La Cabana Beach Resort

April 22 - May 6, 2000 - by ~Amy~® & Mike

Okay, here goes with the trip report

This was our 5th year in a row to Aruba and the 2nd year in a row that we stayed at La Cabana for 2 weeks. We flew out of Minneapolis at 8am and arrived into Aruba at 3:45pm. Didn't take too long to go through customs and get our bags - asked the cab driver what time the grocery stores closed since we had heard they closed at 6pm due to the Easter holidays, but he informed us they would be open until 8pm. So after checking into our room at La Cabana, we grabbed a cab back to the Certified Market to make our purchases of some food for lunches and breakfasts and also our supply of wine, champagne, beer, and pop.

Went out to eat at Gasparito's our first night there - we had made reservations over the internet but called first and, of course, they didn't have our reservation BUT we were still able to get in at 8pm for dinner (had Keshi Yena and Grouper).

Restaurants

We ate at some of our favorites - Gasparito's (twice - because we love it so much!), French Steakhouse (ooh la la - love their Churassco steak), La Cage Folie (known as 3 Little Birds) (on the expensive side but great French food and the ambiance is wonderful), Boonoonoonoo's (my husband loves their hot, jerk ribs - and they are HOT! - if you order them the waitress will ask if you've ever had them before just to give you fair warning), but we really tried to eat at some places we haven't been to before.

New for us this year was The Flying Fishbone (wow! Can't say enough about this place - has to be the most romantic and we spent 3 hours there - enjoyed after dinner drinks and taking in the wonderful place we were at), Madame Janette's (wonderful and very reasonable - almost went back a second time - ambiance was great and they had a guitarist who played and sang while you ate), Brisas del Mar (went there for lunch but I'd definitely go back for dinner), Chalet Suisse (very good and wonderful service - go before 7pm and you get their early-bird specials at a discount), Alfredo's (great pasta, inexpensive, and the portions are the size of your head - we had leftovers for lunch the following day),El Patio for lunch (their sign says they are open 23 hours a day - very cheap place and good food - our waitress spoke very little English but somehow we managed). We also bought fresh shrimp downtown again from the fishermen. The price was a little higher this year ($15/kilo with no heads) but the shrimp were larger than last year. We cooked some for shrimp cocktail (we had our own happy hours on the beach at sunset with champagne, shrimp and Gouda cheese and crackers) and some we put on skewers and BBQ'd on the gas grills at La Cabana along with steaks.

Activities

We rented a car for one of our two weeks there so this year we really did some exploring of the island. We drove to the Hooiberg (one of the highest points on the island and the only one with steps) and climbed all the way up. The view was fantastic but the climb took its toll on my legs (we counted 591 steps on the way down).

We also drove to the Casibari Rock Formation and the Ayo Rock Formation - at Casibari you climb on top of the formation and at Ayo you climb under it (I felt like I was Wilma Flintstone in Bedrock!)

Just down the road from Ayo is the Donkey Sanctuary where they take care of the wild donkeys in need of special attention. Eva and her father gave us a wonderful tour - we were able to see the baby donkey who was just born 2 weeks ago (very cute!) and fed the donkeys carrots (thank you again Eva for a very special day!!) Then since we were so close we drove over to the Natural Bridge since we haven't been there since our first trip.

Sonny & Dotty from the BB joined us for this entire day of exploring (I called it the "Mike & Amy tour of Aruba" - very cheap but no open bar!) We also took an afternoon snorkeling cruise aboard the Mi Dushi (thank you Sonny & Dotty!!!) - had a great time - the crew was so much fun - snorkeled (my husband saw octopus, barracuda, and an eel), jumped off the rope swing (not me - just my husband! I had already had too many drinks at the open bar!)

BB Gatherings

We all met for happy hour at La Cabana one night (see Orrin's photo on the BB on the night of April 26th) and then went on the Kukoo Kunucu Bus two days later. The Bus was a great time - all ages from 18 to 80! By the end of the night you would have thought we had all known each other for years! The Bus ended at midnight and a few of us (Stacy & Chris, Sonny & Dotty, and Terry) decided to keep the party going and went to Salt and Pepper for a nightcap. We ended up closing down the bar at 2am and since Mike and I had a rental car we offered everyone a ride home - yes, we got 7 people in a 4-door Prizm (5 in the back seat!)

Wildlife

I already told you about the Donkey Sanctuary but I have to tell you about the cutest little owl that we saw almost every day on Eagle Beach at La Cabana. Orrin had told me that he's a "burrowing" owl and if you're looking for him he's located at the end of the huts at La Cabana (going toward Amsterdam Manor) back by the road. There are a couple of drainage pipes that run under the road and he always sits on the cement where the drainage pipes come out. He blends in very well with the tan colors but was there almost every day (one day we saw two owls sitting together). If you're in the neighborhood, look for the little fellow - he lets you get fairly close.

Weather

It was great as usual except our first week there the winds were even stronger than usual (even the waitresses at Flying Fishbone commented on the winds and how hard it was to carry their trays) - so with the above average winds we were pelted with sand every once in awhile while we were laying out - ouch! We were joking that our sunglasses doubled as "safety goggles". But we ended up just taking a hut farther away from the water where the sand was packed down a little more and it wasn't so bad. Our 2nd week was still windy but it was back to the "normal wind" and no blowing sand.

La Cabana Beach Resort

Easy check-in and easy check-out but a hassle when we had to change rooms after the first week. The front desk was just "too busy" (their words) to help us change room keys into our other room that we had booked for the 2nd week. All in all it didn't take that long but I didn't care for their attitude. We have normally rented a studio at LaCabana which comes with a dishwasher but our 1st week we had a one-bedroom instead and, you guessed it, NO dishwasher - I guess I just assumed they all had dishwashers. All of the bars at La Cabana had a 2 for 1 happy hour which we took advantage of on several occasions.

Never really had a hard time getting a hut as long as we were on the beach by 9 or 9:30am. We spoke with a couple at the Chalet Suisse one night who were staying at the Hyatt - they hated it - said the balconies were too small and that you had to be up by 6am to get a hut - they also said they witnessed what was almost a fight over some chairs by the pool because some guy had "reserved" one by putting his shirt on it. Boy, that is the last thing I want on my vacation! Very interesting though.

Leaving

This is a sad subject! But one bright moment is that now you can do customs right in Aruba before you even get on the plane - this is GREAT! I think every year we've been to Aruba the departure is always a little different - but it keeps getting easier and better which is a plus. Gone are the days of standing in line OUTSIDE in the hot sun waiting to check your bags in and then waiting in another line to pay your departure tax, etc. And now with the jetways up and running my mother-in-law (who uses a wheelchair) would have a much easier time getting off the airplane if we can talk them into coming with us sometime. It's really improving quite a bit!

It was another great trip and I want to say a special thanks to: Orrin & Yolanda, Stacy & Chris, Sonny & Dotty, Terry & James, and Eva and her father - you guys made our trip even more memorable!! I can't wait to do it again next year (although, we're already contemplating a trip this fall?!?)