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Radisson Aruba Resort & Casino, August 9 - August 20, 2004
By Petra (Site nickname Kasaka)
Friday, January 07, 2005
Twelve Days in Paradise!
This is the trip journal I kept during our vacation to Aruba in August of
2004. This was the second year in a row we visited the island. Last year we
stayed at the Allegro hotel and this year the choice fell on the Radisson.
Monday, August 09, 2004
Day 1: via San Juan to Aruba
We’re so exhausted! At 12am this morning I woke up and noticed Rick was not
lying next to me yet. He was so excited, he couldn’t sleep!
But at 2:45 the alarm clock had no mercy and it was time to get up. We
quickly showered and closed all the suitcases. We had ordered a taxi for
3:30, which arrived at 3:15. Especially Katja had a really rough time
getting up this early. But precisely at 3:30 we drove off to the airport.
On the way we noticed two deer in the shoulder of the road. They could have
easily jumped in front of our car! That made the trip a little more
stressful for me, as I had visions of dead deer and a total loss taxi
minivan, especially since the cab driver didn’t exactly keep to the speed
limit!
But at 4:15 we arrived safely at Washington Dulles airport and noticed that
we were practically the first ones there! What a difference from Washington
National at the same time in the morning, where long lines start forming
around 3 am for the 7 am flights! The kids were angry that we had gotten
them up so early, but we had no idea what to expect!
After having lied down at the gate for an hour TGI Friday’s finally opened
for breakfast, so we ate there. We didn’t realize that would be the only
food we’d get for over 12 hours (with the exception of a few bags of
pretzels from San Juan to Aruba)! At the airport in San Juan there was no
food in sight!
The flight was otherwise uneventful. We had less than an hour layover in San
Juan, Puerto Rico and landed in Aruba at 1:15pm.
Customs and picking up our luggage seemed to go smoothly, but after we had
received 5 of our 6 pieces of luggage, the conveyor belt inexplicably
stopped for more than a half an hour. No explanation, nothing. We all had an
exercise in patience there! Thankfully, the belt started again as suddenly
as it had stopped and there was our last suitcase!
Apparently the Aruban customs were trying something new, as we then had to
join an endless line to go by two customs officers. Some people had to have
their luggage x-rayed, but when our turn came the officer only asked us if
we were planning to immigrate (ha ha). We had 6 suitcases with a family of
5, I saw couples with 4 suitcases, so I think we packed very compactly!
Once outside personnel of De Palm, the tour operator organizing our
transportation to the hotel, guided us to our very comfortable, air
conditioned bus. The driver was in a great mood and told us numerous things
about the island. After about 20 minutes we reached our destination, the
Radisson hotel, where we will stay for the coming 12 days.
Unfortunately, our rooms weren’t at all what we had reserved and requested,
so we called the front desk. There I spoke to Rosita, who promised to look
into our situation and get back to me tomorrow. Right now, we have two rooms
, partial oceanview (which we paid to get) with two double beds next to each
other, but without an adjoining door in the Curacao tower. We had requested
a king size and a double room with adjoining door in the Aruba tower. Most
of those requests would have been icing on the cake, but the adjoining door
had been promised to us and is too important to let go.
We’ll see tomorrow, at least it is fun to be able to speak Dutch again and
be understood!
We were super-exhausted, but the kids went swimming anyway and Rick and I
strolled along the beach. We ate at Sunset Grille, the excellent restaurant
at the Radisson. Sleepy time now! Tomorrow the real fun can begin!
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
Day 2: Orientation
This morning we got up around 8am, Rick and I at least, the kids slept in
till past 10! Rick and I enjoyed a leisurely walk along Palm Beach together
and gathered information on the Kids’ Club here at the Radisson. This one
looks like a lot of fun, but Saskia abhors kids clubs, so she’ll probably
not be interested. Having the information can be handy, though, in case we
want to do something really “adult”, that she wouldn’t enjoy.
Rick also got all his information on the dives coming up this week. Katja
and he want to go diving at least 5 times. He got information from Red Sail
Sports and Pelican, but he’s likely going to stay with Red Sail, like last
year.
