casthompson

I just came back from the island of Aruba.  To be honest, it was nothing like I expected.  There’s a saying floating around that goes “Once you’ve been to one island, you’ve seen em all.”  Not true for Aruba

I ended up resting my head in Oranjestad, which is the capital city and the hotel of choice was Talk of the Town.  Usually I shoot for the Marriot but once I began to do my research, I quickly discovered that this is by far the most expensive island in the Caribbean.

If you are traveling alone or with a bunch of fellas, Talk of the Town is adequate.   If you are with your lady friend, wife or family I highly suggest booking any hotel in the Palm Beach area.  This is purely for convenience.  The one thing that I’ve learned over the years is that men can tolerate minor inconveniences more than their female counterparts.  Besides, if you’ve saved up this long for Aruba, you might as well go all out!

The weather was perfect.  It was never too humid but being not to far from the equator, your skin may burn and you wouldn’t even know.   Little did I know that the island is very dry due to the lack of rain and cactus are everywhere.  Native Arubans were extremely friendly and at no point during my trip did I feel unsafe.  Brushing up on your Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese and Italian wouldn’t be bad though.

US money is excepted pretty much every where but Visa/Mastercard isn’t.  ATM machines will spit out cash and without a transaction fee.   As mentioned earlier, the island can get expensive but good food isn’t hard to find.  For those on a budget Taco Bell, Wendy’s, Pizza Hut, Burger King and Quiznos are all within a mile of downtown.  But honestly, you’re on a tropical island, enjoy the fish and vegetables!

So, what makes Aruba so special?  There is no way you can run out of fun things to do.  Regardless is age, there are tons of activities.  The beaches are beatiful but the snorkeling, golfing, horse backriding, parasailing, diamond shopping, rock climbing, hiking, bar hopping, wave running, jungle touring, ATVing and history learning can keep you busy as well.

There is no need to plan ahead because all of these activities are non-stop.  Just go with an open wallet and an open mind and you will have a great time.

Travel Tips: To check out other places that I’ve been click here. All of my trips are booked via Expedia

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