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Published: December 19th 2009
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December 2, 2009
ABC Jeep Tours
Wednesday morning at eight we stood outside the Beach Club and waited for our ride to the ABC Jeep Tours office in Oranjestad. As folks waited for their daily tour bus out front of the Surf a giant custom monster truck off road vehicle came to pick us up to get us to the start of our tour. We quickly notice there aren’t any Jeeps at ABC only Land Rovers. Two bench seats in the back sit four on a side facing each other. Twenty-two people were divided in to three groups for each of the Land Roves for our day tour of the island. We were assigned to ride with Curtis our tour leader. To our surprise he then asked a person from each of the other two vehicles if they wanted to be the driver for the day. He never asked either of them if they could drive a 4X4 or even if they had a driver’s license. It’s obvious that things are a lot more relaxed in Aruba than the USA.
Curtis began the tour by leading the group to the western end of the island to the California Light
House. He's careful to always keeping the other two Rovers in sight close behind. When we arrived he gathered us together and begins one of his interesting presentations of the story and history of Aruba that he will do each of our stops. He explains that the California Light was named after a ship that sank off the point before the light was built. After a brief stop and some pictures we begin our off road tour of the sparsely settled northeast side of the island. For most of the day we’re driving through a wind swept cactus desert. We stop at the Chapel at Alto Vista, Shark Mouth, the Natural Bridge, the old Bushiribana Gold Smelt, and lunch at the Ostrich Farm. The manager of the farm takes us on a tour and tells us how stupid the birds are and how they can’t remember who feeds them from one day to the next. Karen gets to feed the ostriches as they bang against her to get at the food. After lunch we do some serious off-roading on our way to the natural pool. We take a nasty hilly, rutted trail to the hill-top parking area. We then have
to climb down a rough hillside, walk across the beach and climb over rocks to the pool. Jim and Karen make it into the pool although today’s moon high tide and the 30 MPH winds make this generally calm pool more like a washing machine loaded with tourist. I was told how great the snorkeling in the pool was and the great variety of colorful fish that you could see. There's no way I'm getting in there. After another lengthy off road drive we ride the smooth roads of Aruba’s Arikok National Park. Here we visit the Indian Cave, the wild donkeys, the new wind farm and take an enjoyable late afternoon swim at Baby Beach. We return to ABC headquarters and Curtis drives us back to the Surf Club. It’s been a great day and we’ve circled the entire island seeing Aruba’s major features. Time to head back to the lazy river before dinner.
That night we enjoyed a romantic dinner at the Papiamento Restaurant. This wonderful restaurant is located in the gardens of a lovely older island home. You sit by a soothing swimming pool in a well-tended garden on a patio under the stars beneath an
array of stately large old Banyan trees. We have attentive waiters who provide great service, well-prepared food and exquisite wine in this lovely setting. The Papiamento provides us all a memorable evening diner.
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