Aruba, December 2009

Our recent escape from the New England cold to sunny, warm Aruba was wonderful and relaxing. My lasting impressions of Aruba are the bright colors used fearlessly, bright sunlight, and the constant warm breezes.

Day 1: Tuesday, December 22, 2009

We arrived very early at the airport, by about 6:15 for an 8:05 flight. We left our winter coats in the trunk. On the flight,  it seemed like US Air did a very poor job of accomodating seating arrangements. We could not book seats together, but the people in the row behind us also had a problem, so we swapped with them and ended up next to each other; then the flight attendant was looking for two people together to swap with another separated family, so we swapped again and ended up with 3 seats for the two of us. It was an uneventful flight. Linda read and Mark did sudoko.

 It was a very slow line to get through immigration, but we eventually made it through. There was someone from the rental car company to meet us. We had a short ride to the off-airport site. We have a pretty beat up car, but its A/C works, it's a small island, and it's cheap.

Stepping out of the airport into the warm breeze was delightful, and a welcome change from 21 degrees just this morning! Linda was very glad she left her coat in the car at Logan. On the way to the condo, we saw cacti, and the land is very dry. We passed some nice homes surrounded by gates or cement walls - and some shacks and run-down neighborhoods. The dichotomy is reminiscent of South Africa, although on a much smaller scale.

 We found our way to the condo without any wrong turns, and then ran into some problems. It's a 1-bedroom/1 bathroom unit in a small 2-story complex. First, the door wouldn't open. There was a combination lock on the door, but the combination we had did not work. We called the local contact, and found out the owner sent us the wrong code. With the right code, the door opened right up. However,  the A/C did NOT work. We tried everything but no joy. There's a small grocery store across the street. So, we picked up a few supplies, and then went back to the condo. We got some OJ, wine, beer, coffee, and muffins for breakfast.

 

That's when the next disaster struck. There are 2 locks on the door. Linda had locked the non-combination lock, so now we could not get in. Luckily, since the A/C was not working, we had left the bathroom window open. I wish I had a picture of Linda climbing in the bathroom window -- there's a Beatle's song that comes to mind...

Anyway, we got in, and called about the A/C. Laurence came and flipped a switch somewhere -- not in the condo, and it started to work. Life was much better now. We went for a swim in the pool, then showered and got in the car to find some dinner. We had not had  anything since having some pastry at Starbucks at Logan at 7 AM. Well,  we split a beer, while waiting for Laurence.

Many houses are painted bright colors outside, and possibly inside, like our condo.

 

We drove toward the hotels, and found a complex with several restaurants. We were hungry, so we stopped, and ate at a fish restaurant: Fishes & More. We had a table outside, and there was live music sort of shared by the 3 or 4 restaurants in a row. We had salad, and Linda had grouper, and Mark had mahi mahi. We had a free glass of wine with dinner, and a couple of bottles of Pelligrino.

For dessert, Linda had Grand Marnier Creme Brulee and Mark had Apple Strudel. 

Linda had a cappuccino and Mark had a double espresso.  The whole meal was very good, especially after starving all day. The menu had prices in US dollars, and the bill was also in dollars, with the price in Aruba currency below it. It was just about $100 plus tax and tip.






We were going to stop at a big super market, but didn't really feel like driving around in the dark. We still need to get some toilet paper, paper towels, and food for breakfasts and lunches. There is a small kitchen, and even a cooler so we can pack a lunch (when we get some supplies). We took a different path home, and eventually made it back to the condo, and turned on the A/C.

  

The WiFi signal is very weak, and though I can connected to the WLAN,  it's not connected to the internet. Laurence said someone else had complained about that, too. So, I'm hoping tomorrow we can really connect. Meanwhile, I can start our trip blog as a text file.  

The cable and wide-screen TV work fine -- mostly US TV shows. Not very interesting.

