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local Monday 10 February 2025
Aruban legends:

Frenchman’s Pass

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

Aruba: The island of Aloes

ORANJESTAD – Aloe vera, a succu- Aloes.”
lent plant species, is renowned for
its incredible properties for the skin. Under Commander Jan Helenus
It is widely distributed and usually Ferguson (1866-1871), aloe experi-
grows in tropical, semi-tropical and enced a boom, which is why there
arid climates on the planet. But this is a road named after him, which
plant also had a very prominent goes through the aloe fields. In the
role in the history of Aruba, and its 19th century, Aruba was the main
significance to the island’s econo- supplier of aloin for laxative, which
my endures to this day. was imported abroad to the United
States and Europe. The aloin from ration, houses are also decorat-
The leaves of Aloe vera contain a Aruba and Curaçao was known to ed with aloe motifs, and at some
good amount of gel which when be one of the best in the world and point, aloe even featured on post
used topically, is great for the skin. was more expensive, which meant stamps. Around 1920, about two-
Traditionally, Arubans use this gel that at the time, it had significant thirds of Aruba was aloe fields,
to treat minor burns and other skin economic impact, particularly for earning our island the nickname
ailments, or just to keep skin supple the local farmers. “The Island of Aloes.” And in 1955,
and looking bright and nourished. the aloe became a part of Aruba’s
Aside from the gel, aloe contains However, by the time the oil indus- coat of arms, symbolizing prosper-
a bitter, yellow substance (called try arrived on Aruba, it changed ity for the island.
aloin) which is a gentle but power- the labor market on Aruba, shifting
ful laxative, and it is also the origin away from agriculture. It would be Images from the archive of the Na-
of the industry of aloe in Aruba. after World War II that aloe would tional Library of Aruba.
make a comeback. And eventu-
According to the website of Roy- troduced in Aruba around 1840, ally, as science learned about the
al Aruba Aloe, Aloe vera was in- when most of the island’s inhabit- amazing properties of aloe gel,
ants were farmers of little means. the industry shifted from produc-
Dutch Governor Van Raders intro- ing laxative to producing skin care.
duced the plant after it had been An interesting fact is that in 1951,
introduced in other islands of the the production of Aruban aloe
Caribbean to cultivate and har- amounted to around 30 percent
vest the aloe to produce the laxa- of the total global production!
tive.
The impact and relevance of
Around 1920, about two-thirds of aloe is visible all around Aruba.
Aruba was aloe fields, earning our While most homes will have a few
island the nickname “The Island of plants for personal use and deco-