Aruba 2022 - Day 2: Snorkeling, Mangel Halto

We had another lazy morning at the condo, on the back porch and beach. After a late breakfast, we decided to rent some snorkel gear at the nearby Aruba Bob Snorkel & Scuba.

Based on past rental experiences, we were expecting them to try to sell us on a group tour or something, but we couldn't have been more wrong; the guys at Aruba Bob's were great.

They were thrilled to learn that we were staying nearby, instead of on the touristy side of the island. In fact, they knew the exact condo building we're in (it's very close), and told us that it's just a few doors down from Floyd Mayweather's house. This probably explains the house with the outdoor gym, whose semi-private beach we had walked through last night, en route to watch the sunset. (They assured us all beaches are public here, by law.)

Our brief visit fostered a discussion on a variety of topics. For example, while deciding whose driver's license to leave as collateral, they also confirmed a suspicion we had about the license plates here: we noticed that the rental cars all seem to have a "V" prefix on the plate, but the locals have an "A". The context was something like "don't worry, you don't really need your license here... the police won't bother you because you have a V plate... they don't hassle tourists". (They also seem to literally cut off the A/V and re-use it on other plates? Something like this random photo.)

Anyway: they were happy to rent us a bunch of snorkel gear, at a very reasonable price, for an unspecified amount of time, and only took some money up front when we offered it. They also happily recommended the best snorkel places on the island, number one of which is not even 2 miles up the coast from us.

In summary: shout out to Aruba Bob's and the guys who were there today. (Looking at the website, I think it was Lui, Alex, and Coco [affectionately referred to as Coconut].)

We went back to the condo and practiced with the gear in the lagoon, wading in at Floyd's beach; Diet had never snorkeled before, and Sabrina likes to pretend she hasn't snorkeled a dozen times with me. It turned out to be important, because we discovered that Sabrina's mask leaked. (We stopped at Aruba Bob's for a replacement, later.)

After floating around the lagoon for awhile, grabbing lunch and a coffee, plus a nap and/or a bit of book time for some people and another round of sunscreen, we loaded up the cooler/car and made the short drive up to Mangel Halto Beach.

We hadn't actually done much research before embarking, somehow, but we started in the shallower area where the surf was gentle(r).

The water and the weather were beautiful, if a bit on the windy side.

There was plenty of (dead, bleached) coral reef in the protected bay area, with lots of colorful fish to follow around.

The largest/slowest (easiest to photograph) are these... parrot fish? I think they're parrot fish.

They also didn't seem to mind when I floated directly over them, unlike many of the other fish that are more skittish.

With the wind and the current, we ended up somewhat far from shore.

I noticed some long antennae poking out from this giant brain coral, between the urchins, so went down to investigate.

I'm not a marine biologist, but I'm fairly sure that's a spiny lobster hiding under the coral.

Eventually, we headed back to the beach, and our cooler, to rest and hydrate. Diet and Sabrina had had enough snorkeling for today, but Matt and I waded back in.

Freed from the caution voices of reasons of our safer halves, we went directly out to the barrier wall. I didn't bring a camera (iPhone) this time, which was unfortunate because it was some rather impressive submarine scenery and a wide variety of fish. We might have to go back there another day, to see more of that area and to show Sabrina and Diet. If we do, I'll get some pictures.

By the time Matt convinced me that we should go back to land, it was after 5 PM. Here you can see us gracefully emerging from the surf, having just battled the current to return to our entry point instead of taking the easy way out, around the corner.

We nearly had the entire place to ourselves, for several hours; it's a bit off the beaten path, so to speak, and there are many other sunbathing-type beach options. Plus, it was a Tuesday afternoon during the off season.

After washing sand off of snorkel gear and half-heartedly attempting to dry off, we returned to the condo to unload and change, before heading back out for some dinner.

We finally got to try the House Of Cakes (Bar & Restaurant). It was taco tuesday, and we stuffed ourselves rather economically. Also I brought home some cake, while everyone else got ice cream at the Ritz.

After sunset, Matt and I explored some more of the island's local flavors. (... I'm not sure I'd recommend this rum, in case that decision ever comes up.)

I have no idea what we're doing tomorrow, but I assume the weather will be perfect, as usual.

Aruba 2022 - Day 1: Sun, Sand, and Relaxation

We had a lazy morning, lounging around, swimming, reading on the porch and such. Matt and Diet went on an exploratory drive for a bit. I went on an exploratory snorkel expedition in the lagoon in front of the condo.

While I was reading in the shade, small lizards kept running across the deck. A brief Google search suggests they were Aruban Whiptail Lizards.

Around lunchtime, we packed up the car and headed out for the afternoon, first in search of some lunch, and then to the beach.

There must be at least 20 "supermarkets" in the Savaneta/San Nicolas area... some of them stand out more than others, like the Hong Kong Supermarket and Furniture Store. We've already been to several of them; many appear to be what we might call convenience stores or minimarts, and lots of them have Chinese names and/or Chinese writing on the signs. They seem to be everywhere, as we drive around here. (I even found someone else's blog post about it.)

Our lunch venue today was The Colorado Shack, where we had a variety of rice bowls and a few cups of mabi/mauby/mobi. Matt also bought a bottle of this, yesterday. It's difficult to describe, but is something like spiced ginger beer.

The language situation here is fascinating; signs are often in Dutch and what I'm guessing is Papiamento? And sometimes also in Spanish, due to the large number of South American tourists. But also sometimes in English. Menus seem to be English and Papiamento, but also sometimes Spanish. The street names seem to be mostly Dutch, but the road signs are British style. 🤷‍♂️ 

After lunch, we motored a few miles down the road, toward Baby Beach. There was a small drove of donkeys on the side of the road, but nobody wanted to stop to see them up close.