Day 2: Wednesday, December 23, 2009

 

Did we mention the lights in the bathroom stopped working? We moved a table lamp into the bathroom, but it takes up too much room. Mark tried flipping all the circuit breakers, but no luck. Finally, he tried flipping the switch in the bedroom closet -- the one that appeared to do nothing. Yup, that's the one that controls the circuit in the bathroom around the corner.

This morning we went to the small grocery store across the street for toilet paper, paper towels, tissues, and some bread and cheese for lunch. We had breakfast outside on the deck, and then set out to do some sightseeing and beaching. We went to the California Lighthouse.

Then we found a nice public beach. The Arashi beach had coarse sand, but the water was clear, and a bit on the cool side. The sand in the water was very soft, though.

At one end of the beach was a big suguero cactus, and at the other end was a tree bent sideways from the constant wind.

It was windy, but not too bad. We sat in beach chairs from the condo. The beach dropped off quickly, but then was shallow for a long distance. There were some small minnows, but not much of interest to see in the water. We'll have to track down some snorkel gear tomorrow.

 

After lunch we went into town. The architecture is Dutch style in some areas.

There we quite a lot of high-end designer shops,many jewelry stores - all offering discounts. One block in from the main shopping street were more stores, but more for locals, and not designer shops. The town center is quite congested for traffic, and has one-way streets. We managed to find a parking space near Main St., then wound our way to the other street. We got an Aruban cell SIM card, then found a giant supermarket, and got some food to make dinner in the condo. We also got some beer, cheese and crackers, etc.  We found some cheese like the kilo of cheese we bought in Holland at the beginning of our 3- week camping tour of Europe in 1975. There are a lot of products from Holland available here.

 

We called about the lack of internet access and they said to try another access point. There was a very weak signal by the pool, and after awhile it kept dropping the connection. Maybe we'll have better luck with the connection tomorrow. While Mark was trying to connect,  Linda saw a hummingbird flit from bush to bush by the pool. We chatted for a few minutes with a couple from New Brunswick, Canada; they're also here to escape the snow and cold.

Looking out the kitchen window, we spotted some wild goats by the parking lot!

Linda confirmed our reservations for dinners for the next few nights,  and made a reservation for Saturday night. We plan to go to Soprano's lounge one night too; that's where Susan, George, and Lauren had a good time a few months ago.

We had a nice dinner by candlelight. The pool is lit tonight, and some young children are splashing around having a great time. It's a quiet place generally, and we haven't seen too many other people. Maybe more will be here over the holiday.

 

Day 3: Thursday, December 24

We got off to a slow start.  After breakfast we went off in search of snorkel rentals. We drove in a roundabout way to the Marriott complex. We found the Redsail Rental shack, but since it was $15/day for rental, we decided to buy our own set. Linda has a small head, so we got a large kid size for her, and Mark got a medium adult based on foot size. The whole setup was just over $100 so we need to snorkel for 4 days to make this cost effective...

 

We went home for lunch, and then headed out to test out the new gear. We ended up at the same beach as yesterday. The beaches are studded with palapas -
roofs made of palm fronds supported by a single pole. They offer the only shade on the beaches.
Even here we see the little lizards.

There was not much to look at, some translucent fish. The water was cloudier today so not ideal conditions for watching fish. However, the water temperature was much more comfortable today. It was like Ocean Isle Beach. You could stay in as long as you wanted to. The waves are more fun at OIB though. Not much wave action on this beach, though a little further down someone was surfing.
We did see a number of very brightly colored tour buses. Amazing paint jobs!

We came back to avoid overdoing the sun and spent some time at the pool. We connected to the internet, and struck up a conversation with the guy who has the broken wifi in his unit. He's been going to the Marriot to connect. We told him about the other wifi ID, and Mark is going to go over after dinner to see if he can get the system to work.  

We dressed for dinner, and went to Papillon, a French restaurant across the street from the Radisson in the hotel strip. The restaurant is at one end of a little shopping strip, by a Ben & Jerry's and several jewelry and other gift shops.

