Manchebo Beach Resort

April 5 - April 12, 2003 by Donna

After 5 months of planning and with the help of this wonderful bulletin board, our dream trip came true! We stayed at the Logan Airport Holiday Inn the night before the trip. We got to our room to discover we had a bird's eye view of the runways.

Being that this would be the first time either of us flew, this was great! We sipped champagne and watched planes come and go...very therapeutic.
Went to dinner and jumped into bed at 8 PM, seeing we had to be up by 2 AM to get ready for our 6 AM flight. We got to the airport about 3:45 to find a line snaking around the airport waiting for check-in.
Thank goodness we bought the express check-in! I asked the GWV rep where express check in was and she pointed and said right over on that red carpet.
There was one couple checking in before us! Check in took us a total of about 5 minutes! It was great. Went through security no problems.

We got up to the gate area around 4:45...Then the waiting began!! To make a long story short, about 15 minutes before we were supposed to take off and there was no plane pulled up yet...they announced that our plane was still in NY!! DRATS! (Well, that's not the exact word I was thinking, but you get the picture!) The plane pulled in around 7:30 and we boarded, only to have to wait until they de-iced it. We took off around 8:20. Finally!! Because I am claustraphobic and had never flown, I made sure that I had "medicated" myself properly before we left.....I LOVED FLYING!!!

Before I knew it, I was taking aerial pictures of Aruba! We were soo excited! Mind you, we are 50 and 48 but acted like 2 kids in a candy shop! Got through the airport in Aruba quite quickly...our shuttle was waiting outside for us...whisked us to the Manchebo. I have to say, that first step outside of the airport doors into Aruban air...was totally magnificent!! We left a dreary, rainy,icy Boston and landed in OZ!! Check in at the Manchebo was a breeze..no lines, no waiting! The check in area is wonderfully open too...breezes blowing over you as you stand there. Got to our room quickly and realized...WOW! We had one of the best rooms in the resort! (Course I had upgraded to ocean view and must have bugged Vivienne through email at least 3 times for a great room!)

We were on the 2nd floor (as requested) and on the outside corner of the building (room 25 for those who know the resort). This gave us a panoramic view of the ocean and beach both from the left and the right. It was absolutely awe inspiring!! I have never seen water that color before.

We immediately jumped into our swim suits and ran for the water!! Only having swam in the Atlantic in NH and Maine, you can imagine how we felt about the water temperature!! HEAVEN!!! At Manchebo beach there is a great surf, which we love! The waves were awesome! We just swam around and played in the water for probably an hour! We then headed over to our beach bar (Pega Pega) and met for the first time, Ignasio and Angus, our bartender's. WONDERFUL people! Ignasio had a laugh that I wanted to can and bring home! They made great drinks too! Later that evening we took a walk down to the Bacuti's beach bar and had a Pina Colada....they didn't compare to Pega Pega's.

We are not big "go out to eat at fancy restaurants" kind of people. Although at home we eat out probably 2-3 times a week, we usually enjoy aps and drinks, instead of big meals. This being said, I hate to say but we didn't go to ALOT of restaurants. We ate at the Manchebo most of the time, we went to Charlies in San Nicholas for lunch one day and we went to El Gaucho for our one fancy dinner. I have to say the food at the Manchebo (never went into the French Steakhouse, ate on the terrace because we liked being in the open..same menu as far as I could tell) was by far the best!

Anyway, the first night we had drinks on the terrace and escargot and calamari...alll very delicious! The next day mostly relaxed on the beach, took long walks up and down the low rise area, checking out the other resorts and intermittently visited the Pega Pega for Polars and Brown Ladies so that my husband could get his CNN fix! (By the way, I must say that the Arubans were very sympathetic to our being in Iraq and they seemed to always genuinely want to know how we felt about it. )

We were going to go out for dinner that night but I think the last 24 hours caught up with my husband and he crashed very early that night. Sooooo, I decided to go to the Garden Terrace by myself for a bite to eat. I sat at the bar and had a Polar and totally enjoyed a wonderful Ceaser salad and the seafood crepe...mmm mmm.
Then I went for a walk down to the water by myself and sat in the sand enjoying the serenity around me. It was absolutely fabulous!

On Monday, we took the bus into Oranjestad. We walked around the city and around the Renaisance hotel...we did this for about 5 hours! I could not believe how many clothing stores there were. We walked the back streets too and checked out some of the "real" Aruba areas....alll very interesting. We stopped at Carlos and Charlies for a Marguerita and also at an open air bar right on the water....very beautiful but sorry can't remember the name! Carlos and Charlies was a fun place with great service, even though it was quite empty at lunch time, next time we go back, I would like to experience it at night...if only just once! I loved walking around downtown, the city is so pretty and clean. Loved watching the cruise ships come in. The whole atmosphere is just happy!

Back to Manchebo for more beach time and happy hour. Went to the French Steak House Garden Terrace for dinner. It was absolutely wonderful. I had a filet cooked just right. Love those dutch potatoes. My husband had a different beef dish (which at the moment I can't remember what!) which he liked a lot too. Tuesday we caught the bus over to the high rises and walked the whole walk way and checked out all the hotel beaches.

