Blogs from Aruba, Central America Caribbean

Today for breakfast….the buffet! Shocking I know! After breakfast we took a cab to the Aruba Aloe Factory and Museum. This is a really neat place! They have an aloe farm smack in the middle of town and there is a free guided tour. Our guide explained how aloe was brought here from Africa, so it’s not native to the island. However, they now have a thriving industry growing and turning it into everything from sunscreen to deodorant to shampoo. Of course they have aloe gel, but I was amazed at all the other products. The one interesting fact about aloe is there is a very concentrated yellow sap that is part of the plant which is actually a laxative. They make sure to remove that before processing the gel. Wouldn’t want to ingest that! After ... read more

I probably will say this every morning but the breakfast buffet is wonderful! And the mango juice is exceptional! Our excursion for the day was the Schooner cruise. It was to leave at 9:15 and get back at 11:15. I think we started walking to the boat at 9:30. Aruba time takes some getting used to… The boat was through the Jolly Pirate tour company and was a nice sail boat with a sunny front deck and covered rear. I thought the cruise was going to be more sightseeing and less snorkeling but it really ended up being mostly snorkeling. We stopped 3 different places for snorkeling. The first stop was over a ship wreck of a German boat from 1940 or 41. The water was pretty choppy here but I could see parts of the ... read more

Today was mostly a travel day. There are direct flights from Chicago to Aruba but apparently only on the weekend so we had to connect in Miami. Our day started out leaving home at 4:30 AM, chauffeured by our dad, for O’Hare. The temperature was a balmy 12 degrees with a windchill of 1. We arrived, checked our bags, went through security and were to our gate with time to grab a quick breakfast. WE boarded, took off and landed in Miami, all on time. And by some stroke of luck our arriving gate was right next to our departing gate. That never happens! Again we had time for a quick bite and then were on a plane once again. 3 hours later we landed in Oranjestad, Aruba, where it was not 12 degrees with no ... read more

So it’s a sad day in Aruba – last snorkels, last turtles, last visit to Linda’s, etc etc. We were at Tres Trapi for turtle hunting by 8:30, and we were very well rewarded. This time we weren’t so systematic, so perhaps we were seeing the same ones over and over, but we certainly thought we saw a dozen, including you know who – Hungry Boy, the gray turtle. We also found 2 flying gurnards (sorry Robin) and a Queen Triggerfish at last. Still no sign of the short-nosed batfish or the frogfish. David was infuriated by one particular family who pestered the turtles, and the boy who swooped in to touch the turtle as it was coming up for air, and just as David was filming. I’ve been known to tell off anyone I see ... read more

Up at the crack of dawn just about to go birding yet again up near La Cabana!! Oh well. We enjoyed some time at the various Salinas – or salty wet areas – and the ocean front up by Arashi Beach. We actually spied a Southern lapwing, which is quite rare. There we met some fellow birding enthusiasts, David and Karen Light from New Jersey. And they were so interested in seeing Shoco that we ended up offering to drive them over to the open place near the windsurfing area. They had already walked down from the lighthouse, and had no car. Of course the pair of burrowing owls popped up and put on a fine show. Just for fun I took a picture of David and Karen looking. We also ALL witnessed a fly over ... read more