Trip Report - ARUBA

We spent the last week of November 2001 in Aruba.

Why? Aruba with its beaches and reefs has attracked us for
some time, and there have been bargain fares to Aruba this
year.

Aruba is a small island (70 square miles) about 15 miles off the
coast of Venezuela - in fact on clear days we could see the
mountains in Venezuela.  It's arid with only 20 inches of rain
per year -- imagine Arizona surrounded by a deep blue sea.
It's very safe and easy going; overall, it's similar to Grand Cayman.

It was very relaxing. A typical day went as follows: Arise and
take an early morning hike through the nature preserve across the street
watching hundeds of birds, mostly waterfowl, in their early morning
routines. Return to our studio room (including kitchenette) for
breakfast and read the local papers, which were very good on international
news as well as local happenings. Visit the butterfly farm where we had
weeklong passses. Read for a couple of hours on the beach and then go 
swimming/snorkeling for a couple of hours. Have a light lunch, perhaps 
bread, Dutch cheese, tropical fruits and veggies followed by an outing. 
Some of the spots we visited included a donkey sanctuary, the Natual Bridge 
(most photograhed spot on the island), sand dunes, ruins, nature parks,  
and the coasts. One day we climbed to the highest point on the island,
named Hooiberg, which means haystack in Dutch, 167 meters above the sea,
580 steps to the top. We encountered local men who would climb it seven
times in a row to get in shape and purge their bodies and souls from the 
abuse of laziness, nicotine, booze, etc. Late afternoon was spent swimming
and snorkeling again. The fish were pretty, much varied in size and species, 
as was the coral. After catching the sunset, we would take a dip in the pool 
and observe happy hour the at our resort.  We would eat dinner out, typically 
seafood accompanied by local dishes, such as pan bani (similar to pankakes) 
and a polenta-like dish.  Beers included Balashi from Aruba, Polar from 
Venezuela and Pambo from Surinam -- all tasty lagers; wines included South 
American imports. In the evening we would take walks on the beaches ducking 
into the casinos to sample the entertainment and free bingo.

One evening we went to the weekly folkloric festival in downtown Oranjestad,
which included local foods, crafts, and singers and dancers of various ages.
It was all very enjoyable. While we were relearning the Merengue, we literally
bumped into several members of the Carleton swim teams who were training in 
Aruba. And it turned out that all 40 of them were staying at our resort! 

We flew there on Sun Country during their demise and returned on ATA and 
Northwest. The only hitch was a 4 hour delay on Northwest in Detroit.

Costs for two: airfare and lodging (at the 3-star Mill Resort) $1250;
car rent $195 + $56 CDW; gas $40; food about $70/day; gambling losses $1.