Day 3: The North shore

Saturday, May 30, 2015

With Dutch pancakes on the brain we drive into Oranjestad for breakfast at Diana's Pancakes Place next to the Olde Molen, a decommissioned windmill imported from Holland.

Without an actual street address we can only guesstimate the approximate location. One of the first things we find is the “I love Aruba” sign.

Well, I'm happy we found that, but I'm hungry and everyone we ask either doesn't know what I'm talking about, or doesn't speak English or Dutch. After finding yet another woman who apologetically says “Español,” I give up and trot out my best – yet terrible – Spanish and ask “Where is the ...uh …?”

Somehow my Spanish 101 class never talked about windmills, so it's Pictionary time; I pull a scrap of paper from my bag and draw a rudimentary windmill for me.

“La Molina?”

Yes, yes!! I nod enthusiastically and she tells us we've been walking in the wrong direction for some time. Once we know where to go it isn't hard to find and a while later we are seated on the outdoor patio.

So many choices!

Sandy orders a Picasso (with fresh fruit and powdered sugar), while I stick to my old favorite; a Gouda cheese pancake.

Hmmm, it is sooo good! It's hard to find authentic Dutch pancakes outside of Holland, but Diana knows how to make them and I guess technically we are in Holland.

We head north along Route 1 on our way to the California Lighthouse, but we have just passed Hadicuri Beach when I spot a corroded shipwreck off in the distance.

As I get closer I'm quickly distracted the colony of resident pelicans.

  

Arashi Beach is next. Twice a day I've been checking in with Dennis from surf Aruba if it's possible to have a lesson, but it's late in the season and the waves have not been cooperating. Still there's no way I'm just going to drive past without a quick peek.

Wow!

Several sea turtles have laid eggs on the beach and there are several thatched cabanas painting an idyllic picture, but there is very little to no wave action. Of course, I knew that, but it's still disappointing.

Hellooooo, waves? ... Anyone??

The California Lighthouse sits at the Northwestern tip of Aruba. It has has been closed for repairs for years and it's unclear if and when the renovations are supposed to begin. I bet the view from the top would be amazing!

Even so it's a pretty spot from where you can see the sand dunes and the Northern side of the island on one side ...

... and the brilliant blues of Arashi on the other side.

The dirt road towards the Alto Vista Chapel looks a bit rough to tackle in our little sedan and we backtrack along the coast. Just before the turn onto Malmokweg, we spot a deserted area with several thatched cabanas like the ones at Arashi. The dirt soon gives way to jagged rock and we pick our way across until we reach the water.

The water is impossibly clear, but I'm having a hard time gauging how deep it is or how one would get back to shore after jumping in. When I find a set of stairs after skirting the edge for a while the decision is made; we have to come back with the snorkel gear sometime!


Driving up to the chapel is one of the coolest drives on the island. The road is lined with tall, tall cacti and a series of white crosses marking the stations of the cross, interspersed by verses like the one below.

At last we have arrived at tiny Alto Vista Chapel!

Zen moment after completing the labyrinth of peace.

Whenever we travel we try to buy a local license plate as a souvenir and I can't believe our luck when the vendor set up in the chapel's small parking lot has several Aruba license plates on sale. 'No more than $20,' we agree before walking over.

I can't believe my ears when we tells us $3! By far our cheapest license plate ever.

It turns out Aruba switches their license plates every single year. He explains that is why you won't find anyone selling the blue ones currently in use. We don't have to think long, before we pick out a black and white 2014 plate and a cute green bracelet.

Philip's Animal Rescue is located just down the street and for $10 each we are allowed to freely roam the grounds and feed the animals from the included bag of feed. There are common barnyard animals like goats and geese, but also exotic species like ocelot, camels and monkeys.

Some of the enclosures were (too) small and unnatural by my standards, but it's probably the best life Aruba has to offer for them.

Not sure if this guy was part of the rescue or just wandering around.

Gorgeous ocelot

My favorites were the naughty camels who took advantage of their long necks wringing themselves into pretzels to try and steel the bag of food and Sandy slippers. When that failed one of them distracted me by yanking on the hem of my dress, while the other got hold of the bag and took off with a bunch of carrots. I was too busy laughing to notice the alpaca had gotten quite jealous and decided to spit on me haha.

Selfie with one of the instigators

It's a good thing we are going to visit the donkey sanctuary tomorrow, or I might have never been able to pry Sandy away from the donkeys.

~ ~ Please continue to Part II for fun with rocks ~ ~

Day 3: The North Shore continued

I'm always on the lookout for authentic Dutch food and my pre-trip research pointed me towards a small Dutch owned and operated bar called Cafe 080. We drove by earlier in the day and my stomach is growling, but they don't open until three so we pass the time by exploring the nearby Natural Bridge.

But why not start with a crazy caution sign?

The old, larger bridge collapsed in 2005 and makes for an intriguing pile of rubble blanketed with a deep layer of seaweed.

