Page 11 - AHATA

a8 local
Monday 30 deceMber 2024

Prohibited by law: Aruba to me

leaving the island with

seashells, white sand or

corals

ORANJESTAD — You are back and we the Sheraton where we have stayed every
would like to portrait you! By inviting you time since then. Back in those days we
to send us your favorite vacation picture did all the touristy things like snorkeling, vis-
while enjoying our Happy Island. iting the Natural Bridge and the gold mine.
We ate at Chez Mathilde’s, Valentino’s,
Complete the sentence: Aruba to me is and The Mill. Now that we are part of the
……. Send your picture with that text (in- Riu Palace, we have no need to leave the
cluding your name and where you are property (except to walk to the Butterfly
from) to: news@arubatoday.com and we Farm).
will publish your vacation memory. Isn’t
that a special way to keep your best mo- What we have found over the years in our
ments alive? Please do note: By submitting travels is that meeting people and being
photos, text or any other materials, you exposed to other cultures is very impor-
give permission to The Aruba Today News- tant. What we have found in Aruba is a
paper, Caribbean Speed Printers and any mix of native Arubans as well workers who
of its affiliated companies to use said ma- have come from other countries. What
terials, as well as names, likeness, etc. for they have in common is a friendliness not
promotional purposes without compensa- found in many places. Whether is it a serv-
tion. er, a floor sweeper or management, they
Last but not least: check out our website, go out of their way to make one’s vaca-
Instagram and Facebook page! Thank tion memorable. With hugs or fist bumps,
you for supporting our free newspaper, we they make one feel special.
strive to make you a happy reader every
(Oranjestad)—Often times, a fine that they have to day again. We are pictured here celebrating the
the customs department at pay before leaving. This is For today we received a lovely message birthday of Victor Comacho from Save-
the airport intercepts many surely not a pleasant ex- from Marlene Purdy from Fort Wayne, USA. neta, the pianist in the lobby bar at the Riu
tourists leaving the island perience for the tourist. This Palace.
with seashells, white sand also leads to a negative re- She wrote to us saying: “What is Aruba to
and/or corals as souvenirs. action which can put our me? If I had answered that question when So to us, Aruba is the people!”
tourism in a negative light. my husband Lee and I came here the first Thank you for sending us this wonderful
Conforming to the inter- Though we love to accom- time in 1978, I would have said the sun and message sharing what Aruba means to
national treaty of CITES modate our visitors, let’s all the sand. But today our answer is quite dif- you with us and our readers!q
and our local law which give nature the respect it ferent. Today, it is THE PEOPLE!
protects our Flora & Fau- deserves by protecting our
na, it is absolutely prohib- environment. Stop collect- Our first trip here had us staying at the Aru-
ited to take any seashell, ing seashells, white sand ba Caribbean (later the Golden Tulip, the
sand and coral outside and corals from our shores Radisson and currently the Hilton). There
of Aruba. This is to protect and stop buying or ac- were only four other hotels on Palm Beach
our environment. The high cepting these from local at the time: The Concorde (later the Wes-
number of seashells, coral sellers or companies. tin, Wyndham and now the Riu Antilles),
and amount of sand con- We want our future gener- the Sheraton (later the Aruba Palm Beach,
fiscated is very strange and ations and visitors to enjoy the Aruba Grand and now part of the Riu
it is suspected that our own the beauty of our beach- Palace), the Americana (later the Allegro
locals are the ones selling es, shells and corals in a and now the Barcello) and the Holiday Inn.
these to the tourists, which sustainable way, without In 1980, we were at the Sheraton. On our
is unacceptable. destroying or disrupting the trip here in 1982, we tried the brand new
Upon confiscation at the Aruban ecosystem. Help us Ramada (now the building is part of Divi
airport, you can also face protect what is ours!q Phoenix).Our trip in 1985 had us back at