For breakfast we brought “stroopwafels” for the kids, a real Dutch treat. Of
course not the most nutritious breakfast, but a nice unusual treat and it
would tie them over for a while.
We still didn’t know which rooms we would get and at 11:30 I went to the
front desk, as I was told to do the night before. The person I was supposed
to meet was not there, however, and the alternate rooms they showed for us
were even worse than what we had: no view of the water and on the outside on
the main floor, so looking out on a parking lot, not to mention I’d never
dare to leave the kids alone in that case.
Because no one else seemed aware of our situation, I requested to speak to a
manager. I ended up talking to a very friendly lady from Customer Service.
She told me to return at 1pm and she would see what she could do.
After some swimming in the pools and the sea and a tasty lunch with a real
coconut to drink from at Gilligan’s bar, I went back to see what the outcome
of her search was. I have to say, I am very impressed with the solution! We
will need to stay in our current rooms one more night, but tomorrow we will
be moved to adjoining rooms, with the types of beds we had requested and in
the Aruba tower, the main tower.
One more night and then it will be perfect!
For the rest of the afternoon we’ve been swimming, alternating between the
pools and the sea. The children had a blast with the many lizards and
iguana’s.
After several hours in the sun and after Saskia had had her whole head done
in little braids, we got dressed to go shopping. We wanted to go to the
bookstores, which sells Dutch magazines and comics and to the supermarket,
again because of the many delicious Dutch products I’d missed for a year. We
restrained ourselves from buying too much as we first want to be in our
permanent room. But the sausagepastries looked delicious!
Tonight we tried to go and eat at Marina Pirata’s, a restaurant we loved
last year. Unfortunately it turned out to be closed on Tuesday’s. We decided
to try Chalet Suisse as an alternate and we certainly didn’t regret that
choice! The food was delicious! My filet mignon was soft as butter and
Rick’s Wiener schnitzel tasted exactly as he remembered from his childhood.
The restaurants in Aruba are amazing! There is so much choice and the quality is very high.
The eternal Aruban wind is blowing hard tonight! Apparently there is a
tropical storm churning not too far from here (Charley), hopefully some wind
is all we’ll notice of him!
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Day 3: Snorkeling and the move
This morning I woke up at a quarter to eight because of high wind and it was
completely overcast. Because the “weathermen” had warned for tropical storm
Charley I expected this to be a part of it. But after an hour the weather cleared up completely, although it remained very windy, even for Aruba.
I decided to take my camera and walk along the beach, while Rick arranged
the diving package at Red Sail Sports. At the Aruba Phoenix Resort several
colorful wooden chairs are standing right along the water’s edge. They make
perfect photo subjects! On the way there I saw numerous turquoise lizards,
one of which I tried to photograph, but it’s hard to capture the deep
turquoise coloring on film.
After my walk we decided to go and eat brunch at Linda’s, a (Dutch) pancake
and pizza restaurant. The pancakes are delicious and taste exactly like they
do in the Netherlands, what a treat! I had mine with bacon, cheese and apple
and of course “stroop” to sweeten it all. The kids love Gouda cheese, so
they’re in heaven on Aruba!
After we finished the entire wheel of a pancake, we returned to the hotel to
pack as we were to move today. The hotel had promised us to do the moving
all for us, so we left for Oranjestad after everything was packed away.
There I panicked, as I realized I had left my wedding rings on the bed in
one of the rooms! I had taken them off to put sunscreen on Saskia, because
the cream makes the rings so dirty. My wedding set is rather unique and the
chance of finding another one like it would be almost nil.
Rick raced back to the hotel and thank God he found the ring ! I would have
been extremely upset had I lost it!
This afternoon we snorkeled at Boca Catalina, where the tourboats also go.
It was beautiful! We saw many colorful fish and even some seastars.
Once back at the hotel it turned out that my big Dutch mouth (as Rick calls
it sometimes) had been very successful, as our new rooms are fit for the
royal family! We have lots of space and the rooms are beautifully appointed.
