Aruba

The first stop on our Panama Canal cruise was Aruba, one of the "ABC" islands off the coast of Venezuela that had been Dutch colonies. We spent most of our time on Aruba at the Arikok National Park, which makes up 18 percent of the island's area. Even from the entrance of the park, we could see the distinctive mixture of cacti and broad-leaf trees that typifies the Aruban landscape.
In the distance, on the shore, we could see Aruba's power plant.

And, much closer, we saw lots of differents animals and birds, including this whiptail lizard, locally called the kododo blauw.

Amid the park's cactus and divi divi trees live numerous goats, seen here grouped on boulders.

We also saw iguanas and, notably, this boa constrictor. It turns out that boas are an invasive species in Aruba, eating and displacing local species. Recently the Aruban government placed a dollar-a-head bounty on this snake. During our guided hike through the park, one of the group spotted a boa constrictor on a rock wall. Our guide knocked the snake to the ground, picked it up with his bare hands, and, after letting some of the group hold the snake, put it in a trash can with a rock on top of lid so that the snake could be picked up and disposed of.

The highlight of the hike involved visiting a rock shelter covered with prehistoric paintings. This rock art, something like a 1,000 years old, was painted by a group of indigenous Arawak indians called the Caiquetios who migrated north from the Orinoco Basin in South America and settled in Aruba approximately 2,000 years ago. The last Arawak on Aruba died in 1862.

After our hike, as the weather started to get cloudier and rainier, we headed to one of Aruba's beautiful beaches for a quick swim. Although the wave action was a little rough--big enough to attempt body surfing--the water was warm and inviting. So I swam in the rain, eventually washing back up onto the beach.
Our ship left Aruba in early afternoon, making its way between shore and sand bar, the waters around us a bright Carribean blue. Next stop--Cartagena.