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LOCAL Monday 11 deceMber 2023

Aruba Tourism Authority honors loyal visitors at Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort!

The Aruba Tourism Authority recently had Goodwill Ambassador (20>years consecu-
the great pleasure of recognizing Distin- tively visiting Aruba)
guished Visitors of Aruba. These Distin- Emerald Ambassador (35>years consecu-
guished Visitors were respectively hon- tively visiting Aruba)
ored with a certificate acknowledging
their years of visits, loyalty, and love for the The honorees were:
island of Aruba. Distinguished Visitors Mr. Greg Drew & Mrs.
Marj Rooney from New Hampshire, United
The honor certification is presented on be- States
half of the Minister of Tourism as a token of
appreciation and to say “Masha Danki” to Ms. Kimberley Richardson representing the
guests who have visited Aruba 10, 20, or 35 Aruba Tourism Authority, and staff mem-
years or more consecutively. bers of the Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort be-
stowed the Distinguished Visitor certificate tion, as their home away from home.
The three honoring levels are as follows: to the honorees, presented them with
Distinguished Visitor (10>years consecu- gifts, and also thanked them for choosing Top reasons for returning to Aruba, provided by the hon-
tively visiting Aruba) Aruba as their favorite vacation destina- orees were:
Aruba’s great weather
Aruba’s beautiful beaches
Aruban legends: Aruba’s safety

Frenchman’s Pass Aruba’s variety of restaurants to choose from
“To relax in Aruba!”

(Oranjestad)—If you ever On behalf of the Aruba Tourism Authority, we would like
plan on taking a group There are many ghost sto- to express our sincere gratitude and appreciation to the
tour of the island, you may ries surrounding this area, honorees for their continued visits to the “One Happy
pass through the French- but one of the most fa- Island”.q
man’s Pass in Balashi. The mous one involves a lonely
Frenchman’s pass (known hitchhiker, trying to find a
to locals as “Franse Pas”) ride back home in the dark
remains a mysterious—and rainy night.
spooky—road of which its
legend is told from genera- Sometime after trying to he ordered a drink and be-
tion to generation. hitchhike, the man saw a gan to tell everyone about
car approaching, appear- his experience. Everyone
The history of the French- ing almost ghost-like in the grew quiet, because they
man’s pass—and how it got rain. However, since he realized he wasn’t some
its name—dates back to needed a ride real bad, drunk messing around; he
the colonization era, when he didn’t think twice and was telling the truth.
the French tried to colonize jumped in. But to his horror,
the island, but were met he noticed that the there Sometime later, two men
with an angry mob of in- was no driver in the front. walked into the bar and
digenous settlers, refusing Paralyzed with fear, he one of them noticed the
to give up their land. How- didn’t dare to get out, and hitchhiker. He called out to
ever, as the French were the car started to move. his buddy and said: “Look,
heavily equipped with fire there’s the idiot who sat
arms, the indigenous set- When approaching a in our car when we were
tlers began to retreat, and sharp turn, the hitch hiker pushing it!”
hid away in nearby caves. braced for impact, but just
The French colonizers tried when he though the car French man’s pass is one
to smoke them out of the might drive straight off the of the few sites on the is-
caves, but the indigenous road and crash, he saw a land that keeps the locals
settlers ended up inhal- hand appear out the win- on their toes. While most
ing too much smoke and dow and turn the wheel. ghost stories may not have
most died in those caves. For the next few turns, the real grounds—or some may
From then on, this passage hand appeared again. Af- even be a set up story for a
was known as Frenchman’s ter having had enough, the joke, this pass contributes a
Pass, and there have been man decided to jump out lot to our culture of folkloric
many accounts of spirits and he ran to Santa Cruz. story-telling.
roaming the area of Span-
ish Lagoon. Arriving at a nearby bar, Source: visitaruba.com