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                                                                                                           local Thursday 18 sepTember 2025






























































            Aruban legends: Frenchman’s Pass


            (Oranjestad)—If  you  ever                                                                                          man  decided  to  jump  out
            plan  on  taking  a  group                                                                                          and he ran to Santa Cruz.
            tour of the island, you may
            pass  through  the  French-                                                                                         Arriving at a nearby bar, he
            man’s  Pass  in  Balashi.  The                                                                                      ordered a drink and began
            Frenchman’s  pass  (known                                                                                           to  tell  everyone  about  his
            to  locals  as  “Franse  Pas”)                                                                                      experience. Everyone grew
            remains a mysterious—and                                                                                            quiet,  because  they  real-
            spooky—road  of  which  its                                                                                         ized he wasn’t some drunk
            legend is told from genera-                                                                                         messing  around;  he  was
            tion to generation.                                                                                                 telling the truth.

            The  history  of  the  French-                                                                                      Some  time  later,  two  men
            man’s pass—and how it got                                                                                           walked  into  the  bar  and
            its  name—dates  back  to                                                                                           one  of  them  noticed  the
            the colonization era, when                                                                                          hitchhiker. He called out to
            the  French  tried  to  colo-                                                                                       his buddy and said: “Look,
            nize  the  island,  but  were                                                                                       there’s  the  idiot  who  sat
            met with an angry mob of                                                                                            in  our  car  when  we  were
            indigenous settlers, refusing                                                                                       pushing it!”
            to give up their land. How-  was known as Frenchman’s                                  the car started to move.
            ever,  as  the  French  were  Pass, and there have been  Some  time  after  trying  to                              French  man’s  pass  is  one
            heavily  equipped  with  fire  many  accounts  of  spirits  hitchhike,  the  man  saw  a  When   approaching    a  of  the  few  sites  on  the  is-
            arms,  the  indigenous  set-  roaming the area of Span-   car  approaching,  appear-   sharp  turn,  the  hitch  hiker  land  that  keeps  the  locals
            tlers began to retreat, and  ish Lagoon.                  ing almost ghost-like in the  braced for impact, but just  on  their  toes.  While  most
            hid away in nearby caves.                                 rain.  However,  since  he  when  he  though  the  car  ghost stories may not have
            The  French  colonizers  tried  There  are  many  ghost  sto-  needed  a  ride  real  bad,  might drive straight off the  real grounds—or some may
            to  smoke  them  out  of  the  ries  surrounding  this  area,  he  didn’t  think  twice  and  road  and  crash,  he  saw  a  even be a set up story for a
            caves,  but  the  indigenous  but one of the most famous  jumped in. But to his horror,  hand  appear  out  the  win-  joke, this pass contributes a
            settlers  ended  up  inhal-  one involves a lonely hitch-  he  noticed  that  the  there  dow  and  turn  the  wheel.  lot to our culture of folkloric
            ing  too  much  smoke  and  hiker,  trying  to  find  a  ride  was  no  driver  in  the  front.  For  the  next  few  turns,  the  story-telling.q
            most  died  in  those  caves.  back  home  in  the  dark  Paralyzed  with  fear,  he  hand appeared again. Af-
            From then on, this passage  rainy night.                  didn’t dare to get out, and  ter having had enough, the      Source: visitaruba.com
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