Home
About Aruba
Sights
Virtual Views
Google Map
Beaches
Weather
Travel Info
Communications
F.A.Q.
Aruba Hotels
Hotel Specials
Hotel Reviews
Villa Rentals
Timeshare
Real Estate
Car Rentals
Airfares
Cruise Ships
Things To Do
Scuba Diving
Restaurants
Honeymoon
Weddings
Trip Reports
Bulletin Board
Free Discount Coupons
Fun Stuff
Aruba WebCams
Newsletter
Links
Contact Us
Español
Other Islands:
Bonaire
Curacao
Vakantie Curacao
|
Aruba Beach Club - May 10 - May 17, 2003
By Michael Richman
Click here for previous page
Thursday, 5/15- Two more full days! OMG its almost over! Today is Sea Trek and a half-day at De Palm Island. Paula really wanted to do this and several people including Christian at Aruba-Experts did say it was a lot of fun, though expensive. My day started with a run on the beach and before returning the car, I took a drive around the high-rise area and then picked up a few things at Hong King grocery store. It’s a very nice store with everything anyone could possibly need. We had several hours to lounge on our beach chairs having made reservations for the afternoon for Sea Trek. On the bus over was a family that also did the jeep tour with us. Small world! They were very nice and we ended up doing Sea Trek with them and spending most of the afternoon together. Sea Trek was an experience we will never forget. For those not familiar, you climb down a ladder into the water and a guide puts a helmet over your head that has pressurized air pumping into it. The pressurized air keeps the water out of the helmet and keeps your head dry. Very cool. A guide is with you as you continue climbing down the ladder until reaching the bottom, about 20 feet down. At this point, you just walk, holding on to a handrail. We saw tons of beautiful fish down there and the guide took a lot of pictures with their camera that you can later buy if you wanted and he also took pictures of us using my waterproof camera. There is an airplane submerged down there forming a reef with all kinds of fish around it and basically you just keep walking and after about 20 minutes, you climb back the ladder. It was a lot of fun. Prior to starting the trek, they do offer wetsuits for rental. There has been a lot written on the BB about this. There was no high-pressure pitch. Several people did rent suits. If you are like Paula and have a low tolerance for cold, get the suit. I was chilled but I can tolerate cold pretty good.
After the trek we had lunch. You could go to the counter for a burger, sate’ or chicken fingers or the buffet line that had quite a few things to choose from. We took advantage of the open bar several times and after lunch; I tried snorkeling for the first time. It was awesome! Big blue parrotfish everywhere and all kinds of fish of various shapes and colors. I tried to get a few pictures but had used up most of them at Sea Trek. After, we lounged on beach chairs, sipped another pina colada and they ferried us back at 5PM. It was a wonderful day and for us very much worth the money. We were both too tired to venture far for dinner so we wandered over to Pirate’s Nest. We both like it a lot there. This time we sat on the deck close to the beach and had the same waiter as Saturday night. He remembered us and was very pleased we had returned. We had a few drinks. Paula ordered the salmon with champagne sauce. I had the special for the day which came with tomato soup, salad bar and I chose “Keshi Yena”, an Arubian dish. For those not familiar it’s chicken with raisins, cashews, olives, green/red peppers and melted Gouda cheese. It’s slightly spicy with a very unique seasoning and I loved it! My dinner came with coffee and dessert. Paula had the flan and the bill came to $75 including the service charge to which I added extra for the wonderful meal and great service. After dinner we checked out the shop by the Alhambra casino and watched the lunar eclipse. Cheap entertainment having made so many deposits all week at the casinos!
Friday, 5/16- Last full day! Today we intentionally planned nothing until the sunset cruise so that we could relax and enjoy the day as we saw fit. I started with a workout and long walk up and down the beach. Still in search of iguanas, I took my camera and asked several maintenance workers along the way but came up empty. Around 8AM sitting in our beach chairs, we watched the cruise ship coming into port. It was close enough to read the name, Carnival Destiny. Around 2 we wandered over to the pool bar and had lunch. Sate’ for me, chicken fingers for Paula. Both were good but the sate’ and in particular the sauce was excellent. With 2 drinks the bill came to $29 including the service charge. On the way back to our timeshare, we saw an iguana near the pool and I ran back and got my camera and got a few good pictures. Later we took a taxi to Moomba Beach for the Jolly Pirates sunset cruise. That was a lot of fun. Several people tried the rope swing and we got a good laugh at some trying to do flips or whatever. The crew performed many flips while we sipped a few. Very entertaining.
The sunset was the best one of the week. The colors were amazing, pinks and oranges. Just breathtaking. The only disappointment was having no food. Aruba-Experts steered us to this tour saying the food was better than on some of the other boats. Oh well. We had a great time and for the money it was well worth it. Next time we will try Mi Dushi. Dinner at Papiamento was excellent. We had a nice table outside near the pool. With the soft lights on the trees behind us, it was everything I had expected. I had my usual Balashi, Paula her usual pina colada. We shared an appetizer of Keshi Yena which was excellent. I had a shrimp special. Paula ordered the beef tenderloin with melted Gorgonzola. Both were very good. Coffee and a slice of cheesecake with Kailua sauce (excellent) and the bill came to $117 including the service charge. After dinner it was back to Alhambra to hand over more cash. We enjoyed it there. None of the casinos are large like you might find back home. All were pretty similar in size and options. For us, Alhambro was very convenient and always buzzing with activity. We got back home in time to watch the cruise ship all lit up heading out to sea and then it was time for bed.
Saturday, 5/17- We talked to several people also leaving today and decided to leave for the airport at noon for our 3PM flight. I cannot tell you how sad I was writing today at 5AM hoping our last few hours moved at a snails pace!
I wrote my final entry halfway home. Paula and I were on opposite ends of the plane thanks to the stupidly of United Airlines. As previously instructed, we got into the United line for check-in and waited and waited until our turn came and we were told, no, we need to get into the USAIR line as this United flight is operated by USAIR. At the USAIR counter we were told our seats are not together. When I booked the trip, United said the seats could not be pre-assigned but as long as we are there 2 hours in advance, we will get seats together. WRONG! We were there almost 3 hours prior and they had already pre-assigned seats, and ours were not together. I was still ticked sitting in a row with a young couple returning from their honeymoon not able to keep their hands off of each other, cuddling and giggling the whole way home. Sweet but I would rather have sat with Paula!
My last few hours in Aruba were spent walking the beach, swimming and taking pictures.
I saw a family of iguanas near the pool. We said goodbye to our neighbors and hope to see them again. We met a lot of wonderful people from the various excursions and bumped into them at various places and we will miss them for sure. Thanks again to all the BB people who gave guidance and helped make our week an amazing experience. There were only a few regrets and things we will be sure to do next time:
- Get to Linda’s for Dutch pancakes.
- More snorkeling!
- Next time rent a car for most or the whole week. The taxi fares add up fast!
- Try to squeeze in a second week. One week is not nearly long enough!
Regards, Paula and Mike
Click here for previous page
|
|