When Linda made the reservation, she asked for nonsmoking table. Aruban restaurants don't have nonsmoking sections it seems. But we were seated outside the restaurant in the front, away from any smokers. It was like a private seating, just for the two of us. And we had the bonus of observing passers-by and families gathering in the little circle by the group of stores. And Mark got to watch my hair curl in the humidity. The older couple sitting behind us were from Long Island, and the wife had a story about getting a manicure, but the base coat was bad, which she suggested to the manicurist. Such a sad story.

The hostess kept politely turning away people who didn't have reservations. She told us she was new there, and she was very anxious to do well on such a busy night. I'm glad we made reservations ahead of time.

The service was excellent - from the gracious hostess to the sommelier (Raymond from Holland), and several wait staff. We had an excellent meal; started with 2 slices of fresh, warm, homemade bread and tapenade; followed by mixed fresh greens with pine nuts and shaved parmesan in balsamic vinaigrette. Mark had melt-in-your mouth rack of lamb over a medley of fresh vegetables. Linda chose canard a passion (breast of duck with passion sauce), over asparagus (green tips and white stalks), and a drizzle of chocolate. It tasted delicious, with lovely flavors in each mouthful. We enjoyed a smooth pinot noir with our dinner, too. We indulged in dessert; espresso creme brulee and a double espresso for Mark, and brownie served with rum-soaked raisins and rum ice cream and coffee for Linda. All in all, a scrumptious meal. And who can beat sitting outside on Christmas eve, in warm

 tropical breezes. We had the coolest table in the house - literally.

 

We sat at dinner for about 2 1/2 hours; they were in no hurry to serve us. Obviously they didn't need our table for a second seating. However, it was too late when we got back for Mark to connect with the famiy in 6B about the wifi. Maybe tomorrow.

 

Day 4 - Friday, December 25

Merry Christmas!

 We're planning to go snorkeling at Baby Beach today. Not getting as early a start as we'd hoped, though.  

We packed a picnic lunch in an old cooler that Linda cleaned up with bleach and soap. We left just before 10:30. Our gas tank was below 1/4 so we planned to stop for gas. All the stations were closed for Xmas except a 24-hour station near the cruise ships. There were long lines in all directions to get gas, but we waited it out. These pumps were not the credit card swipe kind. You had to go in and pay in advance. That added to the long delay. I put in 50 Florins worth of high-test because that was the pump I got to. We're over 3/4 full, and continued on toward Baby Beach. We passed the restaurant we have reservations for tonight so now we know where it is and how long it should take to get there.

 

We were not so successful at finding a nice snorkel beach. The other end of the island is less developed. The roads near the beach are not paved, and some seemed a bit risky in our rent-a-wreck. The whole area was pretty much deserted except for herds of goats.

We saw what looked like a modern prison, but it could have been something else. There were goats patrolling the walls. We also saw the oil refinery; and we saw 10 modern power-generating windmills. We did see a little beach with a few people, but it did not seem worth snorkeling for fish -- it seemed pretty barren, and there was hardly any sand near the water, and it dropped off quickly. We drove all over kingdom come, and then decided to just head back and regroup.

 

We turned our picnic into grilled cheese sandwiches and Mark had a beer with lunch. We chilled by the pool, checked on email, and had a dip or two.  Mark tried to fix the wonky cable modem in the other unit, but there's not much to be done without the password. It's a combo cable modem and wireless from Motorola, and there were no switches. Unplugging and replugging did not help.

We went in to shower and change for dinner. The whole island seemed to shut down for Christmas. Even the tourist shops downtown were mostly closed, all the gas stations (except two), and fast food places were also closed. The public beaches do not seem to have any facilities, so without fast food spots near by, it's not too convenient.

 

Linda was down to a few dozen shots left on her camera so we dumped the card to our netbook and emptied it out again. It's nice to be able to offload the storage and see the pictures, but I don't have any good photo software installed on here yet.

