Blogs from Oranjestad, Aruba, Central America Caribbean - page 3

“you can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you.” – Frederick Buechner Mijn vakantie zit er op, maandag begint het echte leven op Aruba, ik ga aan het werk! Na een heerlijke vakantie heb ik daar eigenlijk ook wel zin in. Eerst maar even een update van de afgelopen weken. Samen met Marlies heb ik zo ongeveer het hele eiland ontdekt, aangezien het net zo groot is al Texel is dat best te doen in een week. We zijn bij de vuurtoren in het noord westen geweest en de ‘ooit-wannabee’ vuurtoren in het oosten. We hebben de hooiberg ‘beklommen’, een ... read more

yesterday i had 2 trips with the astrea, a morning snorkel trip and a sunset trip in de evening. we went out in the morning ad 9 30 and came back ad 1 30. the sunset trip was from 5 oclock till 7 . after that we clean the boat sjon and i whent after that drinking a nice bottle of champagne ad the boat!! we had a great day after we went to moomba beach for a party!... read more

Aruba Today’s plans were all about party and fish. Bill, Diana and I took the local bus out to the hotel strip and boarded the Jolly Pirate Ship. The bar opened as soon as we sailed. The passengers were mostly younger and from the hotels. We were the only group from the Noordam and there were a few Princess folks with us. Our first snorkel spot was over the wreck of a German freighter from WWII. We arrived at the site along with a large catamaran and I watched as dozens of folks drifted into each other. Definitely not my idea of fun so I enjoyed the show the birds put on. Someone was dropping food in the water and the birds dove down to get a bite. I felt a bit sorry for the snorkelers ... read more

6AM Wake up call. A quick breakfast in our room with a view of one small island and a tree. We were docked with our side out to the ocean so there was no hint of what our first Aruba looks like. We only had until noon in this port so we had to leave by 7, one of the huge disappointments of these port stops is nothing opens until 9. It was a beautiful day at 28C. Aruba was discovered by the Spanish in the early 1600’s and acquired by the Dutch in 1634. It was the A in the ABC Islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao) once a member of the Netherlands Antilles it now stands independently since 1986. The Arubans speak their own language Papiamento it is a combination of Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, English, African ... read more

EASTERN CARIBBEAN CRUISE January 10 - 17, 2009 Our first foray of 2009 was a delightful cruise on the Celebrity Summit to five islands in the eastern Caribbean: St. Martin/St. Maarten, Dominica, Grenada, Bonaire, and Aruba. A four-hour, first-class Continental flight took us to San Juan, Puerto Rico, the departure port for the cruise. Early the next morning, we arrived in St. Martin/St. Maarten, nicknamed “The Friendly Isle.” This dual-nation island is part of the Lesser Antilles islands and is only 37 square miles in size (roughly the size of Washington, DC). The divided island is the world’s smallest territory shared by two sovereign states. In the early 1600’s both the Dutch and the French established small settlements on the island and decided to share the island and fight together to prevent a Spanish invasion. According ... read more