voted for yes) the same was not done when it came to the question of going through with independence or not.
Very interesting, thanks for sharing! And thank you for watching my videos, the support is really appreciated :)
Thanks for another interesting and informative vlog. Most people visit Aruba and just go airport-palm beach-airport and never learn about the place and it’s history. Did you do this on a Sunday morning cause there’s no one around town?
Hi David, thanks for watching! Glad you found it informative. This was actually shot on a Monday - my previous vlog of Aruba was done on a Sunday where I explore the beaches, hoping that the Monday would be busier when all (most of) the shops are open! But as you rightly observe, it still seemed relatively quiet in terms of people (definitely not cars though!)
Willie nog n Mooi Toer! Groete
Dankie Tosca, hierdie eilande is baie interessant. Groete
Treaties and battles and more!
Torres Tasman and Cook crossed paths and blazed trails and explored in Australia and all parts known....so we americans are looking to Mars . . .or maybe a mars bar! Luv from california, cheers
Going to Mars to do a vlog...now there is an idea! Thanks for watching :)
Get a ride with Elon Musk perhaps? Space race with Jeff- Richard-Elon (just want a mars bar)
I'm interested in leaving the USA and Aruba is top on my list...
Cheers for watching Scott :)
The light blue building at 44:20 used to be a police station.
Thanks for sharing this Jeff! Much appreciated
Oranjestad looks very colourful, I love it! How is Aruba for tourist/souvenir prices? I know you mentioned it isn't really cheap. Is it expensive like Iceland expensive? Also curious how the climate compares to Tunisia, which one is hotter? Great video as always! I'm a bit behind, catching up tonight :)
Side note, love the Landshark chair lol
Seeing Ceres must have made you feel like I did when I saw Tim Hortons in the Philippines lol Always nice to see a shop or brand from home.
Certainly no lack of colour in this part of the world! Re prices - I'm actually going to put up a separate video in due course about prices / how much things cost in Aruba. Let's just say Iceland is a unique destination when it comes to price in general...
As for the climate and comparisons to Tunisia - I can't really comment as I visited Tunisia during the end of autumn (fall) / beginning of winter, but I really struggled with the weather in Aruba. Maybe that was because I was filming and talking, which was not something I've done before in this kind of heat. I'm sure that if I didn't walk the distances I did and didn't constantly talk into a camera, that the heat would have been more bearable. Also, the wind makes a big difference to the overall feel - without it it would feel even hotter!
Mate, that Landshark chair is right up your alley! :D
@@LandsharkTravels 100%!!!
I will say … don’t go on Sunday… most things are closed .
Unless you want to avoid the crowds and just drift! Thanks for watching :)
We couldn't even see the People of Aruba..
@@zulu_mafia it was a quiet day my friend.