The radio in the car was mostly playing Christmas music about sleigh bells, and winter. Ha ha. Let it snow! We're basking in the sun.  

For dinner we went to The Flying Fishbone way past the airport, in Saverna.

We had a table right on the water's edge, and arrived at 6 PM in time to see the sunset.

It was a great location, the food was excellent, and the waitstaff was very attentive. Mark had mixed salad,  grouper, and several glasses of wine. Linda had artichoke carpaccio and goat cheese (warm), red snapper with funchi (fried polenta, which seems to be an island delicacy), and an Aruba Ariba cocktail (rum-based fruit drink); shared a Dutch apple pie for dessert with coffee.

We had a great time, and got to see all the Christmas lights on the way home, and listen to Christmas music of various ethnic origins and styles on the car radio on the way back to the condo.

Day 5: Saturday, December 26

This morning we decided to do some sightseeing, and hit the beach in the afternoon. We had more success finding the sights today. First, we headed for went to Hooiberg, to climb Haystack Mountain, the second highest point in Aruba - 168 meters. We did find this climbing spot and sweated up the 561 stairs to get to the top of this arid lookout.

 We could see the whole island from this vantage point.

 The steps are concrete, and communication antennas fill most of the area. There are several types of cacti, scraggly mimosa, and trash. The way down was much faster and easier.
 

We bypassed the ostrich farm and gold smelting mine on our way to our next stop-- the site of the little natural bridge.

This larger one fell into the ocean in 2005, and there is a smaller natural bridge forming nearby. There is a little souvenir and "Thirst Aid Station" at this tourist spot.









It is a beautiful area, though, with waves pounding the rugged coastline. The bonus was the hard-packed sandy road when the pavement ended. We took pictures, and headed along the coast to the spot where the tour jeeps stopped.

We don't know what these are ruins of in the middle of nothing, but we climbed around and got some good views and pictures. It was some kind of structure - perhaps a fort?  (Linda managed to put her hand down on a sharp piece of glass and cut her finger, but not too badly.)

 The grounds here and at the Natural Bridge site were surrounded by cairns. These obviously are not marking any trails, and we guessed they might be religious significance - perhaps site of prayers?? 

 
We headed back to our condo, with a brief stop and short climb to the top of Caribari Rock. This is a pile of large rounded rocks and apparently no one knows how they got to this area. It's inland, and just in the middle of desert land.

As we pulled into the parking space, the couple from New Brunswick were attempting to fix the lead on the battery of their rental car. The end corroded completely and broke. We found several ties that we gave them to help get them going.  They were being very good natured about it; their rental agency didn't answer the phone when they tried to phone them.

 

After lunch of cumin cheese and crackers, we went to the little grocery store across the street to pick up a few items. Most places are closed again today (Boxing Day), and we suspect many may be closed tomorrow, Sunday, also.

In the parking lot, we met Kay, another guest here from San Francisco. She told us that the best snorkeling spot on the island is nearby, on the way to the California lighthouse. We decided to give that a try first thing tomorrow morning. Kay said she goes everyday when she visits Aruba, and can always count on black and yellow striped fish. We told her about Grand Cayman, and staying at Rum Point, and snorkel trip.

We spent the afternoon lazing around the pool, doing crossword puzzles and sudoku puzzles (you can guess who was doing which puzzle), while we did a load of laundry.

Linda snapped some pictures of a bright green lizard, and a small one with its yellow and orange throat extended.

Off to dinner at Yemanja Grill, downtown. We overshot the restaurant,  but found it and a good parking place right out front. Yemanja in is one of the oldest buildings in Aruba, over 100 years old. The floors were long wide planks, and the walls were painted bright colors, as is the custom in Aruba. We had a table for 2 inside in the air conditioning, because Linda asked for nonsmoking, and this was the best option. And it was excellent. The service was very good, all the wait staff was very friendly. They had cobalt blue plates on the tables and blue sparkling water glasses aligning the window ledges. The tables were wooden frames with what looked like painted concrete in the center.

