5.5 miles walked today

Aruba is a balmy 85 degrees year round with very little rain. It is a pretty dry climate and has pretty predictable winds. It’s outside of the hurricane belt. This is why it is such a popular tourist destination.

So when we woke up before sunrise to go horseback riding, 76 degrees without the sun felt wonderfully refreshing.

We walked to the closest hotel to our Airbnb, the Renaissance. This is where we were going to meet our horseback guide. He told us to meet him at the fountain. We were there a bit early so we relaxed by the pool and listened to the birds.

There was no fountain, just a koi pond but you know… language barrier. So we waited. He said he would pick us up at 7:15 and when he wasn’t there by 7:20 I called him. Turns out we were at the wrong Renaissance. Thankfully there was a shuttle driver waiting nearby and he gave us a quick, free ride over to the correct Renaissance hotel.

Our driver and trail guide was named Nestor and we learned all about him while we drove to the ranch which was on the north side of the island. He is from Venezuela but has lived here 16 years. He speaks 4 languages are including the local dialect, Papiamento. When we got to the stables, we met a cute cat and signed our waivers.

Then we met our horses. Mom had Pocahontas and I had Jesse James. They were nice, easy going trail horses. We galloped a couple of times which caused lots of laughter and surprise from Mom and me. The trail was on public land in what could only be described as a cactus forest.

Nestor pointed out three kinds of cacti. There were the tall ones you can see above as well as prickly pear and melocactus (he called these devil’s head). I tried to take pictures of the devil’s head but it was too hard from on top of the horse. I’ll have to look for them tomorrow and get a picture.

Half way through our ride, we got to the beach.

We also got to get off the horses to look around and take pictures. A break from riding was nice too. It was a short ride–about 1.5 hours–but we weren’t used to riding so it was plenty long for us and the break was welcomed. The waves here are very rough which is why there are no resorts on this side of the island. Nestor said he scuba dives and spear fishes off shore here. He also cleans the beach daily since lots of garbage washes ashore here.

The ride back was nice. It was starting to get hot out but the sun and the wind were to our backs. Nestor gave Mom a small stick to encourage Pocahontas along as needed. Mom tapped her with it once and she went running, got my horse a little excited too and we both passed Nestor on the trail for a minute.

Nestor took us back to our apartment and we relaxed a bit before going to the grocery store. We are getting pretty familiar with the neighborhood thanks to all of our walks.

Then we changed into swimsuits before going to lunch at West Deck. We had a really nice lunch and decided to try and come back here before we leave. Mom got a schnitzel like chicken with grilled pineapple and I got wings. We shared some fries and pan bati which is a local bread.

Then we headed back to the Renaissance to sneak into the pool area. We didn’t ask for pool towels and didn’t bring our own (that would be a red flag). No one bothered us or asked us for proof we belonged there.

There were tons of iguanas around and some other folks visiting the pool were feeding them fruit.

We took a dip in the pool and laid on the poolside bed lounger. I ended up falling asleep for a little while. When I woke up we rehydrated with some blended drinks from the bar. Then we walked to the bus station to buy our tickets for the rest of the trip. We decided to get these today so we can go as early as we want on the bus rather than wait for the terminal office to open.

Then we went back to the Airbnb to do laundry. I took another nap. I think all the activity from yesterday combined with the early start today caught up with me. Mom finished the laundry and then I woke up around 5:30 and we went to dinner at a nearby restaurant. Called El Gaucho.

I forgot to take pictures of our food but we had Argentinian steak and shrimp. It was a fancy supper club place and the food was delicious. We have mostly been sharing entrees and adding an appetizer or salad to split as well. We don’t want any leftovers to bring back. We did that here too and has just enough food for both of us. It was dusk when we walked back but it was only a few blocks and well lit. Aruba is very safe and you can tell they are doing everything they can to make visitors feel safe, including masking up and encouraging best practices to prevent COVID. The pandemic has hit everyone hard but especially those that depend on tourists for income.

Mom went to bed but I will probably be up for a couple of hours yet thanks to my naps.