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Back to Aruba
We flew out of Curacao on Saturday, leaving at 12:30 and arriving in Aruba at ten to one. A short flight on a larger aircraft than we are used to… we’ve taken the Insel Air flight a few times from Aruba to Curacao and back again, and it’s usually been on a little fifteen seater. This aircraft had two seats down either side and sat around fifty or so. It was a nice little flight.
We had a bit of a tough time getting our car rented – I don’t think I’d use Avis ever again. It is very annoying to see three couples who were served after you get their cars ahead of you! When I said to the lady, you know, that’s the third person who has gotten their vehicle ahead of me, she said, hey the traffic is bad! Ahhh… ok?? Anyway – we finally got a car, and we got checked in nicely here at Caribbean Palm Village, where we’ve stayed nearly every time we’ve come to Aruba.
We had a little swim in the ocean and it was nice. We had a nice dinner at Rembrandt’s, a nifty little restaurant near the high rise hotels. It’s a Dutch run restaurant (I guess the name Rembrandt’s kind of gives that away huh?) and the food is quite nice. The menu has changed since we were here last, and the owner told us it will change again soon since a new chef is coming from Holland next week! They had a “Sinter Klass” celebration – quite unique to have Santa bring you your beer!
Sunday we thought we’d rest, but the weather was so wonderful we decided to check out Malmok Beach, a beach I’ve come to call Turtle Beach. And guess what?? It was prophetic – we saw two turtles, a hawksbill and a green! And one VERY large barracuda too, about five feet long! And lots of moray eels. And tons of French Angels – it’s a very common fish here in Aruba. Pam calls them dinner plates – they are big round fish, visible from quite a ways away. They always attract your eye, because they are so much wider than most fish.
But the water! WOW! So clear, so calm, so warm. It was easily the best we’ve had so far this vacation. It’s nice to be back on Aruba. It just feels so comfortable here. I’m guessing it’s the familiarity of the place – we’ve been here so often, we know the streets, the beaches, the people. There are a lot of improvements going on – there is a nice new grocery store much closer to our condo. Several bad roads have been repaved. There is a big lovely looking hotel nearly completed, with a slightly Spanish style of architecture.
We also saw a number of Queen Triggerfish, my personal fave of all the fish we see. Pam took a great little movie of her, so you can see how she moves about with her flowing fins, lovely colors, and big eyes!
We had dinner in the condo tonight. It was a nice to have some home cooking after a solid week of restaurant food. And we found a package of our favorite Dutch cookies, speculaas with almonds. I had to drive to three grocery stores before I’d buy THE package – Pam kept saying, “These will be fine” and my reply was, “Not interested in Fine. Want the Best!”
Coral Gardens, Providenciales
Our hotel/condo, the Alexandra Resort, is right on the beach at Grace Bay. Grace bay was voted the best beach in the world this year by Conde Naste, the big travel magazine. And it certainly is lovely. Our room looks out on the beach, and we have a nice sized balcony with a table and chairs and a lounger. We can watch the sunset from our balcony!
We had our first snorkel today, a little ways up the beach from our hotel, and a place called the Coral Gardens. It was a little windy, and so the swimming was a little bit of a challenge, but we were up for it! It was really something. Lots of great coral, all in very good shape. We saw a lot of fish we hadn’t seen before. One of the special things we saw was a stingray! That was a nice start to the vacation. We saw lots of grouper, which makes Pam very happy. Some really nice sized Nassau Grouper, in lots of sizes, and a cool red one.
The parrotfish we’ve seen in the past have been very skittish, taking off as soon as we got close, but here, they don’t seem to swim away like in the past. We saw lots of really good sized ones, and several in colors we don’t often see.
There were lots of barracuda. One was really really really really big! There several big ones, and lots of medium to small ones. We saw some fish we couldn’t tell what they were. But the waves were kinda large and made it difficult to get good shots. We’ll do better next time!
We only lasted a couple hours at best. It was tough swimming, and we’re still a little tired from the long flight. We’ll definitely be coming back to this sight.
For dinner, we wanted to try Baci Ristorante, but of course, it’s closed on Sundays, which we discovered after we’d driven over there! Beside it was the Sharkbite, so we decided to give it a try. It is right on the water, and we got to watch the sunset as we dined. Food is NOT cheap on this island, but Sharkbites was reasonable. We started with a conch fritter appetizer. Conch is a big specialty on this island, they even have a conch farm, so we had to try it. The fritters were good, tasty, with a tangy sauce. Ten fritters were $10. Pam had a strawberry daiquiri, $8, and I had a Turkshead Beer, the local beer here on Providencials $4.50.