Our view is perfect, everything is perfect (even the refrigerator got moved
from the other room). We now have rooms 1501 and 1503 in the Aruba tower, we
couldn’t have hoped for anything better!
For dinner we went to Marandi’s. This is a new restaurant at the beach, so
we had a great view of the sunset. The food was good (though this was not
Rick’s favorite restaurant) and the kids could play in the sand.
Rick and I tried our luck in the casino, but tonight was not our turn to win
a million. Still, we had fun playing and that’s worthwhile too.
Thursday, August 12, 2004
Day 4: Wind and the French kitchen
No matter how much I tell myself to sleep in, I keep being wide awake at 8
am. This morning was no exception, though this was partly due to Rick and
Katja having to get up that early to make their first 9:15 dive. It was a 2
tank dive and they were going to visit one of the shipwrecks, that lie in
the ocean near the Aruban coast and are now housing for many colorful fish
and corals.
After I’d fed the other two children breakfast, I went to lift weights in
the “fitness center” here at the hotel. It was extremely crowded there and
I’ve decided to only go there for weights, I can walk and run along the
beach for my aerobic exercise!
My breakfast was iced caramel coffee and a V8, which I got at the little
coffeestand in the lobby of the Radisson.
Just off shore along Palm Beach near the Mill Resort lies a pile of rocks,
where the snorkeling is excellent! It’s very shallow and the pelicans sit on
the rocks within touching distance. The diversity in sealife there is great!
Kai, Saskia and I decided to go there while Rick and Katja were diving. We
saw French angelfishes, squirrelfishes and even a scary scorpionfish, glad I
didn’t put my hand accidentally on top of him!
After about 2 hours of snorkeling we were getting hungry and I thought Katja
and Rick might be done too, but they weren’t back till 1pm. Kai and Saskia
played in the pool, while we waited for the others to return, while I
cleaned the rooms up some.
We ordered lunch for the kids at the Gilligan’s bar at the hotel. They’re
very fond of the grilled cheese sandwiches made with Gouda. Rick and I went
to Superfood to buy a bunch of goodies and had a delicious warm sausage
pastry for lunch. The Dutch sausage pastries, which you can ask to be heated
up, are very good and a nice, cheap lunch.
Meanwhile the kids had spent a little too much time in the sun and Saskia
was getting a little sunburnt, she has very fair skin and it’s almost
impossible to keep it from burning in the hot Aruban sun! We decided to get
dressed and go to the butterfly farm. There we took the informative tour
about how caterpillars become butterflies and the differences between
tropical and “regular” butterflies. They have a great selection of
beautifully colored butterflies fluttering around, a delight for a
photographer like me, though it’s hard to get one of them to sit quietly
long enough to focus!
Katja wanted to return to the pool afterwards, but we took the other two,
who were quite red already, on a drive to the California lighthouse and from
there to look at the wild ocean on that side of the island. Our 4 wheel
drive did nice work on the rough roads.
On the way back, we visited the Alto Vista chapel, a picturesque old little
church in a desolate area of the island.
To watch the sunset tonight we went to Piet’s Bar, which belongs to the
Hyatt Hotel, but is situated on a pier jutting out into the sea. The
waitress recognized us from last year, which was fun! Like last year the
french fries with peanut sauce were delicious! The kids had a sandwich for
dinner from there too.
Rick and I had a reservation at Chez Mathilde in Oranjestad, a very romantic
French restaurant. We had a delicious meal there (I had the ostrich steak)
and the service was impeccable.
Saskia woke up in the middle of the night, because she had a terrible
headache. A little later she had to throw up. Hopefully that doesn’t mean a
sickness! We were doubly glad to have the adjoining rooms now, so she could
just get us when she was feeling so miserable, poor little one!
Outside the wind is blowing hard. It seems like there is more wind than
there was last year, or maybe I don’t remember it well. It’s driving me
crazy with my hair flying everywhere, but at least it makes the heat
bearable.
The information from home is about wind too, it looks like the remnants of
hurricane Charley will come over our area. Hopefully too weak to cause any
damage!
