Day 5 - Aruba

This morning we arrived in Aruba around 10:00. We had all met in the San Marco for breakfast and we could see the arrival through the great windows in the restaurant. After breakfast we split up. Tom, Doug and I went into town for a hour or so before we had to leave for diving and the rest rented a jeep for touring the island on their own.

The dive trip was interesting but the visibility was the worst of any dive so far. We dove on two wrecks. Both sunk during WWII. The first was the “Antilla” around 55 feet deep and was a German freighter scuttled by it’s crew prior to turning themselves into the authorities. It was in two very large pieces and heavily encrusted with coral. We did a figure eight around the pieces and culminating in a swim through the interior of the hold. This was Tom’s first penetration of a wreck so it was very exciting for him. You can see from this picture taken as he was entering the hold his eyes are pretty large.

The second dive was on a smaller freighter torpedoed and sunk. It was pretty scattered out across the reef. Again the visibility was poor, but the sea life was abundant. A couple of interesting animals we ran across here. Some fish are masters of disguise. Two are pictured here. The first is a large octopus that has plastered himself to the side of an old pipe. He has changed his coloration to match the rest of the coral encrusted on the ship. It was only after I reached out to tickle him that he quickly swam away and hid where we could not get to him.
The whitish green patch right in the middle is him.

The second is a scorpion fish. These fish have poisonous barbs that can inflict a great deal of pain and can sting you with barbs if you try to hold them. One axiom I was taught in learning to dive was if something is really beautiful or really ugly, leave it alone because it is probably dangerous. This is one of the dangerous ones. You can see from the first picture below, the fish totally blends in with the coloration of the coral encrusted steel beside him. He really looks like a petrified fish but it is all just camouflage so he can capture his dinner.

The dives were fun, but I am really looking forward to showing Tom, Cozumel. It is one of the prime dive spots of the world.

Mark, Michal and Ricky from Canada, Chris and I (Rob) went off on an island excursion in a four wheel drive jeep. Ricky and Michal did the driving. We went to the Western end of the island to view the scene form the lighthouse. Aruba is mostly an arid desert type island. Our jeep broke down when we got to the Aruba National Park - the clutch gave out. Thanks to Michal's mechanical skills -- shocking isn’t it - he was able to put the pin back in and we continued our exploration. We then traveled a rather circuitous route to the Eastern end -- we ended up, after a bumpy, kidney shattering ride, on a beautiful beach. Some swam, others -- like me -- got our legs wet. Then off to the hotel zone for lunch at the Westin - along with many iguanas. It was a fun time with old and new friends.

After we all returned to the ship, we had reservations in “Ocean Liners”. This is the premier restaurant on the ship and requires reservations. The food is extraordinary and in many cases prepared right at your table. We all enjoyed our fantastic meal.

After the meal we walked along deck 11. It was interesting in that there was absolutely no wind. Since the ship was moving at 25 MPH it meant that the wind was following us. This resulted in a strange situation where the sea and waves are quickly going by, the the smoke from the stack is going straight up into the air, just like we were sitting still. The stars were all out with no clouds in the sky. You could see light houses on the coast of South America to our port. We will be sailing just off the coast of South America until we reach Panama on Sunday.

Of course you can see many more of the pictures we took on Aruba by clicking on the Photo’s from Aruba link below.

Well it is off to bed now.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Photo’s From Aruba