Day 1: TRAVEL
We flew out of GJ into DFW, into Miami, and then into Aruba. The Captain isn't the best travel buddy. I mean he REALLY hates flying. Not in an "Ohmergawsh!!! we are gonna crash" type of way but in an "I hate people, I hate waiting line, I hate being scrunched up in a tiny seat and not being able move or stretch my legs and all of this together makes me incredibly irritable" type of way. So... fun day. We made it though! We arrived in Aruba at about 10:00pm local time (which is 3 hours ahead so 7:00pm our time.). The time difference messed with us the entire trip. Oh well- totally worth it!!
Airport selfie!
Day 2: I woke up to the sun peaking around the curtains and stepped out onto our 6th floor balcony to this amazing view! (and also about 1100% humidity!)
We had breakfast at the hotel then walked around the resort to check out the provided amenities, the BEACH, the pool, etc. We had a yummy Mai Tai and coconut shrimp at Gilligan's bar where the Captain made friends with some local birds. We laid on the beach, walked up and down the "Strip" which we called the Caribbean Las Vegas, and had dinner at an amazing Italian restaurant across the street.
Day 3: Submarine!
On day 3 we took a cab to downtown Orenjastad near the cruise ship port to take a Submarine tour. We dove down to 150+ feet and saw 3 ship wrecks, coral reefs and dozens of types of fish.
After the sub tour we decided to walk back to the resort (6.2 miles) along the coastline. We discovered an amazing beach that consisted of dead coral rather than white sand. The sea has eroded the sand below the coral and when the waves approach they fill the space below and shoot geysers of ocean water through "blow holes" in the rocks. We even snagged a conch shell off the beach!
After our walk home we cooled off in one of the resort pools with a few fruity drinks then lounged around outside in the lovely night air.
Day 4: I have not a single picture from this day. Weird. We found an amazing breakfast place on the strip that serves Danish pancakes, must try! We hung out at the pool drinking fruity drinks, Kirk swam with an iguana (it jumped into the pool and swam straight at him! haha), walked out to the bar on the pier and had more fruity drinks, we walked down the beach at night and saw bioluminescent plankton in the sand- pretty cool!
Day 5: We walked down the way to take a tour of a Butterfly Farm where a weird little island hippy dude taught us all about butterflies. What I remember- some only live 1 day after spending 18 months in a cocoon. They get drunk off fruit juice. Only 6% make it to the butterfly stage alive. Males chase the females and if they can't keep up the females don't choose them. If something attacked while they are mating the female must be strong enough to carry them both to safety. Blue butterflies aren't actually blue bu have prism shaped scales on the wings that reflect blue light.
We finally made it down to the beach at the right time to see a sunset!
Day 6: We rented a Jeep and went out to discover the island. Keep in mind that the island is only about 16 miles long and 6 miles wide. We snorkeled on Baby beach. This may have been my favorite activity of the trip!!
We drove down the beach and found a seaside pet grave... little weird and a light house. Saw lots of cactus, wild goats, and lizards a plenty! Also saw some military training exercises (lots of guys with guns in rental cars in the middle of nowhere). Found a beach covered in sea shanties where tons of people were wind surfing. We climbed the California Lighthouse steps (lots of steps) and got a great view of the island. We spotted a hidden gem on the north/east shore of the island "Rancho Azule"- not sure it's a five star establishment but it's probably cheap! We saw a shanty that was still inhabited- the guy had multiple trash sculptures around the property and was on the beach collecting garbage as we drove by. We visited the baby natural bridge and ruins of the large natural bridge which collapsed in 2005. We hiked into the ruins of the Bushiribana gold mill and smelting plant. Amazing architecture using stones from the beach and integrating the structure into the surrounding rocks. We stopped on a beach by the lighthouse to try and get a picture of ourselves with the ocean spray shooting up on the rocks behind us... it took a few tries!
Day 7: Another day of Jeep exploration.
We drove into the Arikok Park to see the parts of the island that are protected and not accessible from the other roads.
We were passed on the way in by an "island mail man" hauling ass on a scooter.
Inside we laid our park entrance fee at the visitor center and saw this guy.
Then we ventured out onto the rocks to get to the Natural Pool "Conchi". We were 1 of 2 Jeeps out there and the only Jeep that dared to go all the way down. Dozens and dozens of side by sides and quads had trouble getting there. The Captain was of course driving.
Once we made it back up the hill (had to take a different route due to a side by side with a busted wheel) we made our way to the Quadarikiri cave. This thing is awesome y'all! It has several large chambers connected by tunnel ways. It goes into the mountain for miles according to a local guide but is blocked off after a few hundred feet due to unsafe conditions. A hiker and his dog went in several years ago and never came out.
There was other smaller cave in the park- Fontein Cave. Not as large but still pretty.
We drove around for the rest of the afternoon and then took a much needed nap before grabbing dinner for our last night on the island- at TGIFridays, haha! Very authentic food peeps.
Day 8- We flew home and snuggled our babies! Side note- I have the best mother-in-law ever. She kept our kids, fed our dogs, cats and chickens and cleaned our entire house while we were gone!
This was a much needed trip and we enjoyed it greatly. Glad to be home now with my babies and planning our Thanksgiving dinner in the 40 degree weather but the island of Aruba was amazing and I can't wait to check another tropical destination of my bucket list!
