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Caribbean blue

I can now say that I've been to Aruba, and I enjoyed it, and I don't think I'll be going back any time soon. That's not a bad thing; I just feel like a week was enough to spend on the 18-by-5-mile desert isle.

Aruba has gorgeous beaches and great snorkeling. The resort where we stayed was beautiful, with an awesome pool that had a circulating current. You could float in the pool all day, making no effort to drift in lazy circles around its central island landscaped with nonnative tropical flora. (The indigenous plant life on Aruba consists of palm trees and many types of cactus.) But I'm not really a bask-by-the-pool person, and I can only take a day or two of lying on the same beach, even if it does have sugary white sand and bright turquoise waters that boggle the mind. I like to do stuff.

Dave and I got a rental car and explored. We snorkeled at a couple of different beaches, visited the attractions, even toured an ostrich farm, where Dave had an ostrich-egg omelette for lunch. (Actually one-eighth of an egg. He said it tasted like chicken egg.) (And by the way, the ostriches are from South Africa; they are not local, in case you wondered.) We went on a boat trip which took us snorkeling at the Antilla shipwreck. That was AWESOME, but I got seasick, as I always do when I bob around on swells too long. Bleh.

Since nothing grows on Aruba but palm trees and cacti, every morsel of non-swimming food is imported, much of it from Europe. Food is expensive. Adult beverages are really expensive. If you're expected to sit on the beach all day, you're probably going to be doing some drinking. And when beer comes in 8-ounce Red Bull-sized cans but costs more than a beer in the States, it feels kinda like a rip-off. To say nothing of the mai tais, pina coladas and (ahem) slippery monkeys.

Aruba is hot. Aruba is very windy, which tempers the heat somewhat. It was a nice change from the Bay Area climate, and it's certainly a welcome shock if you are coming from, say, Chicago's winter. It was a nice way to spend a week. I'm glad to be home. I just wish I could get my luggage back.

Here's the entire photo set.

March 19, 2007 2:33 PM