Last month I took a couple of days off for a quick getaway to the Dutch island of Aruba. I booked it with Jet Blue shortly after the holidays during one of their vacation specials. If you like to travel Jet Blue should definitely be on your email list as they offer great specials throughout the year.
Aruba is in the southern Caribbean close to Venezuela. From my neck of the woods I was able to take a direct 2.5 hour flight to the Aruban capital of Oranjestad. Their national slogan is “One Happy Island.” According to the people I met the island has very little crime and a year round pleasant climate. They claim to have the most sunny days of any island in the Caribbean. They are also so far south that they are usually outside of the hurricane belt. All things that would make for a happy island.
The official currency is the florin but US dollars were accepted every where I went. During my stay in March the weather was warm and very, very windy which the locals told me was the norm. It was so windy that while at the restaurant taking the picture I posted above the wind picked up some of my salad before I started to eat. I wasn’t fast enough to get a picture of my lettuce swirling away but trust me when I tell you it was a sight to see. With all that wind it never really got too hot so you could walk around the island and on the beach at any time during the day.
Most of the people I met spoke English, Spanish and French. The official languages of Aruba however are Dutch and Papamiento which is a mixture of Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese and Creole. I found a super cute video with a five minute Papamiento lesson here.
I spent most of my time at Eagle Beach, which has been ranked as one of the best beaches in the world. As you can see from the pictures I also stopped to snap each and every cactus I saw along the way! I found it very strange in an interesting sort of way to see cacti so close to a beach. I’d never seen anything like it so I’ll fully admit that I might have gotten carried away. All in all it was a good trip. I would highly recommend Aruba to anyone looking for a nice place to get away from everything and relax.
Have a great week! 🌵
Stardate:170016.04
Very beautiful scenery and landscapes; I'm sure you really enjoyed your time at the beach; that bowl of salad looks yummy too.
It was good 🙂
That bowl of salad looks so yummy. These pictures are beautiful. I would love to visit one day.
It would be a great place for you and the family to relax Nerline.
I love your travel insightful posts! Its like having a personal guide tell me about the ins and outs of places to go – what to expect and how to survive. The flying salad sounds hilarious though if I was really hungry I'd be quite annoyed (note to self – in Aruba eat inside). What a beautiful island – thanks for taking us there through posting this.
Ahhh thanks so much! I think I was too shocked to be annoyed when it happened, and yes I will definitely eat inside next time.