Monday, December 31, 2012

Aruba: Day One & Two

My family and I arrived back from Aruba late last night. It was an awesome vacation and I would definitely like to visit Aruba again. I'm going to separate my posts because I have lots to share about each day. 


View from our Condo

Day One:

We left at the crack of dawn to catch our flight out of JFK. It was a straight flight to Oranjestad, Aruba which was a little over 4 hours. Let me tell you, there were some very rude and annoying people on our flight. Lots of plastic guidos and their kids. We were keeping our fingers crossed that they weren't at our resort. We arrived in Aruba in the afternoon. It was warm, but it rained on us the first day. Since it was freezing on our way down our pictures looked like we didn't belong in Aruba. That night we went out to dinner, went grocery shopping, and checked out our resort and condo. There were three pools and an ocean view. Absolutely beautiful! 

After dinner the first night 

Day Two:

The weather wasn't the best, but at least it didn't rain on our second day. We went on a fun Safari Jeep ride for four hours in the afternoon. Since there was only one tour guide/driver and several tourists, my Dad drove us in our own Jeep. It was interesting to learn about the country and explore areas that weren't "just for tourists." We saw the Natural Pool at their state park, saw several Natural Bridges, rock formations, and a gold mine from the early 1800's. Driving in the countryside was SUPER SUPER bumpy! At some points we thought our Jeep was going to flip over! It was fun. Nick drove some and it scared me a bit! Ha! That night we went to a Soprano Piano Bar, which was cool! The piano guy wasn't that great but it was entertaining. Here are some facts I learned about the Island:
1. Aruba is only 16 miles wide
2. 75% of in their industry is tourism
3. Motto is "One Happy Island"
4. They learn 4 different language: Spanish, English, Dutch, and Papiamento (mostly used)
5. 120,000 live in Aruba


Dad driving the Jeep through the State Park 
At the Natural Pool

Nick driving us
Baby Bridge, next to the Natural Bridge that collapsed in 2005
Tallest point on the island
Coming up... review of the next few days!

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