They served bread with garlic butter and tapenade (good but not as good as the Papillon). Mark started with a creamy fish chowder made from mahi mahi, tuna, and grouper. Linda had a salad with mesquite roasted vegetables - zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, mushrooms, red and yellow bell peppers - and a delicious dressing. We both had mesquite-grilled rib eye steak done to perfection. All entrees are accompanied by black beans, wok sauteed vegetables, garlic mashed potatoes, and rice. Despite our plans to skip dessert, we couldn't resist and shared the walnut ice cream with candied walnuts and espresso. Yummy meal. ;)

Day 6: Sunday, December 27

Off to a slow and relaxed start to the day. Linda climbed out the bedroom window to hang up her tankini in the sun to dry while we ate breakfast. After breakfast, Linda went to retrieve her suit walking around the building, and ended up chatting with the couple from New Brunswick. They mentioned that they went to an authentic Aruban restaurant in an old house, called Our Cunucu. (Linda checked later,  and it's closed on Monday, so we won't have a chance to try this place.) Linda told them about the places we ate. They went to Baby Beach on Christmas Day, but they found the beach. There were large family groups there with big enameled pots of food. Too bad we didn't find the beach that day.

By the time we got out the door to go to the beach, it was sprinkling,  and black clouds were overhead. So we waited a bit, had some cheese and crackers for lunch. Then we set out to find Boca Catalina beach. We found the spot Kay described, beyond the main part of the beach, and pulled into the little lot. We donned our gear and managed to get into the water without tripping over the rocks. And it was worth it! There were many varieties of fish to see, and the water was warm and not too deep. We finally got the hang of using the snorkel,  but both kept getting water into our mouths. We swam around until we were tired, then sat on the beach for a while. We watched as four tour catamarans arrived and anchored offshore. After a bit, the people onboard jumped into the water. We seem to have found the perfect snorkeling place; a steady stream of people arrived to snorkel. While we were sitting there, a large green iguana appeared. Unfortunately,  Linda didn't bring the camera, and no cell phones either, so we have no photo of the big lizard.

Our next adventure was to drive to Eagle Beach (we felt compelled to check it out due to the name). The beach was wide, with white sand,  and water was warm, but it was full of chaises, palapas, and many people, jet skies whizzing by, boats, banana boats, beach volleyball;  a bit like New England beaches in the summer. No fish to snorkel to see, no peaceful spots. The low-rise hotels are across the street from the beach. We walked along the beach for a little bit, it just wasn't our scene.

We went back to the condo and sat out by the pool. Mark connected and checked mail, and IM'd with Rach, and enjoyed a lite beer. Dinner was three-courses; wine and beer, cheese, and crackers; lemon chicken and mushroom leftovers; steak and vegetables, and rice from last night. And then we snacked on honey roasted almonds.

After the football game was over (Jets won over Indianapolis), we drove to hotels to go to Sopranos; Linda's been wanting to get there all week because Lauren gave it rave reviews. Managed to get there through the slow traffic, and parked across from the Radisson. As we approached Sopranos, Mark noticed the huge sign hanging that said "Music 5pm to 8pm" - it was 8:45. Oh well, it might have been fun. Next trip to Aruba we'll know. We strolled down the street dodging people, wandered back to the car and headed back to the condo. We considered getting some ice cream at Ben & Jerry's, then thought better of it.

Back at the condo, we watch some of Home Alone, and various other shows.  Tomorrow we can get in some more snorkeling, and enjoy our last day of sunshine in Aruba.

Day 7: Monday, December 28

After breakfast we headed out for a little touring. First stop was the Aloe Vera Museum and factory. We took the free tour, and learned some interesting facts. Aloe vera was introduced to Aruba, and most of the island was covered in aloe plants.

