Blogs from Aruba, Central America Caribbean - page 8

This morning, the Crofts and Weavers set out on different excursions. The Weavers went on a snorkeling trip, where they ended up being the only customers so they had basically a private booking! They had a great time, including snorkeling around the largest accessible shipwreck in the Caribbean - the Antilla, a German freighter. Meanwhile, the Crofts toured the ocean bottom in a drier environment - a semi-submersible, where there were seats and windows about 10 feet below the deck. We saw reefs and the same shipwreck mentioned above. It wasn't the best situation for pictures, but I posted a few below that aren't too bad. Back to the beach in the afternoon, after Jeff & Allison were caught in 10 minutes of rain walking back from the boat tour. Although we were about .2 miles ... read more

Ok, so it's not that big of a country. But we did do some serious off-roading, as our newly re-shuffled internal organs can attest to. Our intrepid driver (Craig) got us to some pretty cool places as we spent the day exploring the island away from the beaches. There are a lot of places out there where you won't find any people for miles. Some highlights: a chapel built in 1750 and still in use today; a natural bridge created by the wave action eroding the rocks; an old, abandoned gold smelting plant; and lunch at an quirky little restaurant in San Nicholas - which is also the home of Aruba's legal red-light district (the Dutch are so enlightened...) We took a break from the fancy dinner fare - the Crofts had room service, and the ... read more

Early (relatively) walk on the beach this morning before everyone was out there - see pics below. Then we were on the beach most of the day. I'm feeling a little fried, as the day was almost cloudless. We finally called it quits around 4 to get cleaned up and dressed for dinner. Dinner was especially nice at a beautiful venue with a fantastic view of the ocean and sunset. Tomorrow, Craig is planning on doing some windsurfing - he's done it before but it has been a while, so we'll see how it goes. Hopefully I'll be able to get some pictures. Also, we'regoingona sunset sail tomorrow - can't wait for that.... read more

We have arrived!!! Arrival was a breeze - our plane landed at 1pm, we cleared customs, claimed our luggage, got a taxi to our hotel and had checked in by 2pm. Our rooms weren't ready yet, but that gave us time to have lunch and explore the resort a little bit. The we got to our rooms, unpacked, rested up a little bit, then had a sunset dinner on the beach here at the resort - perfect and relaxing way to end a very long first day.... read more

You’ve heard of Destination Weddings…. well why not Destination Birthdays? And for mine, I chose Aruba ‘the happy island’! We were first welcomed at the airport with a tote bag full of activities and coupons. We met amazing and friendly locals knowledgeable in the history of their country. From cab drivers to street vendors almost everyone we encountered spoke four languages: English, Papiamento (their native tongue), Dutch, and Spanish. Needless to say the inviting atmosphere and people of the island made us feel right at home. It was more than the relaxing and renewing vacation we were hoping for. It was truly a pleasure to experience the island first hand with http://abc-aruba.com. We booked the Baby Beach Package (roughly $80 per person) and it was worth it! The package included: hotel pick up... read more