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Tamarijn Aruba "All Inclusive" - March 2 - 11, 2006
By Andy Aka
ANDY’S 3RD TRIP TO THE TAMARIJN ARUBA
So the trip to Aruba was great !, I got there on Thursday March 2nd 2006,
the plane landed a bit earlier than expected and I was at the Tamarijn and
in the ocean about an hour after touchdown.
Here are a few highlights from the trip;
On Friday March 3rd I went in the morning to see my friend Tracy who works
at the Butterfly Farm, I always enjoy going there as it’s a very peaceful
place. She asked me if I wanted to participate in an 8 mile walk-a-thon the
next day but I decided to pass. She also sells cosmetics from her home and
she asked me to a cosmetics party for Tuesday and I told her I wasn't really
into that stuff....
From there I went to Oranjestad and had lunch at my
favorite restaurant which is the Waterfront Crab House having the Chilean
Sea Bass. I met the owner there his name is Roy, he told me he one of the if
not the biggest buyer of fresh local fish on the island. Personally I’ve
never had a bad meal there. From there it was back to the Tamarijn for a
swim in the ocean and ended up having dinner at there at the buffet. That
night I played roulette in the Casio---finished up
$400...........................
Saturday March 4th I took the public transportation bus up to the northern
end of the island and went snorkeling at Boca Catalina, I find the public
transportation in Aruba to be very safe and reliable, as this area was close
to the last stop the last stop on the bus route, the bus driver said he’d
come back and look for me at 11;50 a.m., which he did and brought me back to
the Tamarijn. Not bad service for a $2 round trip.......
After I went
swimming and relaxed I went to Oranjestad went to the Driftwood Restaurant
for a bowl of fish soup and garlic bread. A friendly staff and nice very
clean well lit restaurant----After that I went to Casio's in downtown
Oranjestad---went back to hotel close to midnight--so I took a
cab...................
Sunday March 5th I went to the 10;30 a.m. service at the Protestant Church
in Oranjestad, on my last trip to Aruba I went to that church to tour the
bible museum and see the art work paintings, so this trip I wanted to go to
the service, it lasted an hour, about ˝ of the service was in Dutch as was
all the songs. It was nice. From there I walked to the Waterfront Crab House
for lunch…back to the hotel for swimming and that night dinner at the
Tamarijn—gambled at the Holiday Inn,
The Radisson
and the Wyndham and took
the bus back to the Tamarijn.
Monday March 6th I went on the Depalm Bus Tour Aruba, I was picked up at
9;a.m. and got back at 3 p.m., it went to the Lighthouse, Alta Vista Church,
Remains of Natural Bridge and Baby Beach. A very fine time….After getting
back to the Tamarijn I did my swim in the ocean and went to one of my
favorite Oranjestad hangouts called Que Pasa, a very Dutch bar / restaurant,
I usually sit at the bar and have an appetizer, so I had the almond fried
shrimp, it was good and then back to the Tamarijn for dinner.
Tuesday March 7th I rented a car, got it about noon-time, drove up north to
a place I enjoy for lunch called Salt & Pepper, very Dutch, good hangout for
tapa’s, I had the garlic shrimp, the friend shrimp and the mahi-mahi
appetizers. My waitress was Cybel and she told me about her trip to Curacao
and Mambo Beach. Then I drove the car around, explored Noord and Santa Cruz
area, the drove to Alta Vista Chapel then took the road north to the
Lighthouse, getting back to the Tamarijn about 4;30 p.m. for dinner and
gambling.
Wednesday March 8th, I got up at 6;30 a.m., had a quick breakfast and then
drove to Arikok National Park,
got there a little after 8;a.m., It was party
cloudy out a typical 83 degrees and a little windy, ideal for a hike as the
sun wasn’t out in full force just yet. Walked some of the trails and walked
to the Cunucu Arikok, felt like I was the only one in that part of the park,
lots of birds-green parakeets and orioles, good views. As I had rented a car
I couldn’t use it to explore the dirt roads in the park---next time I will
rent a jeep. This trip gave me good ideas on what to do there next time.
