After writing our last blog we went for long moonlit walk on the boardwalk right beside the ocean. What a wonderful evening for a walk. It was still very warm and humid. There was music playing from the pubs along the way. Lights on the ocean from the boats in the area looked like small towns.
Yesterday we rented a car again and drove to WEB (the water desalination and electricity plant). The tour was very interesting. We thought that we were not going to be able to tour it initially because they needed ID (Kathy hadn't brought hers). After standing in the line for a while we asked one of the employees if we could still take the tour without ID. Apparently we were in the line to pay the utility bills. You need ID to pay your bill but not needed to take the tour. Weird! We decided we didn't want to pay anyone's bill so we went next door to the proper place for the tour. The guide explained that they use fuel from the oil refinery in boilers to heat up the sea water. The steam produced turns the turbines which produces electricity. After spinning the turbine the steam goes to the water plant where it is distilled. 60% of the water is returned to the ocean with the extra salt taken out in the distallation process making that water very salty. The 40% of pure water is then run through a limestone rock filter (brought from US) to add necessary minerals. Previously they had run the water through coral rock for the mineral content but environmental regulations put a halt to that process. They use ultraviolet light to
kill any bacteria left. It is sent off to the island for use from there. They are in the process of changing to reverse osmosis to produce water.
After the tour we drove to Baby Beach which is right beside the oil refinery. It is a beautiful beach where we snorkled again and saw more awesome tropical fish. Kathy saw a bright yellow eel type creature for the first time.
We then checked out some interesting large rock formations. We climbed through the rocks to the top and had a wonderful view of the area. We took pictures of wild native green parrakeets which were plentiful in this area.
After dropping off the rental car we returned back to the condo where we barbequed chicken which was a great ending to a wonderful day.
We are nearing the end of our time in Aruba with only two days left. We will be sorry to have to leave.
That's it for now.
Kathy and Dennis
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