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Re: OT: Aruba for newbies? Posted by EGD [Email] (#663) [Profile/Gallery] (more from EGD) on Mon, 4 Jan 2016 13:06:33 In Reply to: OT: Aruba for newbies?, ELaw [Profile/Gallery] , Mon, 4 Jan 2016 04:37:50 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
I haven't been to Aruba but I have been to the adjacent island of Curacao a few times. Both those islands plus Bonaire were part of the Netherlands Antilles so there is a Dutch undercurrent in culture, language, and cuisine.
Curacao is, like Aruba, a very dry, almost desert-like island. Lots of wind in the afternoon so windsurfing should be easy to find. We did some snorkling off Curacao but didn't find it that interesting. Bonaire is the place to snorkel and dive, I understand. The water is wonderful if, oddly enough, noticeably more salty than what I find here in California. There was also a fair amount of trash in the water and on the sea floor due, I suspect, to boats just dumping their trash overboard in that part of the world.
We did a bit of hiking on Curacao through desert-like scrub to the highest point on Curacao. Extremely hot and dry trail with cactus and other desert plants. Rainfall is limited so it's not like the Hawaiian islands with a very wet and a very dry side to each.
Food was expensive at the hotel we used (a Marriott) but food in the neighborhoods was reasonable, as were the prices at the supermarkets and in-town restaurants.
There was a small, but noticeable military presence because of the drug trade and because Venezuela at the time was making noise about the sovereignty of the islands.
The locals were wonderful. No complaints whatsoever. Would go back in a heartbeat.
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