Aruba Friday: Downtown Trolley, Aloe Farm, and Arashi Beach Sunset

I missed the Friday post yesterday so I will catch up today.

We were visited during breakfast by this whiptail lizard who fancied some scrambled egg that fell to the ground. These fellows are about 20cm long and are beautifully colored.

The streets downtown are narrow, but traffic is pretty light. We managed to find free parking on the street only a couple of blocks from an information kiosk and trolley stop.

At the port where the cruise ships arrive there is a trolley station. The trolley runs up one of the shopping streets, turns around and returns. It is free to ride. Along the street there are numerous restaurants and stores where you can buy watches, electronics, clothes, and so on.

The trolley goes by the Architecture museum as well. You can see the old buildings in front with a modern building just behind.

We spent the morning into the mid afternoon in this area and my friend found a very good deal on a Citizen watch. Just for fun we went into the Breitling shop where I learned that the most popular watch sold in the store cost more than my car: $5000+ US! Maybe that was in the Omega shop. The cheap watch in there would only set me back $2000+ US. I cannot fathom having that much money. There are plenty of t-shirt shops and souvenir places along the many streets here in the embarcadero area.

From here we ventured inland to the Aruba Aloe Farm and tour. After an outdoor demonstration about the aloe plant our guide took us through a brief, informative, and free tour of the factory. It was quite interesting. Of course, the tour ends at the gift shop. There are plenty of samples to try and with a purchase and the surrender of your email address you receive a free bar of soap. So you've got that going for ya.

After a lazy afternoon at our Air BnB we headed up the coast to Arashi beach to watch the sunset. Many locals go on the dirt roads that veer off the road that goes past Arashi Beach to the California Lighthouse, so we followed them. It must be amazing to live in a place that has such beautiful sunsets every night.

Apparently, this crab was also enjoying the sunset!

This young local couple was there enjoying the sunset and a couple (large) bottles of Heineken.

There is a protected area of beach where you can walk around but you may not take anything from the beach. I found some huge Conch shells.

Behind the sunset, the California Lighthouse and restaurant overlook the north end of Aruba. It is a beautiful backdrop to a beautiful sunset.

If you come to Aruba, do bring some shoes or sandals that you can wear in the water. You can find some nice shells by venturing out among the rocky shore where I believe many tourists don't make the effort to go.

Thanks for stopping by. The next post is beach day, especially for @tattoodj!