My wife, Laura and I, first visited Aruba 8 years ago,...on our Honeymoon,
back in November of 1995. We returned 8 years later,...Oct 2nd -9th, 2003.
This time, it was a bit different because we convinced two other couples we
know, friends Laura grew up with, and their husbands, to come along.
We stayed in a 2 bedroom (+pull out couch) at the Costa Linda Resort, and for the most part, never left. Ate our lunches there, but went out for
dinner. Dinner and eating out, ended up being one of the highlights of our stay.
We rented jeeps and played follow the leader through some of the roughest
terrain I've ever seen a little Suzuki Samari take. We found our way to the
light house, and then to the Natural Bridge,..and then got lost almost
endlessly thinking we could find a 'short cut' to the natural pool from the natural bridge. Well, let me tell ya,...don't waste your time on this!
Just follow the roads as best you can, and keep an eye out for little hand
panted signs at intersections, to help you on your way.
So after about 3 hours of driving we finally made it to the Natural Pool, (2
hours was spent, driving around aimlessly looking for shortcuts),...which we
knew we were on the right path when a guided tour of off road vehicles went
by, leaving the pool. After we arrived we found, what seemed to be millions
of bees swarming around everything, oh,.and did I mention that one of my
buddies is deathly allergic to bee stings? Yes,...but he braved it anyway.
I remember him saying,.."well, at least I can say I saw the Natural Pool,
before I died",...funny but,...morbidly sad.
We were sad to see that the state of the natural pool is taking a serious
downslide since we were there 8 years ago. Most of the coral looked
dead,..and there weren't as many fish swimming in the pool. I guess
thousands of bodies getting into and out of the pool, and touching
everything in site, has taken it's toll on the Natural Pool, not to mention
the liter left behind. It appears the guided tour had lunch in the parking
lot,..which attracted the bees, because after we were at the pool for a
couple of hours, the bees left the parking lot. My buddy only had to deal
with 10 or 20 bees while getting into the 'jeep' and outta there!
My buddies and I played a round of golf at the golf one day, while the women
shopped. I'm sorry I can't remember the name of it, it's the best one on
the island though. After it was all said and done, it cost us, about 140
bucks to golf it. That's a lot of money, but,..how often can you say,
you've golfed in Aruba?
Places to eat? By far the best place we ate at was Madame Janette's. We
heard of the place from someone on the plane, who had been to Aruba several
times. So we gave it a try. The food was outstanding! Service and
ambiance was perfect. The salad's were fresh and tasty, and the main
courses were a real treat. Be ready to bring food home, because you will
have a hard time eating it all while you are there and you will feel it is
blasphemy to let it go to waste. Oh,..and you will have a hard time
preventing yourself from filling up on the rolls with the palmetto butter.
As soon as the waiter delivers the rolls, order more,..and two orders of
butter! Leave the Atkin's Diet at home BABY!
We also ate at the Papiamento, which was good; however, after getting there
on time for our reservation, we ended up waiting until nearly 10 pm to be
seated. After this, the food, although I'm sure was delicious, I don't
remember it being more or less than OK. The ambiance was wonderful though,
it's a nice place to eat.
We also did the KuKu booze bus, what a blast this was. After the sunset
toast, we had a wonderful dinner. The dinner ALONE was worth the money.
And being driven all over the Island, to one bar after another, was just a
bonus. There's rumors that some of our group got half naked on a bar at one
of the places,..but, no substantial proof to back that on
up,..(oh,..my,...delete that one!).
We also did the Mi Dushi, which was also memorable. We took the morning
cruise. The snorkel stops are nothing real special, just about every boat
on the island stops at the same places, but the crew and the boat itself had
character. The lunch was great, also made the trip worth it alone. We also
had lots of fun with the rope swing, possibly, the highlight of the day. We
were all sore the next day from swinging so much. The good news is, most of
learned how to do a back-flip during the trip, which is quite a feat for one
of my buddies who is a good 250 pounds!
All in all, we hung out on the beach more than we did anything, which for
us, is a welcome change. We do so much running around,..in real life,..it
was good to just lay on a lounge chair and soak up the sun. Or spend hours
soaking in the perfect water.
We don't know when we'll make it back, but we know we will,...someday.
Bryan Smith
Instrument Specialist
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