Sunset Over Savaneta, Aruba

Savaneta, Aruba was the island’s first capitol. That’s where my shack is located. I made this video starting with a panorama of the southwest part of the island. It includes San Nicolaas, the refinery, the piers where the tankers dock, then moves northward. Take a look.

The Aruba Beach Chalets shown in the video are a great place to stay. I used to rent there before I bought the shack. The place sits on the water and you can literally take three steps from the back door and enter the Caribbean. YouTube degrades the video, but there were several tankers out there on the evening that I shot this footage. Must be tough to sit on one of those ships, looking at an island as attractive as Aruba.

Bon dia.

Published in: on December 10, 2008 at 11:16 am  Leave a Comment  
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Sunset from Santa Cruz

 I took this sunset photo looking west, northwest from Santa Cruz, Aruba. The church on the left is one that showed up in an earlier post.

Published in: on August 7, 2008 at 12:47 am  Leave a Comment  
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Creating Atmosphere, Part 3

In two earlier posts, I mentioned a few things about creating atmosphere in a story. This time, I’ll rely on the actual atmosphere for a bit of inspiration. Nature’s wonders have inspired countless artists, not to mention put the fear of the supernatural into any number of sailors. A sky like this might just do the trick.

 My wife and I had just finished dinner and were going for a walk. Not two steps outside the house, she pointed at the moon and said, “Look at that.” Indeed, check out that hazy moon, rising over the sunset. The colors of the setting sun, cast upon the clouds provide brilliant color that is contrasted by the silhouetted palm trees. This is a technicolor backdrop for any scene, tropical or not. This one happens to be in Aruba, but it might just as easily been taken on the high plains. Some day I would like to go to far northern Alaska or Canada, a place where I can see the northern lights. Now there is atmosphere (BIG-TIME), the embodiment of the interaction between the sun and the earth. If that doesn’t pop a few goose bumps I’m not sure what will. And then, after seeing these kind of natural phenomena, the mind has to be ready to incorporate them into a good story. Various belief systems have passed down through the generations the idea that the sky portends things to come. This may or may not be true. Do the stars predict the future? Do they reveal the past? I don’t know, but it’s a fantastic story convention to use such things. Perhaps there is a deep memory buried in human DNA that tells our minds to believe such things. Or, maybe it is true and you just have to be sensitive to the omens. Here’s another sky, this one taken just after dawn.

This is another after-the-storm shot. The clouds are breaking up, blue sky peeking through, sunlight poking out. Normally we think of sunlight shining “down.” However, here, the rays appear to be shooting up. Different.

Whether you’re a storyteller or not, it’s one of life’s pleasures to check out the sky from time to time. Don’t be afraid to look up, or down for that matter. It may not be doom you find. It could be a sign of good things to come. You simply have to be ready for whatever may come your way.

Published in: on July 15, 2008 at 11:32 am  Comments (1)  
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Aruba, Day and Evening

There were too many requests for more Aruba photos. I admit, I’m holding out on you a little. I showed that stuff from San Nicolaas and then the beach but have yet to put in anything about the hotels, shopping, and various other attractions that many people find interesting. We’ll get there, just stay with me.

So here is another view of the interior of the island. This was taken in the area known as San Fuego, looking north, northwest.

The desert landscape is looking green thanks to the rain that has been falling more frequently in the last few years. (And yet, this year things have been more dry.) At any rate, the tall cactus among the boulders make for striking contrast. Those boulders are granite, which you might not expect to find on a Caribbean island but the vagaries of the earth’s geography put them here. On the far right you’ll see a bit of a large water tank. Aruba’s water comes from a desalinization plant and is pumped to these tanks to maintain proper pressure in the lines. Works great and the water is pure and delicious.

In this part of the island there are fewer houses than on the north end, which hosts most of the tourist activity. There are many old “cunucu” houses as they are called. (I’ll post some photos of them later, too.) When traveling through the area, you get the sense that the island is much bigger than its 17 miles in length. Between the hills, you might think you’re in the middle of New Mexico or some such place. But, after passing over a ridge or two, you’ll soon see the ocean and be reminded that this is a small rock in a big sea.

As mentioned before, my pal Bob loves to greet the sunset every evening. Here’s another one of those.

This one is looking south from Savaneta toward San Nicolaas. From those tiny piers sticking into the water you’ll often see kids swimming. We jump in there from time to time, too. Great place to splash around. They also show up in my book An Island Away as a principal location.

As you can see from these photos and the ones in previous posts. There are many places in Aruba where you can experience a part of the Caribbean that hasn’t changed much in the last seventy-five years. As small as the world is, it still has places like this, places that aren’t so much unspoiled as untarnished, places that may fit your ideal of what it could be like, if only…

Published in: on June 22, 2008 at 12:51 pm  Comments (2)  
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