Blogs from Aruba, Central America Caribbean - page 3

After eating our own breakfasts in our rooms, we headed out for the Arikok National Park. Of course, on the way we saw the crazy airplane parked in someone’s backyard – in the center of the island. Supposed to eventually be a restaurant? It’s about 50’ off the ground, accessible by an open staircase. We managed to avoid scraping the bottom of the car on all those crazy draining ditches across the road. The blues and turquoises were magnificent against the beige of the sand and the white of the surf. We hiked down to the Boca Prins waters. Actually there was significantly less surf still on this wild side of the island. We went into the further cave first – the “clean cave,” so called because there are 2 types of bats living in the ... read more

It’s Sunday the 18th, but yesterday was a travel day – long and tiring but happily all according to plan. As many of you know, this is the time for friends from church, Tom & Amy Fadeley, to finally come with us! They had won the bid for this event at the fundraiser for our church almost 3 years ago. We are here at last. We left home at 3:15 am for the American Airlines flight at 6:13. Tom and Amy had arrived even earlier for their flight to Newark. We went to Miami, where we had a very very long walk and barely time to stop in the bathroom and buy one very expensive Caesar Salad to add to our brought-from-home Peanut butter/banana muffins. We arrived perhaps 30 mins before Tom & Amy so David ... read more

We are sad to say goodbye to the lovely people, birds, fish, colors, and weather of Aruba. One last time to visit the Spanish Lagoon and say goodbye to the humming birds and Mr. Shoco. Actually we added a total of 9 birds to our life list this time. Our flight has been delayed almost 2 hours. Maybe nno crabcakes in B'mo after all. We'll see. Here are our final photos. David is still not completely happy with the hummers - when they light catches them they are so full of yellows, reds, and greens. Pre-op tomorrow at 9. All go go go.... read more

We started Sunday with birding at the Spanish Lagoon. It’s easy to get up early because our hostess likes us to keep the outdoor lights on – so the light comes in the windows a bit. Of course we said hello to the burrowing owls, and then stood watch at the flowering cactus to try to catch better photos of the hummingbirds. Then it was off to worship with Ronald from The Kitchen, at the Centro Familiar Hosannah church. We got there in plenty of time, not knowing exactly where it was in the city of Orangestad, or where to park, etc. The entrance area was packed with people having coffee and pastries and even scrambled eggs. Hmmm? And canned praise music was already going – so it was a challenge to understand our Spanish-speaking friends ... read more

A very eventful day, even though we didn’t get in the ocean!! What happened?! Well, first thing we went birding at the nearby Spanish Lagoon, and met Armando, who happens to be a professional birder and artist. After looking at the pair of owls, he offered to show us where the humming birds would be. We told him about seeing the info-mercial when we were at La Cabana about birding here, and he admitted he was the guide featured! How fun. Evidently, at the base of the old Gold Mine, up hill from the owls, are cacti in bloom attracting both the Ruby-topaz and Blue-tailed emerald humming birds. David did well but wants to return earlier tomorrow to catch the best light. It was a very lucky meeting because also Armando told us where to find ... read more