Our guide showed us how they slice open the large aloe leaves - spines first, then down one side. At the first cut, aloin drips out. That is a thick yellow substance that smells and tastes bad and is a strong laxative. They used to collect the aloin and boil it down to make solid black chunks of laxative. The substance was sold throughout Europe and the US. Almost the whole process is manual.

The plant leaves are harvested once or twice a month. You must always leave the center 5 leaves, because these are the heart of the plant from which new leaves grow in about 8 months. The leaves are washed and sliced open by 5 ladies (2 washers,  3 slicers), and the aloe gel is blended and passed to a second room in the factory. There the gel is mixed with different ingredients. There is also a QA lab. Then the gel goes into the mixing machines, where it is mixed into the different products. The machine to fill the tubes is like a soft-serve ice cream machine. The only automated machine is the labeler. They make 1000-2000 tubes of 3 different products per day,  depending on the orders. The factory employs 40 people. They have a distribution center in Indianapolis, and you can order the products online. We decided to either purchase some products at the airport after security or order online from home, so we can avoid having to check our luggage.

From the Aloe Vera museum we tried to get to Druif and some spots on the map along the northwest coast. But we couldn't find the right road, or if we did, it wasn't paved all the way. So we took a ride to see the Alto Vista chapel. There were some nice views of the island along the way, and Linda took a few pictures of the chapel. It is situated on a hill, overlooking the ocean, but not too close to the shoreline.

Then it was back to the condo for lunch and a little rest before hitting the beach. We tried using the sandwich maker for our grilled cheese sandwiches, but it made a mess. Saute pan worked better.  

We suited up, lathered up with sunscreen and drove back to the beach. There were a few boats with snorkelers, but it was not crowded and we found a spot of shade on the beach. We snorkeled for about 30 minutes, then crawled out onto the beach. Linda got smashed into a rock on the way out.

Pelicans were fishing at one end of the beach.

Around 3:00 all the boats start arriving, so we left to go back to the condo. We sat by the pool and connected via wifi for a little while. Around 5 we headed in to wash up and get ready for dinner. 

Tonight we went to more of a neighborhood restaurant, the Wacky Wahoo. It was much less elegant, and more native cooking: simpler fare, but very good. We both had salad, grilled wahoo, and for dessert, cashew cake. Mark tried the local beer on tap, Balashi.  

Tomorrow, it's back to freezing temperatures. Can't believe the week is

 over already. :(

Day 8: Tuesday,  December 29

Before we finished packing, we went to the beach one more time. We didn't go in the water, but sat on the beach for 30 minutes or so.

Then, reluctantly, we went back to the condo to pack up all our stuff. We had not trouble getting everything in, even the snorkel equipment. Then we were off to the airport to drop off the rental car,  with a stop along the way to add $5 worth of gas to get us back to half a tank -- where it was when we picked it up.   

At the airport, there were additional security procedures, so we had to check our suitcases after all, but there was no $25 bag fee. We had pizza for lunch/dinner and used up what little time was left on the Aruba SIM to call Aaron. Then we connected through free wifi to chat with him.

We then went through Aruba exit control, and security, and US Immigration and more screening and then we got to the waiting area where there was no free wifi, at least not near Gate 3. As people boarded the Delta flight to NY, there was additional baggage screening as you boarded the plane.

The flight was just half full, and the pilot wanted the last 3 rows to be empty for security. It was uneventful until we approached Logan. As we circled multiple times, the plane rocked and rolled, buffeted by strong winds, a young child started screaming, clearing freaking out. Her mother was wonderfully calming and managed to soothe the little girl after a bit. As we finally managed to touch down, the flight attendant said, "Welcome to the windy city, Boston." It was good to touch down. The shock came as we walked out of the plane into the tunnel to the terminal, hit with a 10-degree blast of cold air. We really were back in frigid wintry Massachusetts.
All good things must end - but why?