Friday, August 13, 2004
Day 5: Hurricane Charley and Conchi
While folks at home were preparing for hurricane Charley’s visit (hopefully
a weak tropical storm by the time he reaches our house!), we got ready to
enjoy another brightly sunny Aruban day.
Saskia got quite a bit of sun yesterday (a reason for her feeling ill at
night?), so we made today a restricted sun day. It’s hardly possible to stay
out of the sun altogether, though.
Kai and I walked from our hotel all the way to Arashi beach, about 7
kilometers! This is a really fun walk along the beach. First you pass all
the large resorts with their watersports and bars. Then you walk by
Hadicurari, the small fisherboats area. There is a dock with the most
colorful fisherboats anchored to it and the pelicans love resting there, so
you can get quite close to them.
A little further we saw the fresh catch of the day lying on a small table.
On the way back they were busy cleaning it. The catch was two gigantic fish,
not sure what kind though.
The next part of the beach has a lot of shells. Kind of unexpected, as the
water is extremely shallow there and very, very calm. A shipwreck sticks out
above the water.
After our walk we went to Oranjestad to have lunch at the “cow” café,
Eetcafé The Paddock. There were two waitresses, one of whom was super
friendly, but the other seemed quite irritable and almost threw a stack of
Dutch menu’s at me, when I asked for one instead of an English one! Of
course she couldn’t know how special it is for me to speak and read Dutch in
Aruba, but no need to react that way! In any case, the food was very tasty
and the kids loved their “kroket”. We did notice, that that dish isn’t even
mentioned on the English version of the menu, while I’m sure Americans would
love it too.
Last year we had gone to the “Conchi” (a large natural pool, created by the
rough waters of the East coast). The rocks on the way there were so bad, it
caused a flat tire and to top it off, the pool was closed for swimming due
to the rough waters. We were a little nervous about trying it again this
year, but we’d read about the amazing snorkeling there and the lady at Hertz
told us to go ahead and go via another route, which was less rocky according
to her.
We followed kilometers of unpaved roads, but ended up dead-ending where
motorized vehicles were no longer allowed. Finally we drove the exact same
road we did last year, thankfully without tire problems this time!
All this was extremely worthwhile, because this time we could swim and
snorkel and we did so breathlessly (well, as a manner of speaking of
course)! The most beautiful corals and fish were there and we even saw a
small moray eel.
Because of all the searching it was 4pm already by the time we arrived, so
we only had about an hour before the pool was completely in the shadow and
we couldn’t see much anymore. The tide was coming in too and that was quite
noticeable! Amazing what power the sea has there!
After our showers we had dinner at Pago Pago at the Wyndham hotel two doors
down from ours. This too is a beautiful hotel, perhaps a candidate for our
next visit to Aruba.
The restaurant had good food, but the service left much to be desired and
the price was highly inflated. We would choose the Radisson’s Sunset Grille
of this restaurant at any time.
Tonight we watched the openings ceremony of the Olympic Games. We all liked
seeing the American and the Dutch athletes enter the stadium and even the
Arubans had some meaning to us now.
Saturday, August 14, 2004
Day 6: Baby Beach and Marina Pirata
Rick and Katja would have a dive at 3pm this afternoon, so we took the
morning to go do something as a family.
After a quick breakfast at Délifrance, where they sell delicious croissants,
French bread and rolls, we drove via San Nicolaas to the southside of the
island, to a beach called Baby Beach. This is an appropriate name, as a
large part of the small bay is shallow and calm enough to be safe for very
little children.
Just outside the protected bay (which has beautiful turquoise water!) lies a
reef, where the snorkeling is beautiful. Katja and I saw a bunch of very
special fishes. A few of them nibbled at my fingers, probably because my
nailpolish attracted them.
All too soon it was time to drive back. We bought a few sausage pastries and
“frikandel” (another type of Dutch sausage) pastries for lunch at the
Superfood and then it was time for Rick and Katja to go.
Saskia, Kai and I played in the pool and later in the sea. When the others
returned from their dive, Rick and I went to the De Palm bar, where we
encountered a very nice Dutch bar tender.
Tonight we ate at Marina Pirata, a restaurant right on the water, very nice
at sunset. They have good fish dishes. I had conch and a plate with fish
prepared the Aruban way. All quite delicious.