From there I drove to Baby Beach to snorkel, the sun had come out and it was
hot—so a swim was a good idea. After swimming I went back to the
Tamarijn—had lunch—and then drove across the street to Noah’s Ark which is a
pet food / pet toy store to pick up some toys for my cat and my friends cat.
It’s a nice store, very clean with a helpful staff. After turning in the
rental car I swam in the ocean. That night I went to Oranjestad to have an
appetizer at Cuba’s Cookin.
I was there about 5;30 p.m. so it was quiet, I
had the pork bits appetizer which comes with lettuce and some fried banana,
very nice-nearly more food than I could eat, it started to get busy there as
I was leaving….so I headed back to the Tamarijn.
Thursday March 9th, This was my side trip to Curacao, I got this idea from
my friend Jamie, so I got up at 6 a.m., took a taxi to the airport and took
an 8 a.m. Dutch Antilles Airline flight to the island of Curacao, arriving
at 8;20 a.m., At Jamie’s recommendation I took a taxi ride on the 2 lane
super highway to the Hotel Avila, a very Dutch hotel south of Willemstad,
sat out on their small open air pier and had an excellent breakfast at the
Blues Restaurant for $14. A very friendly staff there as I had emailed them
in advance. From there I walked 10 minutes north into the capital city of
Willemstad.
This is a busy 500-year-old city, about 40 times the size of
Oranjestad, Aruba. I found the clothes and souvenirs to be priced cheaper
than Aruba, a very multi-cultural city. The city itself is divided in two by
the bay, from one side to the other is a 10-minute ferry ride---which I
took….as it was getting close to lunch I took a cab to Mambo Beach, an area
south of the city, paid $2 for beach access and then had lunch there, walked
down the beach a bit and found the
Lions Dive &
Beach Resort and hung out there at
their beach bar
Hemingway and got very relaxed and had a beer. As it got close to 3
p.m. I took a cab back to the airport for my 5;30 p.m. flight back to Aruba,
landed at 5;45 p.m. and was back at the Tamarijn 20 minutes later. Aruba is
a bit cleaner, I felt a bit safer in Aruba. Still it was a fantastic
interesting day. Yes I would go back to Curacao, but only for up to 3 days.
So Friday March 10th was my last full day, I went into Oranjestad in the
morning, did a bit of shopping and finally bought a ring from Tanzanite
International, had lunch at the Waterfront Crab House and then went back to
the Tamarijn to swim in the ocean…That night went to Salt & Pepper for some
appetizers and then back to the Tamarijn for dinner.
Got up had breakfast and sat around the Tamarijn on Saturday March 11th,
went in the ocean-took some pics—had lunch and Depalm Bus took me back to
the airport picking me up at 1;30 p.m, It took me 1 hour and 45 minutes to
get thru ticketing / customs and security.
Here are a few thoughts I have on staying at the Tamarijn, I like staying
there for the room, its only a 2 story hotel, if your on the ground floor
you open your back door and it is 30 steps to the ocean, a long beach
stretching from the southern end of the property all the way up to the Divi,
excellent for swimming and I did some snorkeling there. The beach is far
less crowded than for example the La Cabana
area. Rooms are not the most
fancy, but they are clean, not central air conditioned so the a.c. does make
some noise at night if you use it. It is all-inclusive and you do pay a bit
more than some of the other places in Aruba. Breakfasts are excellent,
omelet bar-pancakes-french toast-waffles-pastry-lots of fresh fruit-+
usually 6 other hot items to choose from.
At the Tamarijn they now have the weeks menus pre-printed so you can see
what will be served there as well as at the Divi, so lunch and dinner I
found that all the fish items were excellent, as well as very fine roast
pork, prime rib and excellent curry dishes. Vegetables there are good
although cooked mostly very plain. Deserts always are superfine. The snack
bar-soda bar-coffee bar are all excellent…for the limited amount of drinking
that I do I found the bars to be good.
Traveling alone I did not get a
chance to eat at the all-inclusive restaurants being the Red Parrot or The
Palms or Paparazzi. If you ever have any problems at all while staying there
you must tell the staff—be it the front desk or the wait staff—the chef—the
maids—or the concierge—just tell them and they will fix it as they want you
to have an enjoyable stay. In general I feel very safe there as well as a
general safe feeling in Aruba of course always trying to use good travelers
common sense.
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