A snapshot of Aruba

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The nice thing about this trip is it’s all inclusive, aside from souvenirs and personal sundries you might have forgotten to bring. So, it is fine to get the breakfast buffet that costs $75 for two people! In my normal travels I wouldn’t be staying at a Marriott or eating in the Marriott restaurants. I guess we will take advantage of this opportunity and just enjoy it.

I will say this buffet was really good. Have you ever seen Eggs Benedict on a buffet? Me either but they had it. Along with cereals, pastries, fruit, an omelet station, pancakes, French toast, sausage, scrambled eggs, bagels with lox AND a giant container of Nutella with a pump. We ate outside with a nice view of palm trees and it was wonderful.

Today was one of the days we had booked an excursion. On the docket, a 3 hour sightseeing tour of the island with shopping. There ended up being two busses for our group because it was one of the more popular options. The driver/tour guide was really good. “Let me show you something” was said about 30 times. We learned you can buy a home on the water starting at $1M (you only own the home as all beaches are public and free) or a plot of land inland for $40K or a container home for $25K.

Venezuela is only 15 miles away and Aruba was originally settled by indigenous peoples from there. They lived on the island for about 2000 years undisturbed until the Spanish arrive in 1495. The island bounced from Spain to the Netherlands to the British and then back to the Netherlands. In recent history the island has separated from the Netherland Antilles and has its own currency. However, the governor is still appointed by the queen of the Netherlands and they remain Dutch citizens. When kids start school at 6, they learn Dutch. In middle school they learn Spanish and English. Papiamento is the language spoken at home. So by the time you are a teenager you speak at least 4 languages. Pretty impressive!

The island is 19 miles long and 6 miles wide, which is not very large at all, however there is a lot to see! Our first stop was the California lighthouse. The lighthouse is located on the western tip and is made out of coral rock. Well actually the whole island is coral rock with volcanic rock underneath. We did not have time to climb the lighthouse as Renee and I would have taken a very long time to make it up and then back down. The views were beautiful even from the ground.

Our driver took us along the northern coast, showing us a ruined building left from when there was active gold mining, explained about the different types of rocks we could see, talked about the formation of the island and then stopped at the Natural Bridge. There used to be 2 here but one collapsed in the early 2000s. The north coast is rocky and the waves are much bigger. Swimming is basically prohibited due to the currents. But it’s beautiful to see the jagged rocks and blue water.

Next stop was a large rock formation. We did climb to the top. The view was worth it but going down was very steep and the steps uneven. The tour description mentioned stopping at the Aloe Farm and the Butterfly Garden but we did not get to either. The final stop was in Oranjestad where you could get off the bus to go shopping for 1.5 hours or continue back to the hotel. We chose to go back to the hotel to eat and swim.

Lunch today was at Waves on the beach. We had chips with guac and salsa, both of which were delicious. Renee had a lobster roll and I had the fish tacos. Then we grabbed some towels and went in the ocean. The water was a little chilly but nothing compared to Lake Michigan! It was very relaxing to stand in the water and let the small waves go by. The sand here is also very white and soft. The complete opposite of the north coast!

Then it was time to go back to the room to shower and change for the Partner of the Year dinner. This dinner was on the beach, like last night, but then moved into the ballroom for the awards. The dinner was another delicious buffet. I had salad, sweet potatoes, potato salad, a corn and watermelon salad and pork tenderloin with a pineapple mustard sauce. We had assigned seats and my table had two other winners from my same area of the business along with our president, Pete and our CEO, Chris. So we had the fancy table.

The awards were preceded by a drumline and dancing spectacle leading us from the beach to the ballroom. That was really loud and crazy. The awards were pretty nice, aside from the camera that followed you up on stage like you were a winner of an Oscar. Each person had a little video from their manager or others in their department about why they were deserving of the award and then the pictures we submitted about things that represent us. Once it was done, we headed back to our room to get to bed.

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Photos

Breakfast
The buffet breakfast is extensive and delicious! I did not like the croquet which had a filling of chicken and raisins as raisins are gross. But otherwise everything is delicious.

Cemetery
All the graves are above ground due to the island being made of coral rock. Each one has 4 slots. When they are full the first one in comes out and is put in a smaller box and put back in. I don't know how many people can fit in one slot.

Large Natural Bridge
This collapsed in recent years, luckily in the early morning when no one was there!

Fun plant
According to Google this is the Kalanchoe delagoensis.