To end the evening we played some Blackjack at the casino. But after initial
luck we didn’t fare so well. Still it’s always a fun game to play.
Sunday, August 15, 2004
Day 7: De Palm Island
This morning Rick and I went for a walk along the beach. This time we went
in the direction of Eagle Beach, the low rise hotel area. We didn’t walk all
the way there, as we wanted to go to De Palm Island early to go snorkeling.
After having slathered everyone with sunscreen, as we’re all burning quite
fast here, we went to eat breakfast at the Dutch Pancake House. We thought
to quickly eat, but that turned out otherwise, apparently because there were
a few groups (which we couldn’t see) ahead of us. The pancakes tasted very
good, but we like the other pancake house “Linda’s” better.
Around noon we were finally on the ferry to De Palm Island. Snorkeling
around this island is very special. The water is shallow and gigantic blue
parrotfishes come so close, that you can touch them. Many people feed the
fishes, but we don’t out of principle. It’s ecologically irresponsible. If
find it hard to see how little people care about keeping nature alive. Many
also just stand on corals while there are large signs asking them not to. I
guess they don’t realize they kill with their behavior!
Anyway, it was again a great experience, something we did twice last year
and hopefully we’ll get to go again this week as well.
Tonight we ate at Café Japengo at the Hyatt hotel. The food was very good
and the restaurants there have great atmosphere. However, I find the Hyatt
too American to stay at.
Maybe that sounds strange, but they’re so completely geared towards American
clients, they don’t even have Gouda cheese to make a grilled cheese
sandwich, only American cheese. Other resorts do have that and that’s
exactly what the kids love so much. I know, something seemingly unimportant,
but just what adds the international flavor to the vacation. Besides that
the Hyatt is a gorgeous hotel, especially the pool area.
Monday, August 16, 2004
Day 8: Oranjestad
Rick and Katja went for their last dive this morning, so I dove into the
fitness center. There is a better one at the Wyndham, for example, as the
one at the Radisson is just a small basement room which is completely full
every morning. Therefore I’d rather go walk outside on the beach, when I
don’t want to do weights.
After a quick breakfast we went snorkeling across from the Wyndham hotel and
again saw some very unusual fish. Kai and Saskia entertained themselves also
by building sandcastles.
When Rick and Katja returned, the kids stayed in the room to read and play
while Katja babysat and Rick and I went to Oranjestad to go shopping. Our
anniversary is this Friday and of course there are many jewelers here and
Rick wanted me to select something from them. My choice was a beautiful opal
and tanzanite slider necklace with matching earrings. They have gorgeous
stuff here!
We also shopped for some Dutch things, such as Saridon and of course
magazines for me.
Tonight we ate at Madame Janette. Very good food, but I thought it was a
little too heavy and the portions were gigantic! Requests for sauces on the
side were not honored, the Hollandaise sauce had to be on the steak, whether
I wanted that or not. Not very flexible!
The tournedos were two enormous pieces of steak. It’s a very popular
restaurant, likely for that reason! The waiter spoke Dutch with me and the
children, but however much Rick tried to use his (very fluent) Dutch, the
man kept answering him in English. That irritated me, when someone clearly
speaks your language I find it insulting to act as if that’s not the case!
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
Day 9: Wreck snorkeling and iguana’s
We got up early this morning, at 7:30, as we’d be picked up at 8:30 by a
“Roberto’s” boat to go snorkeling. Exactly on time the captain Nick from
Rotterdam appeared at the De Palm pier in front of our hotel. First he took
us to the shipwreck of the Antilla, a ship that sunk in 1940. In all that
time beautiful corals have attached themselves to it and there are literally
thousands of fish to be seen. I would have wanted to stay much longer, but
the rest of the family was done way too soon for my feeling!
Nick gave us a cup of rum punch, a great drink for 9:30 in the morning on a
pretty empty stomach! He also enjoyed having Dutch (ok, half at least)
clients. He told me he was amused by the difference between the Dutch and
the American ladies. Dutch women take off their bikini tops the moment
they’re on the boat, while American women ask shyly if it’s allowed. I’m not
at all interested in topless sunbathing, so he was out of luck with me!