For the entree, we both had the ribs, for $17. It was as good serving size, with fries and coleslaw. The rib meat fell off the bone, and the sauce was thick and tangy. For dessert we split a slice of carrot cake and vanilla ice cream. Total bill including the forced 15% gratuity was $93. The service was good, and three or four waitresses kept everything flowing nicely.
Tomorrow we are thinking of going to the other side of the island, but we’ll see what happens!
Diving a wreck
Today, Thursday, December 11, we woke up to a beautifully calm day, and the ocean was glassy smooth. So we headed north to a wreck that is easy to swim to from shore.
It was really quite something. Literally, MILLIONS of fish hang around the ship, inside and out.
The water depth is 6-8 feet so the viewing is fantastic. We saw tons of the usual suspects, plus some gorgeous French Angels. There was a huge trumpetfish. Man, what a big guy he was.
But the real treat was the trigger fish. I love that fish – had a really cool experience with one in the Caymans, but this was the first one I’ve seen here, I think. He was a great looking fish, but he didn’t like to be photographed. It’s not a bad pic of him, but wish I could have gotten a beauty of him!
We did see a barracuda, but it was a smaller one, only about 2 feet. We also saw a couple of cool scorpionfish. They look just like a rock, so it’s really tricky to see them in the water.
For dinner, we headed out to an Argentine steakhouse called the El Gaucho. We’d heard good things about this place, and it took us a while to find it. As we were about to give up, we stumbled upon it. It was busy, as we were told it would be. We had a small wait, but they are associated with a small club, Garufa’s, across the street, so you can go have a drink, listen to the entertainment, and they’ll buzz you when your table is ready. TRUST ME ON THIS ONE – skip Garufa’s! haha That night’s entertainment was karaoke, and I take back any nice things I’ve ever said about karaoke. My ears are still bleeding.
The meal, however, more than made up for it. It’s a beautiful restaurant inside. The tables are large, with leather/cow-hide seats. They serve you on wooden chargers. The waiter, a local Aruban, was funny, friendly and efficient. The food was unbelievably good. Our friend Jorge insisted that Argentine beef was better than Alberta beef, and guess what? He’s 100% correct! Easily the best steak I’ve ever had. Pete felt the same thing.
For desert, I had the tiramisu, and it was the best desert on the island. The meal was so fantastic I had to have a nice port and a Cuban cigar to finish it off in style. The port was really nice, but the threat of divorce stopped me from the cigar! haha
Another fantastic day in paradise!
Monday in Aruba
Today we did some things we’d done before, so Mike could see the island. We took a spin down to Baby Beach, near the oil refinery. The weather was sunny and windy. (Big surprise!) lol
The fish viewing was great! We saw a ton of things, and a few scary ones! There were at least 3 big, badass barracuda. One was definitely full grown, at least 4 feet. The other was a slightly smaller one at about 3 feet and a third one was about that size as well.
The BIG one got annoyed at a school of tangs around it, and he gave chase to them – let me tell you, that was about the time I decided I needed a break! haha
We had lunch at Charlie’s Bar again. It really is a crazy place – kinda nostalgic, kinda tacky, very friendly, and just lots of stuff to see. Every table has a RESERVED sign on it, so dang, you’re just so special the minute you walk in!
Pete and I got sunburned again. Apparently this sunscreen stuff is supposed to help with that, but being a tad thick, it’s taken me a while to warm up to the idea of it… Modern science! Who knew?
We had dinner in the High Rise Hotel area, which was probably a mistake. It’s a very Americanized section, and the food is bland and boring. We tried Iguana Joe’s, which bills itself as the place with the best ribs on the island.
Peter and Pam thought the ribs were pretty good, but Mike thought they were the best ribs on the island, because it’s the only rib joint on the island! hah I had the mahi-mahi, but it was overcooked, the potatoes were gross, but the coleslaw was fantastic! Overall, give Iguana Joe’s a pass. It’s just not very good.
We did have a pretty nice sunset tho! We’ve been trying to get some pictures of the sunsets, but we’ve done poorly. Finally Peter snagged a couple really nice ones.
Hope you enjoy!