We parked near Big Mama Grill, and made a mental note to try this place for lunch, some other day.

The beach and water were beautiful, the weather was perfect, and the sun was brutal.

Thankfully, there were a few trees offering shade, all along the sand.

If we were serious beach people, I guess we would have rented a shelter.

We spent a few hours at the beach, swimming, floating, and hiding from the sun.

 

Around 3 PM, we packed up and walked the length of the beach, heading for the Rum Reef bar at the other end for a refreshing beverage and/or a snack.

The bar was a little too loud and a little too pricey, but the drinks were good, the view was good, and it had an infinity pool? I'm not sure what the appeal was, but the seagulls seems to like drinking the water out of it.

After some cold cocktails, we walked out to the end of the rocky (coral) point.

In the background, you can see the (idle) Citgo refinery.

Here, outside the breakwater, the full force of the open ocean was pounding the shoreline.

Eventually, we grew tired of waiting to see if Matt would jump in, and walked along the beach back to the car. Along the way, we had worked up a sweat again. Diet and I jumped back in the ocean to rinse off, but Matt just dunked his head.

It was approaching 5 o'clock as we departed, heading back towards the condo, debating what to do for dinner.

I've seen some cacti on the dry sides of islands before, but have never seen anything like the cactus situation here.

In addition to random cactus clumps along the roadside and between many buildings, there are vast, open areas with nothing but cactus as far as one can see.

These are just some random pictures I took out the passenger window of the car; there are acres and acres of cacti. On a related note, something I read earlier today mentioned that it really doesn't rain here from early January through most of August.

There isn't a huge variety of restaurants near the condo, but we decided to stop at one of the nearby options for dinner: House Of Cakes (Bar & Restaurant). Unfortunately, we neglected to notice that it closes at 4 PM on Mondays.

The other food options in the immediate vicinity were a fast food place and a mini market, so we picked up some ingredients to whip up a quick dinner back at the condo, incorporating some leftovers from last night.

When we got back to the condo, however, the driveway was blocked by a septic truck.

They assured us they would just be a few more minutes (which was true), but we carried our groceries around the truck so we could get dinner started.

The kitchen is serviceable but not huge, and there's only a single outlet over the counter, so I had to make daiquiris on the floor. Sabrina only seemed slightly appalled.

After dinner, we walked down the beach a bit, trying to get a peek at the sunet.

We face a bit too far south to actually see the sun hit the water, but the view was lovely and the temperature had dropped immediately.

It was a perfect evening to sit on the beach with a beer, listening to the waves break on the small seawall in front of the condo.

Aruba 2022 - Day 0: Arrival

Continuing our tour of the Caribbean, we're celebrating several people's new jobs by spending about a week in Aruba with some friends (henceforth, referred to as Matt and Dietlinde).

We left home before 5 AM this morning, in light rain, fog, and darkness. They only live across town, so we carpooled to the airport.

Our 8:40 flight out of Newark was slightly delayed, but uneventful. (Don't count on getting anything to eat in terminal B before 8 AM on a Sunday, though.)

Once airborne, it's about 4.25 hours to Aruba. We spilled out into the wind and humidity before 2 PM, in search of our rental car.

If you've been to the Caribbean, you're probably familiar with island time; it was another 40 minutes before we made it to the condo, despite it being a 10-minute drive.

Sometimes, Airbnb or VRBO photos/listings can be deceiving or exaggerated, but this condo is as "on the water" as we expected.

We took a few minutes to explore the views and the waterfront.

We hadn't really eaten much, and were all in need of a cold beverage and a bite to eat, so we headed to a nearby beach bar (Battata).

I had to try the Aruba Ariba (pronounced "Arubariba"), for science. There were also some piña coladas on the table, along with some snacks. There was a constant 20 to 25mph wind, which made everything a little tricky but also tempered the oppressive heat and humidity.

If you look carefully, you can see the horse in the volleyball court. They were offering horseback rides around the beach. We resisted the urge, but it must've been popular because their Facebook page is currently filled with horse videos. 🤷‍♂️ 

After a brief stroll on the beach, we continued down the road in search of a grocery store. The first one we tried was closed, the second one was more of a mini-mart situation, and the third rounded out our immediate shopping needs. We returned home with our spoils, then spent a few minutes unwinding and investigating dinner options.

Not wanting to get back in the car, we opted for the nearby Zeerover bar/restaurant/seafood-shack. It was only about a 10 minute walk from the condo, accompanied by a beautiful view of the sun sinking toward the horizon.

This turned out to be a popular idea; we had to wait in line for about 40 minutes to order our food, but we were committed once we set out on foot. Matt and I enjoyed a local bottled beer while waiting.

It took another 45 minutes for the food to show up at our table. Luckily, the scenery and company were agreeable, and the ever-present ocean breeze kept it relatively comfortable. Occasionally, water would splash up through the gaps in the deck boards, slightly wetting our feet.

I think it was almost 9 PM by the time we wandered home. If not for the full moon, I suspect it would've been too dark to walk back along the water's edge.

The forecast for the entire week is remarkably constant: mid 80s, feels like mid 90s, sunny and windy during the day, but 80 F at night. There's no plan for tomorrow, or any other day (yet?).

We're all tired, and will be turning in early tonight. It's tempting to watch the lunar eclipse, though...