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| Airport Parking | Airport Hotels & Parking | Airport Lounges | Car Hire | Cheap Travel Insurance |
 Car Hire & Driving in Oranjestad, ArubaWelcome to Oranjestad Car Hire, Aruba; available at Queen Beatrix International Airport, Oranjestad.Aruba is the smallest island in the Leeward group of the Dutch Caribbean islands, which also include Bonaire and Curaçao. They are popularly known as the ABCs. As the westernmost island of the group, Aruba is the final link in the long Antillean chain, lying 20km (12.5 miles) off the Venezuelan coast. Aruba’s Dutch heritage is always present, and nowhere more so than in the capital of Oranjestad, characterised by pastel-coloured gabled buildings, and a windmill brought piece by piece from Holland, now used as a restaurant, which you can visit in your hire car. There are four museums in Oranjestad open to the public which you can explore in your hire car: the Historical Museum, the Geological Museum, the Archaeological Museum and the Numismatic Museum. The first is housed in the Fort Zoutman, the oldest building on Aruba (1796) with the Willem III-Tower having been added in 1868. The Bonbini Festival is held every Tuesday throughout the year in the courtyard of the Historical Museum and offers the opportunity to get an insight into local customs, music and cuisine as well as a chance to get to know the islanders, so why not visit in your hire car. Oranjestad has a daily market in the Paardenbaai (Schooner Harbour) which you can visit in your hire car. Traders sell fresh fish straight from the boat, and fruit and vegetables from the mainland are available. Oranjestad is also famous for its shopping district, centred on Caya Gilberto François (Betico) Croes. One of the roads north from the capital which you can drive in your hire car runs inland, passing the Bubali Bird Sanctuary. If you wish to leave your hire car bird watching and natural wildlife tours as well as archaeological and geological trips are available in various languages. Aruba’s principal attraction is its beaches; these include Arashi Beach, which is near California Point on the northwest tip in your hire car and is particularly good for snorkelling; Bucuti Beach, definitely worth a visit in your hire car as it is was recently rated one of the top nine beaches in the Caribbean and one of the best 100 beaches in the world; Spaans Lagoen and Commandeurs Baai, Bachelor’s Beach, which is good for windsurfing and the particularly shallow areas of Baby Beach and the Grapefield, all on the south coast. Near Baby Beach in your hire car, at Seroe Colorado, is Rodger’s Beach, where the surf is a little stronger. Beaches on the north coast include Boca Prins, Dos Playa and Andicouri, which you can explore in your hire car. One of the attractions on this shore which you can visit in your hire car is the Natural Bridge, an arch carved from coral cliffs by the crashing ocean surf. The bridge is the biggest and highest in the Caribbean and is Aruba’s most famous natural wonder. So too is the surf on this coast, but visitors are warned that it can be very rough. Local advice concerning conditions for surfing on the island at any particular time should be followed carefully, but there will usually be one beach somewhere to suit all levels of skill and courage. Another favourite pastime is exploring the surrounding shallow water with specially equipped submarine vessels, so leave your hire car and have a go. Not all of the coast is completely deserted; for instance, much of Palm Beach, the 11km (7 miles) of sand and palm trees on the west and southwest shores of the island in your hire car, has now been developed into a unique hotel resort. Low-rise resort hotels are more common on Eagle Beach, located between the point to the west of Druif Bay and south of Palm Beach in your hire car. Visitors after more isolated relaxation while exploring in their hire car will need to seek out some of the more remote sunbathing and swimming spots, of which there are plenty. On the northern tip of Aruba is the California Lighthouse set in an area of desolate sand dunes. Off this coast is the wreck of a German freighter from World War II which is now the home of countless exotic fish and a very popular spot for scuba divers. The Chapel of Alto Vista at Alto Vista is another popular site on the north coast to visit in your hire car. In the south-eastern part of the island is Aruba’s second-largest town, San Nicolas, which you can visit in your hire car. San Nicholas owed its prosperity to the oil refinery, once one of the largest in the world. To the east in your hire car is the area known as Seroe Colorado, notable not only for several fine beaches but also for being the home of the local iguana community. The Interior of Aruba, like its coastline is equally worth exploring in your hire car. The Cunucu is a land of cactus, windswept divi-divi trees, old villages and hamlets and unsignposted dirt roads stretching across the often mysterious landscape which you can investigate in your hire car. The distinctive shape of the divi-divi trees, also known as watapanas, has become Aruba’s unofficial trademark; blown by the north-easterly trade winds, the trees are forced to grow at alarming angles, as you will see from your hire car. The island can easily be driven in your hire car round in a day, and cars can be hired without difficulty. There are several systems of caves on Aruba, which you can explore in your hire car. Fontein was once used by the Arawak Indians who were the original inhabitants of the island. On the walls of the caves are ancient drawings thought to be part of the Indian sacrificial rite. Nearby in your hire car, the caves at Guadirikiri are a haven for bats. Arikok, which has been designated a national park, has by far the best preserved Indian drawings on the island. Also interesting is a visit in your hire car to Frenchman’s Pass, where Arawak Indians defended Aruba against the French in 1700. In fact almost in the geographical centre of the island is the old settlement of Santa Cruz, named after what is allegedly the place where the first cross was raised on Aruba. Hooiberg, Mount Haystack, looms out of the flat landscape of the interior to the northwest of Santa Cruz and can easily be seen from your hire car. If you leave your hire car and take the series of several hundred steps leads up to the 165m (541ft) peak it is possible to see across to Venezuela. Northwest of Hooiberg in your hire car is the old town of Seroe Patrishi with historical graves dating as far back as the early 18th century. Further north in your hire car is the town of Noord, noted for its Church of Santa Anna, the oldest church on Aruba, with its beautiful 100-year-old hand-carved oak altar. North from Santa Cruz, turning back towards the coast in your hire car, the road to Casibari and Ayo passes spectacular boulders, the result of some unexplained geological catastrophe. Continue on the road in your hire car to the coast at Bushiribana, centre of the island’s former gold-mining industry. Gold was discovered here in 1824 and actively mined until the beginning of World War I. Kettles and ovens used in the smelting process have been preserved. Gold was also mined at Balashi in the south, which you car visit in your hire car. Queen Beatrix International Airport in Oranjestad, is a fairly large aviation facility that has flight services to the United States, most countries in the Caribbean, the northern coastal countries of South America and some parts of Europe, notably the Netherlands. Oranjestad airport was named after Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, the head of state of Aruba. Queen Beatrix International Airport is located 3.5km (2.5 miles) south east of Oranjestad in your hire car and its facilities include a duty-free shop, bank, restaurants and left luggage facilities.
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