If it’s Tuesday, it must be Baby Beach
Yesterday we had explored the north side of the island, with the California Lighthouse. Today, (Tuesday) we took in the South End of the island, with the small town of San Nicolas which has an oil refinery. I was under the impression the refinery had stopped producing in 1985, but it sure looked busy!
The south coast sure takes a beating from the waves, and because of the volcanic nature of the island, the waves sculpt the earth with the constant pounding. There are rock formations, created that are almost works of art! There are a number of “bridges” around where the ocean has worn away the lower sections. One for which Aruba is/was famous for has collapsed.
The undulating topography of Aruba is in stark contrast to the flatness of the Caymans. One could even say there is a mountain on this island! There are a number of cliffs where the views down into the crashing surf are quite amazing.
After chasing geckos and looking for places to shoot the surf, we took a dip in Baby Beach.
It’s a very busy beach, the most crowded I’ve ever seen down here! And it’s little wonder – there is a naturally protected bay, with beautiful white sand that is quite shallow. It is sandy for quite a while. As you get closer to where the ocean enters the bay, suddenly TONS of fish fill your space!
The ocean rushes into the bay at the point, and comes over some very shallow areas. The fish just sort of hang around the rushing water, and drift with the waves. The bad thing, is that the speed of the water stirs up the sand, and it creates a “haze” in the water that makes it tough to get a good clear shot.
We did see some cool fish – trumpetfish, houndfish, stoplight parrotfish, tons of stuff. We even saw a little trunkfish, but he took off before I could get his pic. There were a couple of houndfish, and either a needlefish or a ballyhoo.
I’d read quite a bit about Baby beach, and people complained it was too crowded, too this or too that – take it from me – what Baby beach is, is a place to go for a cool swim, to see some cool fish, and to be with people. If you’re looking for a quiet place to get away, then this is not the beach to be!
We made our way back downtown and had dinner in an ultra cool restaurant called the Buccanneer. It’s made to resemble a sunken galleon in one dining room, with aquariums lining the walls. There are all sorts of cool memorabilia along the walls, too.
The other dining room is dominated by 7500 gallon tank with 3 large sea turtles! I want to swim with one of those suckers! They also had a couple of barracuda closed off from the main inhabitants of the big tank.
Definitely a nice finish to the day!
If it's Tuesday, it must be Baby Beach
Yesterday we had explored the north side of the island, with the California Lighthouse. Today, (Tuesday) we took in the South End of the island, with the small town of San Nicolas which has an oil refinery. I was under the impression the refinery had stopped producing in 1985, but it sure looked busy!
The south coast sure takes a beating from the waves, and because of the volcanic nature of the island, the waves sculpt the earth with the constant pounding. There are rock formations, created that are almost works of art! There are a number of “bridges” around where the ocean has worn away the lower sections. One for which Aruba is/was famous for has collapsed.
The undulating topography of Aruba is in stark contrast to the flatness of the Caymans. One could even say there is a mountain on this island! There are a number of cliffs where the views down into the crashing surf are quite amazing.
After chasing geckos and looking for places to shoot the surf, we took a dip in Baby Beach.
It’s a very busy beach, the most crowded I’ve ever seen down here! And it’s little wonder – there is a naturally protected bay, with beautiful white sand that is quite shallow. It is sandy for quite a while. As you get closer to where the ocean enters the bay, suddenly TONS of fish fill your space!
The ocean rushes into the bay at the point, and comes over some very shallow areas. The fish just sort of hang around the rushing water, and drift with the waves. The bad thing, is that the speed of the water stirs up the sand, and it creates a “haze” in the water that makes it tough to get a good clear shot.
We did see some cool fish – trumpetfish, houndfish, stoplight parrotfish, tons of stuff. We even saw a little trunkfish, but he took off before I could get his pic. There were a couple of houndfish, and either a needlefish or a ballyhoo.
I’d read quite a bit about Baby Beach, and people complained it was too crowded, too this or too that – take it from me – what Baby Beach is, is a place to go for a cool swim, to see some cool fish, and to be with people. If you’re looking for a quiet place to get away, then this is not the beach to be!
We made our way back downtown and had dinner in an ultra cool restaurant called the Buccanneer. It’s made to resemble a sunken galleon in one dining room, with aquariums lining the walls. There are all sorts of cool memorabilia along the walls, too.
The other dining room is dominated by 7500 gallon tank with 3 large sea turtles! I want to swim with one of those suckers! They also had a couple of barracuda closed off from the main inhabitants of the big tank.
Definitely a nice finish to the day!