Meanwhile on shore…

7 March 2016

Gerben Nab writes:
“One of the nice things about sailing is that you visit the most varied places. This time I relieve Maarten on Aruba. As crewmember you usually don’t have much time to go ashore. So I arrange to be there a bit earlier than the ship. 
When I step out of the airplane I feel the warm wind. There is wind and there is sun so much is clear. The next morning at breakfast on the patio of my hotel I see al kinds of nice birds. A small bird that looks like a zebra finch sits on the trunk of a palm. A black bird that looks a lot like a thin blackbird, but that looks at you with bright yellow eyes. An orange/white/black woodpecker that sings a boring but very loud song. But also a (Eurasian) collared dove, that seems to have an orange tail here. It’s reassuring that wherever you go in the world the house sparrow is there too. So it’s also here on Aruba. 
Early in the morning I walk toward to beach through no man’s land. In the distance I see high, luxury hotels. It is called ‘high rise’. But where I am there is nothing except from a few randomly build houses. The strokes of land that are uncultivated are covered with thorny bush. The cactuses in between have even bigger thorns. There are cactus trees of almost 4 meters high. Lizards make themselves scares as I walk by and in the dust I see the skin of a snake. Then I am on the beach. The dividivi-trees with their characteristic shape grow in the white sand, close to the sea. On the reef that surfaces a bit further on I see mangrove trees with their air roots. There are pelicans in the water. These big, brown birds look a lot rougher than they really are. They take off with a bit of difficulty from the water and then they drop out of the sky back into the water. This way they gather their meals pretty successfully because I see them lean back and swallow every time. The beach is beautiful, it really is. Because of the sun the sand looks really white and the sea has all types of blue and turquoise you can imagine. The mostly senior American and Dutch tourist sit, if they are already awake, underneath their reserved canopy of palm leaves at ‘high rise’. The rest of the kilometre long beach I have to myself (and a few others that are walking along the shoreline). 
Later that day I walk to Oranjestad along the fishing boats and spot the first big iguanas. They move slowly over the rocks along the water and turn their heads when I come closer. They are not afraid and look at me calmly with their eyes popping out. The fishermen clean the catch of the day. Small tuna, wahoo, mahi-mahi and some other fish I don’t recognize. A boy comes to collect the bones and heads. There is still a lot of meat left when you boil these parts, a fisherman explains. But to find a place to eat a fresh mahi-mahi is not easy. Burgers and pizza’s are widely available. I decide to end the day with fried squid and a glass of white wine. As far as I’m concerned the ‘Oosterschelde’ doesn’t have to come immediately.”