I was amazed at how calm the water is at the highrises. It would have been nice to float around for a while but I much rather have the waves that we had at Manchebo. We checked out the Pelican's Nest but they weren't open yet...on a return visit that is one place I definitely want to go back to. My husband and I decided that we like the low rise area much more than the high rise. Much bigger beach and much less crowded. It was fun to see all the neat pools and such but I much more enjoy the beach so our "normal" pool was perfect for us. We had lunch at Salt n Pepper which we totally enjoyed. I had a Mahi Mahi sandwich which was excellent and my husband had a grilled chicken that was great too. We sat at the bar to eat and totally enjoyed conversation with our young bartender who was in Aruba for a year from Holland.

On Wednesday we rented a "jeep" and after studying the street signs on the map we had we ventured out to San Nicholas. We drove through the desert and saw all the goats and the cliffs. It's an awesome sight to see this desert with all it's cactus and such with the beautiful turquoise Caribbean as it's back drop. We drove a little further to Baby Beach. We have never snorkeled but on our next trip, I plan on bringing equipment. We did jump right into the water and swam over to where people were snorkeling, it looked like a lot of fun! We saw fish swimming around even without snorkeling! Baby Beach is worth traveling to, it's quite awesome to be in such a large area of water and never have to worry about going in over your head. We spent about 2 hours there then jumped back into the jeep and headed out to find Charlie's.

We had a bit of a problem finding it, we backed tracked once and as we came around a corner a tall dark young man flagged us down and said, "Where ya goin man, I bet you're looking for Charlie's". Of course we said YES! Welll...then he proceeded to jump into the back of our open Jeep and said, "Come on, I'll show you the way, I work there." He took us down a few streets and into a huge parking. All the while my husband and I were scanning for Charlie's signs and couldn't see any. This young man was very animated and friendly and called himself Scooby. Finally my husband said...WHERE is Charlie's...I don't see it anywhere! Scooby told us not to worry, it's right around the corner. He said, " He man, don't be afraid, you're not in the states right now! About then, just as my husband was pulling out of the parking lot and getting ready to tell him to get the hell out of our vehicle, a woman showed up with an attendant type apron that said "Charlie's" on it! Scooby said...see man...nothing to worry about! So, we parked....and yes, Charlie's was just around the corner! We tipped Scooby and went inside.

After we had settled in with our beers we asked the bartenders (owners, I think) about Scooby. They were not happy with him. Seems they've known him since he was a little boy...NO, he did not work there and yes he could be a good kid when he wasn't high on something!! They said if his activity continued, they were gonna call the cops!! OH well...it was quite an experience....I just kept repeating to myself...Aruba is safe...Aruba is safe!!

Charlie's was cool...so many things on the walls everywhere. The bartenders/owners were awesome. We both had different shrimp dishes for lunch, which were out of this world! They also had some sort of very spicy relish of sorts that I loved.

Thursday night we did the Cucucanucu bus tour. I was a little disappointed because it was not the one that goes to the light house and I had not been there yet. Other than that, it was fun. We went to a wonderful place by the Airport, you walked down some stone steps into a bar that was all open and the seating was partly on a dock. I have no idea where this was or the name but it was lovely and I'd like to go back someday, so if anyone has an idea of where I was, please let me know!! LOL!!!

We then went for dinner at the Governor's Mansion, this was very nice and the food was good. We left there and went to 2 other Aruban bars for drinks and dancing. It was festive and they passed out different hats to wear, they danced on the bars and did Limbo. It was fun. There were two busses that followed each other with competition going on between the busses as to how loud we could be. We got home around 12:30 and we CRASHED! Looong day!

Friday we mostly lounged around on the beach..enjoying the peacefulness of our last day. Friday night we went to El Gaucho's for dinner. El Gaucho's was very nice. I enjoyed the atmosphere although next time I'm going to request a table downstairs...as I've said before, I am a bit claustrophobic and being upstairs with just an elevator for an exit was just a little bit unnerving.
The service was EXCELLENT, the drinks were great. The apps we got, calamari and garlic shrimp were good..not great though. For dinner I had the El Gaucho steak, every thing was very tasty and well presented but for a filet, I thought it was just a little too tough. My husband got the platter with the different cuts of meat...he loved the ribs, pork and sausage ...and again..he thought his steak was rather tough also. Not sure, but maybe we just are used to the beef that we eat at home. I would go back to this restaurant though. All in all, we had a very enjoyable experience.

S

aturday morning I sat on my balcony trying to inhale all the beauty of Aruba so that I could take it home with me. Then we packed and headed for the airport. Express check in was not quite as quick leaving but not too bad. The only problem was on our plane to Aruba there was 2 rows of 1st class seating which people pay almost $200 more per seat for. On the way home, we had a smaller plane with no first class seating....there were a few very disgruntled people. I have to say also for those who will be flying GWV, again, the express check in is worth the $40 pp , not only did we not have to wait in long longs, we got excellent seats. We were the first row behind 1st class on the way down with lots of leg room. On the way home, we were in the first row. This probably doesn't matter to a lot of people but being our first flight, I was very happy with this. Both plane rides were great and the stewards and stewardess's were wonderful.

Last minute thoughts:

The Manchebo is great! Rooms and grounds are very clean, everyone there is wonderful. The beach is ethereal! Security is very tight, they called us one night to tell us to put our "johnny bar" on the slider at night....and we were on the 2nd floor!!

If you have to buy groceries, go to the Kong Hing...great store and better prices than the smaller stores.

Bus service is super, very clean and cheap.

I was amazed that the resorts look exactly like they do in the brochure pictures!

We loved Aruba and are planning on returning next year.

Donna