Aruba 2006 February
Our trip to Aruba, in February 2006, started at Newark Airport on Saturday February 11th. Upon departure, we were told that a snow storm was about to hit the northeastern states of New Jersey, New York and more. Later that night, while at the hotel, we saw on TV channel CNN that sure enough, there was a SNOW STORM. We escaped just in time!! There were times we were worried about the snow back home, but with the nice temperatures ahead, we kind of forgot.
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The weather in Aruba was hot, hot, hot, and with the strong tradewinds, it felt quite cool at times. The winds would blow across the island, from north to south. In this aerial shot postcard you can see many hotels. We stayed at Holiday Inn Sunspree, which have the green roof tops. The location was nice, and the price was very reasonable. We elected not to take the all-inclusive meal plan. It would have made Peter gain more weight. He is big already. Anyway, the beach was nice and calm, so we could swim without problems of managing the waves. Peter liked the beach. Other times, we took long walks along the walkways which joined from one hotel to another. Several open air restaurants and bars were along the beach. They usually took on the shape of huts or tiki bars.
We signed up for the Discover Aruba trip with DePalm Tours, which included snorkeling at Baby Beach. We learned from various websites that the Baby Beach was a nice place to snorkel and see some tropical fishes. So, off we went on this tour. Our first stop on the trip was at a remote location, the California Lighthouse. In this area, we passed Tom Cruise multi-million dollar home, and other famous people. The price of homes started at $1 million. On the trip, this open air restaurant had a very nice view. It overlooked both the coast line and a professional golf course. In this picture, you can see why it must get busy during evening hours.
We asked another tourist to take a picture of us, here at the restaurant. There was not much to see at the lighthouse, but the Natural Bridge was interesting. This was included in the trip. The last part was the snorkeling, in which both of us participated. Vance liked the snorkeling a lot. Later (not shown) we both did scuba diving. Vance went down over 20 feet under water for over 15 minutes, to see a Ship Wreck with Peter. That was great fun.
Funny, but we were somewhat surprised by the low turnout of tourists at Aruba. Some said the island was slow. Anyway, we enjoyed the peace and quite the beaches brought. Here, at the Holiday Inn Sunspree beach, there should have been many many people. Maybe it had all to do with the Natalee Holloway issue. We suspect there was some politics involved, too.
In any case, across the street from the hotel, there were many construction projects going on. They were adding about 50 more shops and restaurants. In the town of Palm Beach, there were already 50 to 100 stores and restaurants, so we were not sure why the heavy construction projects. But we welcomed this idea. It was so much better to just walk to a restaurant, rather than take a bus downtown. We did go downtown on a few occasions, once on a Shopping Spree Trip, and another time, to see the Festival/Parade.
Here is a picture of Peter, wearing the same shirt as in the Halifax Cruise a few years back. Not sure if he lost any weight, but he really, really needs to do it. Vance made sure to play some tennis with Peter, so as to burn off a few calories. We played a few times. That was kind of exciting.
The Festival/Parade, which only takes place in the month of February, was difficult to catch. Many people whom we asked gave us miss-information. So, we were struggling to see one. One person said it was downtown, at 8:00. Only to find that it was not downtown on that day, but at St. Nicholas town. Downtown is normally thought to be OrangeCity. Anyway, we tried again the following week. Vance was determined to see the Festival Of Lights/Costume Parade. Again, we were told it was at 8:00 PM. Yes, it was 8:00 PM at the start of the parade, near the Airport, but it appears downtown at 11:00 PM. We waited and waited. Ok, the crowd along the streets got busy. More and more people showed up.
At 11:15 PM or so, we could hear the bands playing. And finally, it arrived. Although we waited several hours for the parade to show up at spot downtown, it was worth it. The parade lasted about two hours. Several marching bands all with beautiful costumes and dancing shows. A few floats were of beer companies. Budweiser, Coors, and so on. There were a few floats of the various local businesses, Setar the telephone company, and so on. Some of the floats were massive number of speakers strapped onto the truck in the front and back. Blasting as very high volumes, Vance and I were often closing our ears to prevent hearing loss. But, it was fun. The people in the parade were very nice. By 1:00 PM, some were drinking too much, and others just plain tired. We, though,we were still enjoying the festivities.
The people in the parade were very friendly, and would approach various spectators, so as to take a photograph. We actually have several pictures of Vance in the parade, but this one was the best.
Various Links - FYI
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Use this map to understand the other maps for activities in Aruba (Keep this Open)
Use this map to understand the other maps for restaurants in Aruba (Keep this Open)
Orange City ( Downtown Aruba )
Suggested walking path while at Downtown, where in PINK is for walking in safe-streets. Vance warned me that we are not "native folks" here, and should stay in safe areas. Hint to guys: play it safe with your honey/babe/gal. Keep them happy.
Use this map to understand where are the hotels
We stayed at the Palm Beach area hotels
Suggested walking path while at Palm Beach, where YELLOW is for walking on beach-paths and PINK is walking on sidewalk paths (both in search of safe activity / shops / restaurants without need of a taxi). Again, Vance warned me not to become an "explorer" here, since we are not "native" to the area. Hint again to guys: keep playing it safe with your honey/babe/gal, and you'll both come back home happy.
Parade. Sometimes the parade starts at St. Nicholas city. Where is that? All the way on the other side of Aruba. This is a long and bumby bus ride. Keep your ears open as to what is happening, and where the parade starts, and when.
75 Pictures of Aruba - Digital, ALL on a CD for 10 dollars. Wow? What a mistake. The pictures on the jacket inside look good, but once on the computer, they have poor resolution. I hoped to share some of these pictures with you. What a rip-off in my opinion. Our recommendation, stay away from this one.
Screen Saver (back cover)
De Palm Tours gives a WELCOME TO ARUBA - ORIENTATION meeting, with free breakfast. We thought it was nice. We signed up for a few tours at this meeting. Nice time to get organized, on first day. Get your questions answered. Sometimes they give a $5.00 discount on different packages.
Schedule - Activity Page 2