Page 19 - AHATA

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local Saturday 19 July 2025
Aruba’s neighborhoods; the meaning behind their names

Just like any other coun- name, but the name of the
try, Aruba has unique and development proyect that
beautifully named neighbor- took place. It is hoped that
hoods that all form a part of the original and ‘old’ name
its culture and development. of Anabui is never lost and
Many of these names have now it will be remembered
a historical background and by both locals and tourists.
meaning that teaches us
about the island and its rich Angochi
culture every day. This name can be seen on
the Werbata map with little
With this series, we want to and cursive letters. It is the
take you on a journey of dis- unofficial name for the area
covery, where you’ll learn given by a tenant to the land
not only the beautiful names that was rented to him.
but the history behind it that
gives it life and meaning. The biggest probability that
historians believe is that it
Anabui/Tierra Del Sol came to be because of a together would mean “the that has been more or less comes from native descent,
This neighborhood can be miscommunication between best juice of a cassava”. speculated and assumed during the time in the 19th
seen on Van Raders map Van Spengler and the na- for the word Anabui and it’s century where Mestizos still
and Werbata as Anna Boei. tives who were living on the If one assumes that the actu- meaning. lived on Aruba. The name
Anna Boei is a name of which island. In the Arawak/Taino al word heard was Anaboio can’t really be explain and
there isn’t much information language one can find the instead, consisting of Ana During the second world according to books on its his-
about its origin. word Anaiboa, which con- meaning the best and Boio war and later, this area was tory seems to be more of a
sists of Ana meaning flower (bohio); house, the iteration used as a terrain for train- sign of corruption.
The best historians were able or the best and Iboa; the of Anabui would mean “the ing of shooting by militia
to deduce is that this name juice of a cassava, which best house.” This is the origin and latero n Korps Marin- However, it seems to come
iers (the marines of Aruba). from combining A(n), which
By the end of the previous is a generalizing prefix and
century a large part of Ana- Goeiza, which means ‘the
bui was developed to have spirit of a living man’. Ango-
luxurious villas and a golf chi remains more of a guess.
course, which lead to it get-
ting the name Tierra Del Sol, This neighborhood’s abbre-
Spanish for Land of the Sun. viation is; An.q
The name is not an official

Prohibited by law: leaving the island with seashells, white sand or corals

(Oranjestad)—Often times, the have to pay before leaving. This is
customs department at the air- surely not a pleasant experience
port intercepts many tourists leav- for the tourist. This also leads to a
ing the island with seashells, white negative reaction which can put
sand and/or corals as souvenirs. our tourism in a negative light.
Though we love to accommodate
Conforming to the international our visitors, let’s all give nature the
treaty of CITES and our local law respect it deserves by protecting
which protects our Flora & Fauna, it our environment. Stop collecting
is absolutely prohibited to take any seashells, white sand and corals
seashell, sand and coral outside of from our shores and stop buying or
Aruba. This is to protect our envi- accepting these from local sellers
ronment. The high number of sea- or companies.
shells, coral and amount of sand We want our future generations
confiscated is very strange and it is and visitors to enjoy the beauty
suspected that our own locals are of our beaches, shells and corals
the ones selling these to the tour- in a sustainable way, without de-
ists, which is unacceptable. stroying or disrupting the Aruban
Upon confiscation at the airport, ecosystem. Help us protect what is
you can also face a fine that they ours!q