New day, new port! I don’t think I’ve ever been to Aruba before, unless my parents brought us on a cruise I don’t remember. In doing some research, the night before, I decided to play my plans by ear and be flexible.
Looked like drone flights needed to be scheduled and approved the day before, and I didn’t want to be rushed to any particular part of the island, so I left the drone onboard.
Day 7 was a little too good. I ended up with 1600 photos to go through, of which, I ended up with around 200 photos with a quick edit.
Itinerary Update
Because of my timezone issues from yesterday, I set my alarm an hour early to account for that time change, but woke up to my alarm a little surprised, cause it didn’t feel like I had slept 9 hours. I looked at the phone, and had to laugh cause my phone caught up somewhere along the way and was now displaying the right time. I was up an hour early from our scheduled arrival so I took the opportunity to run upstairs to get some fresh pressed juice.
On tap for today (making our way down the menu) was apple, carrot and grape and it was amazing. Great way to start the day.
After finishing the juice and some photos on deck, I realized that we were already allowed to get off the ship. We were originally scheduled for 11 AM, but we made it early and were able to get off starting at 9 AM (great job by the captain).
Heading Out
I had originally booked a rental car at the airport, but upon exiting, I found that there were rental cars right outside. I chatted with one of the guys, and it was more expensive, but the convenience of being right at the port was worth it to me. So I just cancelled the rental at the airport.
I ended up getting a 4×4 Jeep as well, so I could go to the natural pool in Arikok.
I set out to take the path to wander around the island in a clockwise fashion. Took a bunch of time lapses with the go pro too (will upload tomorrow). They’re fascinating. I did end up making it all the way around the island though. It was a great day.
First Stop
Stopped at a beach right before the lighthouse, cause I saw a pelican, and ended up chilling for a bit and getting some fun shots, as well as seeing a TON of lizards running around. When you don’t move for awhile, they even come out to play, and saw some fighting each other which was fun to watch.
California Lighthouse
Very quick stop at the California Lighthouse, there were people I think that set up shop there, flying a drone, so it was in virtually every shot, and it was getting annoying, so I left. LOTS of lizards here too.
Arikok National Park
Headed then to Arikok National Park and paid the entrance fee ($15). Was able to make it to the natural pool with the 4×4, but I will tell you, the path down that way was not for the feint of heart. Definitely white knuckled it a bunch, and if you’re prone to motion sickness, it’s definitely not for you.
Natural Pool
Saw someone break down in tears after (could’ve been the travel, or just someone in their car having an attitude, etc.) but it’s not quick, and it’s not an easy drive.
Cacti and Birds
There were a lot of Cacti everywhere in various shapes and sizes, really fun and interesting to see, as well as the birds perched on top of them.
More Beautiful Birds
An unexpected visitor
At the bottom of the hill, this horse? donkey? was just sitting there grazing…almost didn’t see it and ran into it with the jeep…good thing I didn’t!
Caves
There were two different cave systems to explore. Pretty neat, and I just waited a couple minutes till the tour buses left, so I had the entire space to myself, which was pretty neat.
Windmills and Exiting the Park
The final part of the park was a row of windmills, which was pretty cool from afar, but as we got closer, I noticed that there was a nice rainbow as well from all the rain (did I mention it started raining???). Apparently it’s a treat on the island when it rains, and we got some nice light sprinkles along the way today.
Afterwards, I left the park, to head back toward the city. There was this little goat that ran across the street, and I grabbed a couple shots. At first I thought it had a bandage on its body, but nope, that’s just it’s fur. I had seen a black and white one like that on the other side of the park, but this one was pretty cute too.
Aruban Ballpark
As I was driving by, I noticed a cute little baseball field, so I stopped to walk around a bit and see what was there. Pretty different from the ball parks back home, but looked like a full field, and you play with what you got!
South Side of the Island
Driving down to the south side, there was Baby Beach, but I just drove by as I didn’t actually care. But there were some nice interesting stuff to see along the way. There was a wall of sorts demarking maybe a border? And some birds in flight.
Back to the City
Returned the car back to the car rental guys, and ended up walking around for a bit to get my Starbucks mug and incidentally caught the sunset on the way back to the ship. As I was walking back, something scurried by my feet, and turned out it was a crab. I watched as it sat at the end of the pier, wondering whether to jump….but then some birds landed nearby and it took the plunge into the water.
Nice background for the sun and moon as well!
Food
Quick, early dinner today since I didn’t eat anything all day long. Needed a quick shower from the humid day, but dinner was nice and tasty.
Seafood Risotto, Pulled Pork Enchilada and Bananas Foster for desert.
Vibe Check
5 parts joy – LOVELY Island, and the people were lovely
Matti 
Leave a comment