Aruba is one of the three so-called ABC islands, along with Bonaire and Curacao. These islands are just off the coast of Venezuela and are part of the Nederlands Antilles. While geographically close, the islands are dramatically different in terrain and climate. The locals speak a language known as Papiamento—a blend of Spanish, Dutch, and Arawak.

I visited Aruba in 1989 during a three-week-long trip around the Caribbean, which included the Turks and Caicos islands and the Cayman islands.

Aruba is the place for windsurfing. The wind blows a steady thirty kilometres per hour all the time and in the same direction. The wind is so constant, there's even a tree adapted to it—the Divi Divi Tree starts off vertical then the upper branches bend with the wind until they're horizontal.