andrea and paul dec 9 - 23

[Andrea J.]

friday day 1

AA fights uneventful
MCO to MIA on time
MIA to AUA 20 minutes late

no crowds at immigration
car rental easy from hans of tropic

traffic a nightmare thru downtown due to protests of reasons unknown

quick easy dinner at lindas tomato soup, salad and chicken sate' YUM
$28 for dinner and then add in tip.

met up with pat and chuck (love aruba from this site) they are at the occidental and going home tomorrow :-(

ran a couple of errands

and now bed!

island is very green hence many showers..

mosquitos plentiful

[KATH2ME]

Andrea,

Should i bring OFF with me, I swear my husband must have the sweetest blood, me they don't bother, but him, OMG so sad

[Arubalisa]

Originally Posted by Andrea J.

traffic a nightmare thru downtown due to protests of reasons unknown

I just read a glowing review about Bully (taxidriver) on another forum part of which stated

"..We had previously scheduled a three hour tour of the island with him. He explained that it was hard to set a schedule due to traffic and that anything over three hours would be "on the house." As we were departing the city (in heavy traffic), he showed us the best shopping areas for later, talked about the government jurisdictions, explained the school system, economy and lots of other things. ..."

Sounds like traffic has been an issue?

[Andrea J.]

i cannot speak for the normal traffic flow.
only reporting about my experience with the traffic due to protesters.
also....
i do know that the beach road southbound in front of Oceania all the way to Amsterdam Manor is closed late evening til wee hours or morning.....digging up and resurfacing!

Originally Posted by Arubalisa

I just read a glowing review about Bully (taxidriver) on another forum part of which stated

"..We had previously scheduled a three hour tour of the island with him. He explained that it was hard to set a schedule due to traffic and that anything over three hours would be "on the house." As we were departing the city (in heavy traffic), he showed us the best shopping areas for later, talked about the government jurisdictions, explained the school system, economy and lots of other things. ..."

Sounds like traffic has been an issue?

[Andrea J.]

if you are an early riser and like to be outside early
and/or dine outdoors at dusk or evening

then yes, OFF . DEEP WORDS works well.

we used dryer sheets on our legs last night at lindas restaurant.
OFF imo should always be on everyone's packing list.

some restaurants provide it, but it is probably easier to bring your own

the island has had a decent amount of showers (no real rain outs though) so that contributes to the mosquitos.

Originally Posted by KATH2ME

Andrea,

Should i bring OFF with me, I swear my husband must have the sweetest blood, me they don't bother, but him, OMG so sad

[taxidriver]

AndreaJ. Welcome in Aruba, will see you soon.

[Andrea J.]

see u all soon B, J, K and J
xoxox

Originally Posted by taxidriver

AndreaJ. Welcome in Aruba, will see you soon.

[Andrea J.]

Weather...........Sun, scattered clouds , 85+ degrees, nice gentle breezes.

Pool and Beach......made camp at the pool, walked across the street and spent an hour bobbing around the ocean. gentle waves, nothing huge. lots of palapas taken but in front of lacabana and amsterdam manor few people were in the water.

meals........ate breakfast in and dinner in.

went to amsterdam manor beach bar for a cold beverage before dinner.... it was almost sunset time and passions had many empty tables.

will post tomorrow's adventures, tomorrow evening.


oh ya some inebriated individual did a leaning back cannon ball into 3 ft end of lacabana pool.
he weighed in 350+.
as he went in, he leaned back so that he landed on his back in the pool, smashed his head on the coping of the pool and slammed into the bottom of the pool. i was not first on the scene. there were a couple of nurses. he got out of the pool on his own........stumbled his way to someone's car to go to the ER.
i am sure he will be back at it tomorrow.........in the pool with his head stitched i am sure.
nothing ceases to amaze me.

[Andrea J.]

Sunday day 3
Dec 12

Weather ....gorgeous again. sun, some scattered clouds , breeze and about 85.
Our day was similar Saturday. Pool and beach.
Internet was down most of the day thru the night.
Dinner was at a friend's :-)

Casino visit late last night.....got back to Lacabana and we decided to go make a deposit. :-(

[hockeymom]

Andrea - thanks for the updates. I love a "rolling" trip report. You know how these get us through until our own trips come. Enjoy!