But the smaller bridge is very impressive on its own!

Once I notice the waves battering the rocky shoreline I forget all about the natural bridge.

... and whoosh!

Sandy loves water on rock so I convinced her to take a closer look just as a massive wave rolls in ...

Sandy is doubled over laughing; there's not a shred of dry fabric left on either of us.

 ***  I didn't realize how much of the spray hit the lens, so you'll notice              
     "fuzzy" spots in the pictures I took with my DSLR from here on             

On the way back, we make several more steps to watch the waves pounding the shore and Sandy proclaims this as one of her favorite parts of the trip so far.

The Bushiribana gold mill ruins, built during Aruba's gold rush in 1874 are close by. There's not a lot too see, but it's a nice picture opportunity and a fun to explore.

The classic Bushiribana picture.

As you can see in the background there's a sea of hoodoos that stretches out along the rocky shoreline in both directions.

Cool piece of fossilized brain coral near the water.

Cafe 080 has been open for some time by the time we get there and I don't waste a second before ordering some bitterballen to share, a kroket, Dutch fries with real Dutch mayonnaise and a shoarma platter (middle eastern dish popular in Holland, see link) for Sandy.

My yummy bitterballen! It doesn't get any better than this! 

In case you're wondering; bitterballen and kroketten are made with a thick roux (usually beef) that's been shaped into balls (bitterbal), or log shapes (kroket), then breaded and deep fried. Bitterballen are often served as hors d'oeuvres accompanied by yellow mustard, while kroketten are frequently served on bread or with fries. Try them if you ever get a chance ... they are super yummy! 

Stuffed we drive ourselves to Casibari Park to burn off some of those calories. As you can tell in the picture below it was a bit of a scramble to get to the top!

Love the view from the top!

A little windy, but that's Aruba!

It's funny the things you can see from up above ... like the set of stairs we could have taken instead of boulder hopping our way up. But of course that wouldn't have been nearly as much fun!

It's too bad we saved this for later in the day, because you can have a lot of fun monkeying around here between the swinging from low hanging branches and climbing the rock formations.

Or you could just take a nap.

The sun is starting to set, which means we only have time for one more quick stop. We drive past Ayo Rock Formation and after all the fun we just had a Casibari it's tempting to stick to rocks and more rocks, but on a whim we decide to continue down the road to Andicuri Beach.

The uneven sand/dirt road is in questionable shape and we're pushing the limits of our tiny, low clearance car. We're dodging boulders and holes left and right and I find myself having to get out time and again to help navigate the trickier sections, until the road deteriorates to the point where it's faster for me to jog in front of the car in my flip flops!

When I spot loose sand up ahead, I direct Sandy to park along the side of the road so that we don't end up having to inadvertently spend the night stuck in a drift.

It might have been a rough ride, but the view is surely worth it! Better yet, we have it almost entirely to ourselves save for a couple of local kids.

Having had a very late lunch neither of us feels like having dinner, but a late night snack has never hurt anyone so after Googling “Aruba stroopwafel dessert” we find ourselves at the classy Quinta del Carmen restaurant.

The place is très chic and I'm surprised they are willing to seat us for dessert only -- especially given our windblown tourist look -- but we end up with a beautiful table in the courtyard.`

Sandy has an order of their Nutella cheesecake with hazelnut ice cream, while I wolf down the the Stroopwafel parfait. 

We are both exhausted when we get back to the hotel and after chatting with Jet & Hans for a bit I hop in the shower to battle the giant knot that was once my hair. Ugh!

♥

Breakfast: Diana's Pancake Place
Late lunch: Cafe 080
Dessert: Quinta del Carmen
Hotel: Coral Reef Beach Village and Apartments

Day 4: The Donkey Sanctuary

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Technically, this happened yesterday, but since I thought I'd already finished yesterday's blog I'll just continue here.

So, I got a little bit queasy on the drive home last night. I had written it off as minor car sickness since I'd been fiddling with the map and the GPS, but by the time we got back to the hotel it just got worse and worse. Uh oh. Let's just say it got ugly.

Still, this was our last night at the Coral Reef and no way was I going to miss sleeping outside! So a little before midnight we rolled the bed outside, only to realize it then completely blocked off access to the room. Not a good idea given the circumstances.

After some final adjustments we got the bed situated just far enough inside for me to make any emergency bathroom runs, while still enjoying some of the sleeping on the beach benefits. We pulled the mosquito netting down and it was amazing! Pure bliss just listening to the faint sounds of the ocean and the leaves on the palm trees rustling in the wind. Maria, the cat, wasted no time jumping in bed and rolling at our feet, kneading and purring to her hearts content.

It was purrfect ...

Until 3am when I woke up sweltering, listening to a cat in heat screaming in the distance. The next thing I noticed was the unmistakable odor of cat pee; someone sprayed the mosquito netting! I refuse to believe it was Maria!