After the snorkeling Rick and I wanted to do more, so we went to the rocks
near the hotels. It’s only a small pier of rocks there, but the variety of
fish is so interesting! Today I again saw a few scorpion fish, which are
toxic if you touch them.
For lunch we went to Gilligan’s, the Radisson’s beach restaurant. They have
delicious sate there, we thoroughly enjoyed our food. They also have coconut
water, which you get to drink from a just opened coconut. I’m not wild about
the taste, so I tried it once and that was enough.
After lunch we relaxed and read at the pool. While I was lying there 5 green
iguana’s walked up to me! Two of them even allowed me to pet them and they
loved eating the yellow flowers (which I know are part of their natural
diet) I offered them. They’re such cool animals!
Around 3pm we’d had enough of the sun and decided to go explore the south
side of the island some more. Here we saw beautiful bright white sand dunes,
many different kinds of cactuses and caves, that are supposed to have Indian
drawings, but they were closed off with a tall gate, so we couldn’t see
much.
For dinner we went to El Gaucho, a well known Argentinian steak restaurant
in Oranjestad. It was a good thing we had reservations, as it was extremely
busy! I wasn’t too thrilled with the food, but Rick is a steak lover, so he
was in seventh heaven!
Back at the hotel we once more tried our luck in the casino. This casino
hasn’t been one of our luckier ones, but this time I got a full house at Let
It Ride and won back all our previous losses!
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
Day 10:Arashi beach
This morning I ventured out again to go look at the colorful fisherboats and
pelicans. I find them endless inspirations for photographs, those red and
yellow boats floating in the turquoise water against the kobalt blue sky. I
went as far as Malmok Beach. The houses there are so beautiful. Little
palaces you can only dream about owning!
Upon my return I found the family ready to go and we had a buffet breakfast
at the Laguna Fish Market, one of the 3 restaurants here at the Radisson.
The buffet was delicious with smoked salmon and our favorite Gouda cheese.
The Aruban French toast tasted wonderfully as well.
Yesterday Nick from the snorkelboat had advised us to go snorkeling at
Arashi, which according to him had a fish rich coral reef close to shore. So
Rick and I went to try it. But either we didn’t find the reef or there
weren’t many fish today, because it wasn’t at all spectacular. The small
rockpier near the hotels shows a greater variety of fish, despite the
constant roar of motorboats nearby.
Back at our beach, Rick wanted to go buy a t-shirt from Red Sail Sports, as
they did all their dives with them. Katja and I looked at the bikini’s and
we both found one, that we just had to have. I have a red one and Katja a
beautiful lightblue one, that brings out her bright blue eyes very well.
After a late lunch of chicken sate Kai and I decided to go kayaking. What
exactly happened will forever remain a mystery, but the kayak capsized and
one of the oars hit my nose hard. It bled like crazy, so it looked serious
(and initially felt serious too!). Thankfully upon close examination back on
shore there was no break. I wanted to go back in, but Kai was too frightened
and didn’t want to go back out to sea. So Rick and I asked for another more
stable kayak and went out together.
Following this Rick, Katja and Kai made a tour on one of those big inflated
tubes, which can hold three people and are pulled across the water at
dazzling speeds. According to Rick he had trouble holding on, good thing we
didn’t try this with Saskia!
Before our happy hour we were relaxing in the sea for a bit, when I suddenly
saw something swim away underneath me that looked remarkably like a big
stingray. Rick quickly went to get the snorkels, while I kept an eye on the
animal. And indeed, with snorkels on we saw a beautiful stingray swimming
below us! Rick also found a colorful seastar. They come quite close to
shore!
Before dinner we watched the sun set at Piet’s Bar. We’re well known there
and they know we always order a portion of fries with peanut sauce.
We had reservations at the Papiamento restaurant for dinner. This is a very
nice authentic restaurant with scrumptious food. We sat by the swimming pool
and the service (which was very slow last year) as well as the food was top
notch. Rick and I had the appetizer “Keshi Yena” a tasty mix of meat,
vegetables and Gouda cheese, wich is an authentic Aruban dish.
