Page 12 - HOH

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local Friday 20 OctOber 2023
Another Treasure of Aruba’s Beaches: Sea Glass!

(Oranjestad) - It is hard to imagine Then, the sapphire rocks are the
this happening today, but years remnants of broken apothecary
ago people dumped all kinds of re- bottles. The most common and the
fuse straight into the ocean, includ- easiest to find are the brown (Ams-
ing old cars, and their household tel & Polar beer), green (Heineken
garbage, which of course included & Balashi beer) and clear glass
lots of glass. Over the next 30 years which are the soft much loved
the pounding waves cleaned the “soft drink” bottles.
beach, by breaking down every-
thing but glass and pottery. The If you like to see the sea glass for
pounding waves washed the trash yourself, and be in awe of the
up and down, back and forth. Tons power of nature, rent a car or
of polished, broken glass pieces jeep and go explore our deserted
were created by the pounding surf. beaches on the north side of the
These smoothened, colored glass island. Make it a fun family day!
particles then settled along the sea Even if we didn’t mean to pollute
shore in millions, and that is why the Beaches how we did, it is inspir-
you can find these beautiful and The colorful pieces of glass are The waves and weather condi- ing to see just how the earth can
colorful pieces on the north shore being used for decoration, hand- tions wore down the overwhelm- correct our mistakes.
beaches of Aruba. crafts and jewelry! ing amount of garbage in the wa-
Once glass makes its way into the ter, creating millions of beautiful Funny, how trash can change into
Especially on the strip on white ocean, the glass is broken up into smooth rocks. treasures!
sand between the famous Natural shards and is tumbled around in
Bridge” and the huge red anchor the water, where sand and other It’s hard to believe the short- Everybody knows that you are not
close to “Grapefield” beach you rocks act like sandpaper to smooth sighted mistakes we were making allowed to take local shells home,
will be able to find your own pieces out its rough edges. Sometimes as that could have potentially ru- but the people working at the air-
of sea glass. The sea glass that was the sea glass is passed through fire, ined these beautiful beaches. But port have no problem you taking
created is the product of a very it becomes fire glass, the rarest of thanks to natural processes, the sea glass home. A few of those
long and interesting process. It can sea glass with certain inclusions, ocean transformed the trash into pieces make great souvenirs. You
take anywhere from 10 to 30 years just like precious gems. the sea glass. can place them in a wine glass or
to make sea glass. The name for Each colored gem on the beach large bottle for decoration and ev-
any piece of glass that finds its way For years, the water beat against has its own story. ery time you look at it a smile will
to the ocean and tumbles around the different kinds of trash being light up your face thinking back of
in the water long enough is “Sea dumped. Glass, household ap- The ruby red glass stones are typi- your unforgettable Aruba vaca-
glass. pliances and even motor parts cally from old car tail-lights. tion! q
were discarded on the beach.

Helpful tips for your stay on Aruba

(Oranjestad)—When traveling to another coun- Drinking water
try, especially for the first time, it is always better The water that flows through the sinks of every
to be over-prepared than under-prepared. That house, hotels and other establishments is dis-
is why we have a list of basic—but important— tilled and perfectly safe to drink. Aruba’s drink-
information that we think may come in handy to ing water exceeds WHO’s international stan-
Aruba’s visitors. dards for water quality, so there is no need to
buy bottled water from the store.
Emergency services
Even though most people don’t even want to Supermarket hours
think about having to contact emergency ser- Supermarket hours may vary depending on
vices—especially not while on their vacation, it where you are staying on the island. Generally
is still important to know what number to dial in though, most supermarkets are open from 8am
case of the unlikely event of an accident or se- to 9 or 10pm, Monday through Saturday. On
vere incident. Sundays, supermarkets generally close earlier;
mostly around 2pm.
Police: 100
Police Tipline: 11141 Taxis
Ambulance: 911 Prices for taxi fair are set by the Department
Fire Dept: 115 of Public Traffic and are based on destination
Oranjestad: HOH hospital: +297-527-4000 rather than mileage. Most taxis can take up to
San Nicolas: ImSan: +297-527-8833 five passengers, but this may vary depending
on the vehicle. Taxis are pretty much always
Electrical power available and you can ever hire one for $45 an
Aruba generally operates on 110V to 127V sup- hour.
ply voltage and 60Hz. There are also three types Safety
of outlets used on the island: type A with two flat Aruba is one of the safest islands in the Caribbe-
prongs; type B with two flat and one grounding an, and many tourist that visit have often told
prong, and on occasion, type F with two round us how they feel safe to explore the island or
prong and two earth clips on the side. How- walk around at night. However, rare incidents
ever, Type A is most commonly found in homes do occurs, so keep yourself and your belong-
and establishments. ings safe.q