Welcome to Aruba (3/5)

It took us over six months but Shannon and I finally got to take our honeymoon. We didn't have enough time to plan the vacation while we were getting ready for the wedding. Then we had to sell my old house. Then it was the holidays and we just didn't have the time to look for someplace to go.

Once the holidays were over, I started seriously researching different places. On the recommendation of one of Shannon's friends, we chose to go to Aruba. This small island, a former Dutch colony, is just 15 miles or so off the coast of Venezuela. It has beautiful beaches on the west side of the island but most of the interior is desert.

Being so close to South America I thought that there would be more birds that I hadn't seen before. But, around 60% of the species on the country list I had seen before in my trips around the US. But, there were enough new birds to make it intriguing. Plus, they claim that half the know species of lizards are native to Aruba.

Our direct flight left Boston at 8:00 and we were on the ground in Aruba by 1:45 local time. We picked up our rental car and headed up route 1 toward Noord. Somehow we took a wrong turn and spent about 30 minutes trying to get back on the main road. After going the wrong way down a one way street, and getting yelled at by some locals, we eventually got back on 1 and found our condo.

Our first destination was the high rise hotels to get look at the ocean. It was spectacular with fine sandy beaches and water that transitioned from turquoise to deep blue just a hundred yards off shore. Shannon laid out on the beach and took in the last of the day's sunshine but the water called to me and I jumped in for a quick swim. As the Brown Pelicans and Laughing gulls circled overhead, it was hard for me to believe that we we in the cold weather of Massachusetts just hours before.