At the casino we ended the evening by playing Blackjack. We’re playing even
right now. With a $5 minimum the money also lasts a lot longer than with the
$15 minimum in Atlantic City! Wins aren’t as great either that way, but
we’re not serious gamblers anyway.
Thursday, August 19, 2004
Day 11: De Palm Island reprise
We find the snorkeling at De Palm Island very special so we decided to go
again. This time earlier in the morning, so the water would be more clear.
Later in the day there are so many snorkelers, that the water especially
close to shore gets very murky.
We arrived at 10 and could immediately take the ferry across. It was a week
day and no cruise ships in town, so a lot quieter than on Sunday!
The water was quite rough, though, the waves fairly high. It’s not as
noticeable when you lie with your face in the water, but I did get inundated
several times.
Rick and I swam a good distance out, at least a kilometer and there the
water was clear and there was an abundance of colorful fish.
Just as we decided to leave the water, a groups of kayakers came in, they
were going to swim out very far as well. The Aruban guides asked me to go
with them, jokingly saying we’d see barracuda’s and sharks. I decided to
take them up on their offer, though I was surprised they specifically asked
me.
I had brought my underwater camera and the leader of the group took a
picture of me from deep under water. Another guide found a small seastar and
gave it to me to hold and took a picture. It was a very nice experience,
especially because I’d never swum that far away from the coast and in such
deep waters without a flotation device, alone I would never dare!
The more underwater life I see, the more I want to go and follow a Scuba
course, hopefully I can conquer the problem with the pressure on my ears.
Included in the ticket to De Palm Island is all food and drink, so we ate a
very tasty lunch consisting of chicken sate (yes, a favorite dish for us in
Aruba), fries (with mayonnaise of course!) and a glass of white wine.
At about three o’clock we’d had enough of the strong sun. One drawback to
the island is the lack of shade on the deck, it quickly gets very hot.
On the way back we stopped at the Superfood supermarket and bought bags full
of Dutch goodies. Peanut butter (the American peanut butter is good, but the
Dutch one is less sweet), special peppermints, stroopwafels, Tijgernootjes
and much, much more, we’ll be traveling home with a big extra bag full of
food!
For our happy hour drink we went to the lobby bar at the Radisson, we also
ordered some sushi there.
Just before sunset Rick and I walked to the beach and watched a romantic
sunset while lying in one of the lounge chairs there. The kids went back to
the pool in the meantime, they can’t get enough of the water!
The dinner tonight was at the Old Cunucu House, a local small restaurant,
not yet discovered by tourists, as we were the only guests. It’s run by a
few Italians, who really enjoyed that I speak some Italian (I’m actually
ashamed as I studied it for 4 years and 20 years later I can only stutter
something in reply! Thankfully I do understand it all.)
The kids were in seventh heaven, as there were a few cats and one of them
had a litter with 3 kittens not more than 3 weeks old. It instantly became
their favorite restaurant!
Of course we played in the casino again tonight. We won’t leave here with
large gains, but we managed to play the entire vacation with the $100 we
initially put in.
Friday, August 20, 2004
Day 12:Snorkeling, snorkeling and more snorkeling!
On our last full day in Aruba we (Kai and I) took a long walk along the
beach. This time in the direction of Oranjestad. We walked to the Amsterdam
Manor Resort on Eagle Beach. It was an interesting walk, because along the
coast that direction is no beach but eroded coral rocks. There were deep
holes in the rocks and the sea sometimes came out in a spout. Fascinating,
especially for Kai, but we had to be careful where we stepped, so that we
didn’t step in one of those holes!
After breakfast in the room we went snorkeling across from the Wyndham
hotel. It is amazing how many different sea animals live there! Today it was
especially spectacular, as besides the family of French Angelfishes, that
always swims there, I also saw an octopus, which stayed in one spot for a
long time, a moray eel and for the first time in Aruba a turtle! He suddenly
swam by us, what a beautiful sight!
