First "trip report" in 11 years... about time.

[Mr. Ratt]

Okay... here's a condensed version of a trip report for you fine folks.
First off, thanks for all the well-wishes before we left, greatly appreciated.

Arrival day... apparently common sense can make a quick exit when one is really eager to get completely into Mother Nature's grip. Meaning, being in a rush to get barefoot in the sand and surf, we wandered down Druif Beach, revelling in the waves and being quickly transported to, well, exactly where we left off here last year. The Lady however was wiser than me, she remembered to put on the anti-burn juice.... that and I had forgotten mine in the bathroom cupboard at home... I was actually in the process of going to get more at the little shop at the Divi (ouch, what a price, but that too is convenience).
More wandering the beach until we made our pre-arranged dinner meeting with our friends from Britain at the Red Parrot. Wonderful meal as usual. Lots of chatting and catching up and then the inevitable crash at the end of the day to find, yup, extremely red shins, ankles and feet. Could have been a lot worse, never really painful but enough to remind me of my foolishness.

Monday... the beach. Pretty much that's it. Smart enough to keep the feet and lower legs covered too....
Oh yes, due to a flyer that was posted around the Divi properties advertising my talk/seminar, I had a really humourous/cool encounter with a woman named Donna. She was rolling about the lobby at the Divi (in a wheelchair) and comes up to me and says, "I hear you're a witch...."
A muffled laugh led to an incredulous "Excuse me?" "My friend tells me you're a witch from NYC(!?).... are you? Or are you a warlock?" (thank you charlie sheen....). I explained that I was neither and what it is that I do, she was intrigued and I gave her a quick demo... apparently it helped, or so she told me a few days later.

Tuesday... The morning brought the gent from the ATA to the Tamarijn for our presentation ceremony (thanks Andrea!!!) of our Distinguished Visitors Certificates and photo session. For those that know the staff at the Tamarijn, Francis, Iris @ the reservations desk and Bradley Funmaker (more on him later) took part in the presentation.
The Lady and I are seriously honoured. A small thing to some, not so small to us. It takes a different kind of people to honour visitors... do you know what I mean? The photo showed up in The Morning News... only in print though.

Ahhhhh.... Reiki on the beach. Tuesday night to be exact.
Many have heard me go on about the "energetic qualities" and the wonderful feeling of having a Reiki session on the beach, and I've always wanted to do a session under the stars and moon on the beach, and I finally got my wish. Actually, twice in the same night. Got great reactions and feedback from my patient/recipients, and I felt great as well.
Gotta love that island.

Wednesday... the annual ride at La Ponderosa.
I could but won't go on for hours about this place. I love the staff, I've always been very lucky with the horses. I rode Rainbow, the Lady rode Tequila.... excellent horses, simple as that. Both the Lady and I love the place... and apparently it's mutual. I got offered a job, in a very serious tone, by the person in charge of such things... food for thought. The first serving of thought food in a course of 5 meals.

The next couple of days were relatively non-eventful, beach stuff, watching boats, watching pelicans, a few encounters and Reiki treatments with fellow travellers, zooming around the island with Alicia from the Divi, an evening on the Mi Dushi (not overblown, not overly loud, no one dancing in high heels and stepping on my hand.... just a really nice relaxing sunset sail), a few more Reiki treatments and Friday after the sail I was lucky enough to sit in with the 2Sweet Band. Bradley, (I believe) Head Funmaker *love that term* at the Tamarijn has a band on the side. Rockin' Soca/Reggae band. They let me sit in for the second set and yeah, I loved it.
Stir It Up, Night Nurse and another tune, which for some reason I can't remember the name of...

So to sum it up, it was heavenly. The Lady and I are in love all over again *it gets better every year*, I had a wonderful time meeting some very cool people, bought my very first corporate t-shirt (Hard Rock Cafe with a guitar headstock on the back and the Aruba flag superimposed... very cool), learned my lesson yet again about me and alcohol (oops) and also that no matter how much you might want to help some people, they can't be helped unless they really want to be.

Condensed version? Uh, yeah....

blessings all

[Andrea J.]

thanks michael for the condensed version.
we like abridged/unabridged...........all reports are appreciated.
glad that you had an awesome time!!



the tamarijn is the BEST!!
how were the waves.

[Arubalisa]

Thanks for the update. I always love hearing about one of my favorite resorts in the world and some of my favorite people, like Iris

[DANNYO]

Thanks for sharing your vacation with us.Glad your vacation was everything you hoped for.

[Love Aruba]

Thanks for your post, and I am glad you guys had a great time.
Pat

[Mr. Ratt]

The waves at Druif Beach...

Some days nothing too much, some days nothing at all to speak of, and one night, I think Wednesday morn about 2am the waves got pretty crazy, very loud, very big crashers.
Then about 3:15am, it seemed all hell broke loose with 2 major lightning and thunderboomers, followed by about 30 minutes of intense rain. Made for a rather moist breakfast in the Cunucu Terrace. Lotsa mopping and dripping.

All in all, (this is turning into a weather report...) things were relatively dry, sunny, hot and everything we all know Aruba to be.

It was amazing however to see the beach growing and disappearing daily. One day you're walking almost up to your knees in the water, next day you have to climb up and around the rocks because the beach has been removed (for however long) by Mother Nature.

Also amazing was the amount of green out in the hilly areas of the island, areas that usually resemble the Arizona desert, or apparently "the Moon with cactus". Due to the incredible amount of rain during the winter months, the desert areas and the north side of the island are really lush, and when we were there, still rather wet. It made for a bit of a sloppy & treacherous ride at times, but hey, a little more adventure always leads to a little more fun.

Well, it is Mother Nature's place to do with as she wishes, she's just sharing with us.

And on that note, Happy Earth Day.

[Arubalisa]

Originally Posted by Mr. Ratt

The waves at Druif Beach...

It was amazing however to see the beach growing and disappearing daily. One day you're walking almost up to your knees in the water, next day you have to climb up and around the rocks because the beach has been removed (for however long) by Mother Nature.
Well, it is Mother Nature's place to do with as she wishes, she's just sharing with us.

And on that note, Happy Earth Day.

You said this so very well. In describing the beach at the Tamarijn, I cannot count the number of attempts I have made trying to explain this phenomena to folks.

Mother Nature ALWAYS has her way and yes Happy Earth Day