4×4 Excursion!

Today was our excursion to the other side of the island in two-seater all terrain vehicles!  We were picked up at 8:30 and drove to Philip’s Animal Garden where the excursion began.  The tour started with walking through the zoo.  We learned that they were an animal rescue and all of the animals were rescued from individuals who had the animals as pets and no longer wanted them, from a zoo on Aruba that had shut down, and from other places in the Caribbean.  They gave us carrots and food pellets to feed the animals.  We saw donkeys, cows, llama, monkeys, birds of all types, snakes (ewww), kangaroo, tortoises, geese, ostrich, camels, and probably a few others I can’t remember.  It was neat that we were able to feed them and I think the kids enjoyed it.

Then it was time to start the real part of the adventure.  Tom drove our vehicle and our first stop was at a chapel.  I remembered a little too late to dig out my phone to check for geocaches.  There was one about 250 feet from the parking lot, but I didn’t have enough time to wonder off to get it.  I kept my phone on the ready though for future stops!  We drove along dirt paths in the country side and really got to experience the Aruban countryside.

The next stop was at Baby Bridge which is a natural rock bridge.  This was another spectacular view where we took a few pictures.  We stopped at ruins of an old gold mining building.  Laurie and I diverted off to find the cache and then explored the ruins.  The next stop was the ruins of the Natural Bridge.  This was another larger version of Baby Bridge, however in 2005 it collapsed.  Although Aruba is out of the hurricane belt and doesn’t actually get hurricanes, the hurricane in 2005 that really pounded Florida, caused huge waves in Aruba.  Scientists think the pounding of the huge waves cause the bridge to crack and the eventual collapsing.  It collapsed in the middle of the night when nobody was around so thankfully nobody was hurt.  There was a restaurant at the site and it was the restaurant owner who came to work the next day that first discovered the collapse.  Laurie, the kids and I took Aunt Kathy along to find the nearby geocache.  It was an easy find that could be spotted from the path.  Back on the road and up the hillside we went really enjoying all of the views.

The last stop was at the Natural Pool.  This is ocean water that is trapped in by rocks causing a natural calm pool with ocean waves pounding in around it.  We made the trek down and over some slippery rocks and got in.  It was a little crowded with the people from other tours, but nice to cool off and get some of the dirt off.  Tom, Laurie, and the kids jumped from a rock into the pool and they also did a little bit of snorkeling.  After the Natural Pool it was back into the vehicles for the ride back to the animal sanctuary.  Our guide, AB, was really great and the vehicles we were given to drive were just a few weeks old and operated smoothly. All in all this was an excellent excursion.

We got back to the hotel around 2:00.  After lunch I spent the rest of the afternoon reading my book on the beach.  Just 100 or so pages to go!  Dinner was at the Italian restaurant of the resort.  I had a smoked cheese soup, seafood pasta appetizer, and shrimp dinner.  It was good, but so far I walked away from the Mexican restaurant feeling most filled and satisfied with the food.  I think for our last night dinner that we might go back to it.  After dinner, Tom and I headed across the street to do some souvenir and jewelry shopping.  I had mentioned to Tom that I didn’t have any “real” necklaces as everything I own is costume jewelry. We visited several stores and went back to the first one we went in to get the second necklace I tried on.  I now own a “real” necklace.

I can’t believe tomorrow is our last full day in Aruba.  The week has gone by so fast.  The plan is to relax in the morning and go on the Jolly Pirate ship in the afternoon to sail and snorkel.