We found having lunch at Gilligan’s again the most practical. That way we
could just stay in our bathing suits. Last year we went to other restaurants
more for lunch, but this year the kids wanted to constantly play in the
pool. The result was however, that Saskia burned too much in her face. I’ll
have to find a solution for that, as it is so bad for her with her fair
complexion. She is unfortunately very stubborn and protests vehemently
against wearing a hat or the zink sunscreen, that leaves white streaks on
her nose and cheeks.
The kids played in the pool the rest of the afternoon with a couple of
turquoise lizards. Those had fallen in the water and couldn’t climb out
again, so Katja and Kai rescued them. The lizards spent much of their time
sunbathing on the kids’ heads, which of course delighted them all.
Rick and I meanwhile went snorkeling at Malmok Beach for a bit. We didn’t
regret that for one minute either! Again a large variety of fish and another
octopus as well as two moray eels were our reward. Strange, last year I
didn’t see a single moray eel and this year a whole bunch.
After our sunset drink at Piet’s Bar we dressed to the nines and went to
celebrate our 16th wedding anniversay at Le Dome, a Belgian-French
restaurant and the best one on the island as far as we’re concerned. This
could become a tradition! When the Dutch manager realised we also spoke
Dutch and had a mixed marriage like himself (he’s married to an Aruban
woman) he came to have a nice chat.
Before going to bed we played in the casino a bit, where we got a very fun
Blackjack dealer. It adds so much, if there is a bit of enthusiasm at the
table. American dealers usually are more fun, but Aruban dealers can be very
serious.
In short it was a fantastic anniversary!!
Saturday, August 21, 2004
Day 13: Goodbye to our favorite island
This morning the rain that ticked against the windows woke me up after a
restless night. Yuck, our last morning and the weather was gloomy.
Thankfully the rain stopped, but there were more clouds than sunshine.
The beads on Saskia’s braids that had been set at the beginning of our
vacation had become all sticky and dirty from all the sunscreen. So we found
the braiding lady back on the beach and asked her to redo the beads. She did
it for $20 and Saskia is happy again. I had to help as the old elastic bands
had somehow melted together and were very difficult to get out. Amazing what
sunscreen will do to rubber and plastic!
After about an hour she was finished and we continued packing. Still, I had
my mind set on one more snorkeling round. Rick felt like it as well and so
we got our snorkels, masks and fins one more time to swim around the rocks
in front of the Wyndham hotel.
We did not regret it! When I swam around a rock and looked beneath me I
suddenly saw a gigantic turtle! He was resting so I could have easily
touched him. He stayed quiet for a little bit and then swam away calmly. I
was so annoyed with our underwatercamera, which just this morning decided to
malfunction! I’ve never been this close to an adult turtle in the wild! How
magnificent!
My (perhaps ambitious) goal is to get SCUBA certified myself within 2 years.
I have many problems clearing my ears though, so I hope I’ll overcome that.
But the underwaterworld is so fascinating and I just want to see more of it
than just from the surface. Rick and Katja are all excited about this plan,
as they’d like to see the entire family be certified.
After this goodbye gift from Aruba we quickly finished packing, while the
kids played with the birds in the lobby of the Radisson. They had completely
fallen in love with those animals and Katja even had to cry saying goodbye.
Fortunately we know, that we’ll definitely return next year if not sooner.
We totally lost our hearts to Aruba. It calls itself rightfully “One Happy
Island”!
We had one last lunch of chicken sate at Gilligan’s and then the taxi was
waiting. The cab driver was a very nice female taxi chauffeur with a nice
big van, necessary for our gigantic amount of luggage, which even counted
one more bag than on the way out. That bag was filled with Dutch goodies!
In Aruba you clear customs for the United States before you board your plane
and the lines there were outrageous! We arrived at the airport three hours
before our flight and we barely made it. But it saves the horrible customs
at Miami airport and there is definitely a lot to say for that!
After a little delay we took off and are now on our way to the mainland of
the United States. See you next year, Aruba!
The pictures that go with the trip are at:
Underwater Photo's
Sunsets
General Photos - Part 1
General Photos - Part 2
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