This is going to be a short blog because, well, it's hanging at a beach. Nothing too exciting there.
Upon arrival at the Aruba airport on Thursday we quickly made it through passport check and customs, as they weren't very concerned with checking bags. We were handed free re-usable bags, full of advertising, upon disembarking from the plane and then again after clearing the passport check point. Awesome! Now we have beach bags! We made a quick stop to grab a sim card for our cell phone, picked up our rental car and were on our way to La Cabana Beach Resort.
It's interesting to drive around Aruba. The traffic isn't bad, but there aren't many street signs so you just sort of have to guess where you're going. Luckily the island isn't big, only 20 miles long and 5 miles wide. My instructions to Bill to find our hotel were to just "follow the ocean".
We checked out the resort area and took a walk on the beach before lucking out and getting in to eat at Wacky Wahoos. YUM! Delicious seafood in a fun, casual atmosphere. We made a quick stop at Super Food, a giant grocery store, and picked up a few snacks and drinks to get us through the week. It's definitely island prices for grocery food; check out the picture to see what $87 will get you.
Today, Friday, is a relaxing beach day. It is HOT, but there's always a wind so that keeps it from getting too unbearable. Plus the resort has little huts set up on the beach to provide shade from the blistering sun. When we went for a dip in the ocean we were greeted by some friendly fish that bumped up against us and nibbled at my fingers. Some ladies near us had bread they were feeding the fish with and they went crazy for it.
After hanging at the resort beach for a few hours we decided to take a ride up the coast and see what we could see, and perhaps find some of the awesome other beaches Aruba has to offer. We made our way up to the California Lighthouse; nothing really spectacular. But the coast on the northern tip is beautiful. It's rocky and jagged, with crashing waves. Quite a difference from the calm swimming beaches lining the rest of the coast.
We found a beach that is noted for snorkeling so made a stop to see what was lurking under the water. There was an amazing amount of sea life for just a few yards off shore. There were all kinds of colorful fish, huge starfish and many different kinds of sea urchins clinging to rocks. I saw a big, round, flat fish that blended right in with the sand, other than it's eye sticking up. Then all of the sudden there was a cute, little sea turtle swimming around under me. Definitely a fun stop. If you're coming to Aruba for a visit, be sure to explore and get away from the hotel areas. There is a lot to see and do.
We ended the night with another yummy restaurant named Bingo! (the exclamation point is actually part of their name).
Gotta have a pic of the "I Heart Aruba" sign
The view of our resort beach
White sand beach by the resort
This is what $87 gets you at Super Foods
Pretty beach tree
Huts & turquoise ocean
California Lighthouse
A smoothie & lemonade stop
Rocky beach at northern tip
Rocky beach at northern tip
Us on the rocky beach at the northern tip
Funky beach tree
Bill and me by the funky tree
Cactus & shells
That's me snorkeling
White sand beach