I tried and tried to go back to sleep, until finally I didn't know what else to do but wake Sandy and together we rolled the now stinky bed back inside and switched on the AC. Sigh. It had seemed so perfect and for a while there it was, but now I feel so much better being back inside!

Of course, neither of us is ready to get up when the alarm goes off we snooze until 8:30am. After saying goodbye to Jet & Hans we set out for Oranjestad where we'll spend the last couple of nights.


We lucked out and spotted this warawara just down the street.

Back on the road we hit a bit of a traffic jam, where the police were directing traffic around an accident at the intersection with the main road. We were just about to turn around as instructed when one of the officers let the person in front of us pass. Thinking the accident had been cleared, Sandy tried to follow the person in front of her, but that really pissed off the officer blocking the road. Oops haha. It took a while, but luckily we were able to find a way to bypass the accident.

After parking at the harbor, we walk over to the Dutch Pancake House as part two in my independent study of Aruba's pancake houses. It has been rated the #1 breakfast establishment in Aruba two years running so I'm really looking forward to this!

My stomach still reeling from yesterday I pick the Fruit Delight, a pancake with strawberry, banana and blueberry, while Sandy orders the Seaport special, a combo meal with poffertjes, bacon, scrambled eggs, toast and hash brown.

Poffertjes are fluffy mini pancakes best enjoyed with copious amounts of powdered sugar.

It was kind of meh. Nothing bad, but generic, bland food that was way too Americanized for my Dutch palette. Even Sandy wasn't impressed.

On our way out of town we stop at two grocery stores in search of … carrots! You'll find out in a minute why we need those, but first ...

For whatever reason I thought today would be a good idea to tackle Hooiberg (Haystack Mountain), a 541ft (165m) mountain.

563 Unevenly spaced steps later we are both dripping with sweat. But we made it!

On clear days it's possible to see all the way to Venezuela, just 15 miles to the South. Obviously, today is not one of those days ...

It's on the way to our next stop that we happen to turn down the road where we ordered food from the nondescript window a few days ago!

And finally, the Aruba Donkey sanctuary!

It's kind of weird; you let yourself in at the main gate where you find yourself in a big chute surrounded by donkeys. They are going nuts over the carrots!

Not wanting to give out all of the goodies at one time we put the carrots away and make our way through throngs of donkeys in search of someone who works there. One of the volunteers asks us to join him on the porch and he goes through a history of the donkeys on Aruba and the need for the sanctuary.

Sandy buys a cute DNKY shirt, plus a big bag of donkey pellets to hand out from the porch. They recommend feeding them that way because they roam freely and can get overly “excited” at the sight of clueless tourists carrying food.

Some of the braver tourists venture out into their enclosure and are quickly mobbed by a swarm of pushy donkeys biting and kicking as they jockey for position around the now frightened tourists.

Pelletless we mingle with our new friends for a while.

Most of the donkeys look quite similar, but there's a big binder with all of their pictures and how they ended up at the sanctuary and we're able to identify some of them by name.

I love this little brown donkey playing with its coconut!

Nap time!

"Hey, lady! Are you sure there aren't any treats in that bag?"

It wouldn't be complete without a picture of the oldest donkey at nearly 50 years old! He kind of looks the part too haha.

By the time we say goodbye to the donkeys it's time to check in to our new hotel for the next couple of nights, the Wonders Boutique Hotel in Oranjestad.

When looking at places online Sandy didn't really care for it, but I pushed for this one and it turned out to be fantastic! We recharge in the cool air-conditioned room for a while, before exploring the rest of the hotel.

Our host, Gaston, has created a lush, peaceful oasis in the middle of the city. The grounds especially are amazing with lots of loungers set up in quiet, private alcoves that make you feel like the city is miles away.

The lovely pool

I had planned to go for a swim, but I must have fallen asleep after I finished my book. Those loungers are just too comfy! It's a bit of a waste of the rest of the day, but my GI bug has wiped me out and I feel much better when I wake up.

Our sweet host pup Griffin is supervising.

After freshening up a bit we drive to Palm Beach to watch the sunset and have dinner at Bugaloe on the pier.

I love how soft the sand is here!

We seat ourselves at a tiny table shaped like a surfboard looking table overlooking the water. It's prime sunset time and I walk around the open air restaurant to take some more pictures while we wait to place our order.

We decide to split a “broodje kroket,” (breaded, deep fried beef roux on bread) a chicken quesadilla and a satay platter. The satay is by far my favorite, while Sandy says it's the quesadilla the best she's ever had! 

The Equator cover band is playing and they are surprisingly good!

Cool mural

And a funky statue

By the time we settle the bill it's fully dark outside and we walk along the deserted beach for a while before sitting down on a pair of loungers and chilling for a while. I wonder why there aren't more people out?

Well that's about it for the day. Oh, except the shower at hotel has warm water! Ah, life's simple pleasures ...

♥

Breakfast: Dutch Pancake House
Dinner: Bugaloe
Hotel: Wonders Boutique Hotel