This morning I unwrapped the 2026 Aruba Bank calendar and placed it on the kitchen counter. Out with the old, in with the new,

Champaign is chilling.

Plans for the afternoon are made, with the Wind Creek pagara as opening statement. While I run away from the smoke and the noise the ambiente is irresistible — I am conflicted.

Buleria at the Renaissance Marketplace, then an inspection of main street’s Ban Caya.

Today is one of the best loved days of the year.

On the wings of Saca Fucu, this is what I learned over the years: Most of the rituals and traditions revolve around sweet smelling perfumes and incense that symbolize cleanliness, purity, prosperity, and eternal good luck. The removal of bad luck, Saca Fucu, symbolized in dirt and bad smells and the bringing in of good luck is a serious occupation on New Year’s Eve.

Are you ready, some of the dos and don’ts in life, and on New Year’s Eve in particular, according to local superstitions and old beliefs:

Compiled by Robbert G. Croes.

Aruba Birdlife Conservation is delighted to announce that the Aruba Birdlife Calendars 2026 are now available for sale.

The calendars, full of beautifully curated images make meaningful gifts for friends, family members, and colleagues—gifts that truly give back.

All proceeds from the sale of the calendars goes directly to support the conservation of our beloved Shoco, the Aruba Burrowing Owl.

The Shoco is an endemic subspecies found only in Aruba, and with an estimated 200 breeding pairs remaining, every effort counts to secure the future of the species.

We have reason for hope.

In December 2024, the Iberostar–Tierra del Sol Golf Course was officially declared a National Shoco Sanctuary. Throughout 2025, additional conservation milestones were achieved with the installation of artificial burrows at key locations, including the Shoco Boulevard at Joia Aruba by Iberostar, Marriott’s Shoco Garden, at the Aruba Marriott & Stellaris Casino, and the Shoco’s playground at Aruba’s International School.

The foundation’s efforts will continue and expand in 2026, with plans already underway to place more artificial burrows at safe locations across the island, strengthening breeding opportunities, improving survival rates, and helping prevent the extinction of the island’s national symbol.

The Aruba Birdlife Calendar 2026 is available for just AWG 20/each, and may be purchased at the following locations: Best Deal in Paradera, Botica Eagle, Botica Noord, Botica Maria, Botica Sero Preto, Op=Op in Italiëstraat, Op=Op in Paradera, and Op=Op in San Nicolas.

Looking ahead, Aruba Birdlife Conservation is proud to host the World Owl Conference in September 2026, where scientific findings on Aruba’s Shoco will be presented. Additional important conservation activities are also planned in the coming year.

For questions or more information, please contact us at:  aruba.birdlife.conservation@gmail.com

Aruba Birdlife Conservation

A combination of bad weather in the U.S, and some technical challenges delayed outgoing flights, and prevented passengers from leaving the island. Imagine, at the end of a fantastic vacation week, to be faced with a stressful situation. Delta with 153 passengers, United with 168 and Southwest with 160, remained on the ground, a total of 423 passengers plus crew members, during a peak week in Aruba.

Two aircrafts of American Airlines and Jet Blue were also considering staying the night.

This type of situation is nothing new. It happened before and will happen again, but regardless of what happens, it is how we react that makes a difference.

Bottomline, all passengers were accommodated… thanks to great teamwork and the coming together of the community in support of the island’s guests!

My source at the airport says: It was luckily very doable, all of it, and indeed partners helping with arranging rooms for the stranded, did a great job through the Crisis Management Office of the government. We experienced numerous delays, arrival cancellations, and departure cancellations. In the end we had 3 cancelled flights due to technical challenges and crew rest issues. Some passengers were rebooked on other flights, same day, some on the following. In any case the next day’s operation continued, ensuring all visitors resumed their travels and moved safely to and from Aruba Airport.

My source at the hotels says: It was a perfect storm of flights arriving but not leaving…so lots of extra people on island needing a place to sleep.  Long story of all that we did… But we all worked well together. AHATA worked on getting any hotel room available and worked with vacation rental members to find units availability. Hotels made any last rooms available, despite lack of staff, and this being the one fully booked week of the year. Many in the community don’t understand that. This is the one PEAK week of the year where Aruba is full to the max. When the revenue is made that helps the whole year.

In this case, everyone lent a hand. Hundreds of people were stranded, so the decision was made to also send a request to the community to help.  Nice to see so many people work to make a bad situation as good as possible for stranded visitors.

Just for you to know, it was a busy day at Reina Beatrix Airport with 6,729 outgoing passengers and 7,038 incoming.

So how did it work? The resorts, vacation rentals, and private homes were offered to the airlines and the airlines were responsible to book guests and pay for their accommodations.

All people I spoke to mentioned good collaboration and great communication, so there you have it. The solution to any crisis lies in high-level of collaboration and communication.

Many people pointed out that vacation rentals contributed their fair share to the resolution of the crisis. Of course, they are a major hospitality partner.

The Prime Minister of Aruba proved again he has a very good sense of PR as he gathered all stakeholders for a press conference, shared details of the unfolding event himself, calling on the community to come forward, reciting telephone numbers. He had all ministers, and all relevant services in the room, at the office of crisis management. They probably just wanted to go to work, but had to take a few minutes off for the sake of positive PR.

I appreciated the answer given by the CEO of the Aruba Tourism Authority, when asked who was responsible. She replied that the responsibility is shared. I wish our political parties in Parliament learned something on December 27th. High-levels of collaboration and communication, save the day.

Chef Jermain de Rozario sells out successful events at Window on Aruba

https://batibleki.wheninaruba.com/chef-jermain-de-rozario-sells-out-successful-events-at-window-on-aruba/

Happy Holidays

https://batibleki.wheninaruba.com/happy-holidays-3/

Happy Holidays

https://batibleki.wheninaruba.com/happy-holidays-4/

What a beautiful morning!

We are living in paradise.

Last night’s dinner with friends was an extraordinary experience, orchestrated to perfection then just before midnight as we were ready to kiss and hug and shower each other with blessings, my phone dinged 60 times.

Sixty messages came in on my phone, not WhatsApp, not messenger.

The earliest was from October 12th, 2022.

I guess Setar purged its guts, at almost midnight, emptied its pipes, dumped the blockage.

I am hereby apologizing to anyone who sent me a message and never got a reply.

No, I did not ghost you, did not burn bridges, I just did not get the dispatch.

Setar, the gift that keeps on giving.

May the holiday bring you joy!