Thursday was definitely our busiest day of the whole trip. But I planned it that way.

I promised Ray I wouldn’t over plan our trip. But I’m big on having some type of itinerary for all my travels. That way when we wake up in the morning we don’t waste any time trying to figure out what we can do for the day. And even though our overall goal of the trip was definitely to relax. I didn’t want us to miss out on any of the unique experiences Aruba has to offer.

It was an early start to the day because we had a photoshoot booked for 9:30am.

Personally, I am not a fan of taking photos. I have very low patience for that type of thing. And I don’t find myself to be the most photogenic. But I married someone who not only loves to be in front of the camera, but looks very good doing so. As an anniversary gift, I decided to book a photo shoot with a local photographer. I came across Jeroen Lucas through a simple google search. His packages were pricey, but no more pricey than other photographers I came across. I happened to like his portfolio, and he seemed to include the most for the price.

I chose to do the 90 minute downtown package. He had several beach packages. But personally, I feel like a photo shoot on the beach could be a photo shoot on any beach. Downtowns tend to look very unique and usually make for unique shots. And this was absolutely the case for downtown Aruba. We spent a good amount of time posing in front of very vibrantly painted buildings. And then we did end the session at a cute little beach that had a pier. Jeroen was fantastic to work with. Very kind, very patient and very talented. Highly communicative beforehand as well.

He dropped us off at our hotel by 11:00am. Naturally by then we were pretty hungry. On this side of the island I learned one of the more popular eateries is this place called The Dutch Pancake House. It’s conveniently located right across the street from our hotel so we headed over there. But we encountered quite a long line that wasn’t moving as fast as I would’ve liked. I was so hungry and thirsty. At that point I told Ray we should just pick another spot and try back again tomorrow. So we ended up at Kalin’s Mexican Food. The food was pretty good, fairly priced and they gave good portions.

After lunch, we headed back to our hotel for a quick nap and change of clothes before heading out to our next excursion, which began at 2:00pm. I booked us a half-day Jeep tour of the island.

Now in my research, I learned that a very popular excursion here are UTV tours. And as fun as those seem, I know Ray and I would feel more comfortable with someone else doing the driving.

We were picked up by their bus. And it was a quick drive to their office, where we signed waivers, were introduced to our tour guide, and jumped on the Jeep. I don’t remember our tour guide’s name, but he was a native guy who couldn’t have been older than 30. Nice guy who very much enjoyed every aspect of the tour with us.

He was friends with all the other guides and park staff we encountered. The way he’d joke around with them all day just showed why he loves his job.

What I didn’t realize when booking this was the tour takes place at Aruba’s national park. If you come here, you absolutely have to go to the national Park. The terrain is rough, hence needing the Jeep. But the views are absolutely breathtaking and unforgettable.

The national park is filled with cactus, wildlife, caves, and beaches. Our first stops were to two different caves. And yes, there were bats flying around. But they were no bother to us. And our last few stops were to coves and beaches. I don’t know that I can write a description that will really capture how beautiful this place was. You really have to come here yourself. But I will insert some pictures and videos so you can get an idea.

My only complaint was that the ride was very rough. I was being jostled around and ended up nauseous and with a headache. This is not something you want to do on a full stomach or if you’re already feeling sick. We were in a Safari type jeep. One that had two benches parallel to the doors. I would’ve preferred to be in more of a bus style jeep, if that makes sense. Or just a traditional private passenger jeep. Once we got in the water, I felt so much better. We went to a cove, called Conchi and went to Baby Beach, which is one of the most famous beaches here.

I really couldn’t record while we were driving around in the park. It was so rough and bumpy and I was holding on for dear life at some points! Ray did lose his phone at one point. Our guide has to pull over and grab it from underneath the flooring.

On the way back to our hotel our guide drove us, pass some other landmarks on the Saint Nicholas side of the island. This included the now shut down oil refinery, a couple other beaches, the prison, the military base, and the Spanish Lagoon. We also encountered a lot of dogs. I couldn’t quite make out the breeds. They were all mutts, but they all seem very laid-back and friendly. It made me miss my pup.

We drove through a lot of residential areas. Which made me think of my experience in St. Thomas for our honeymoon last year. I believe I mentioned in that post, once you leave the resort areas, you can really see the poverty in St. Thomas. A lot of shacks, and huts and homes falling apart. And I know that has a lot to do with how often and harshly that country is hit with hurricanes. But still it is very jarring to see. That is not the case here most of the homes we drove by, even these humble little houses, I could see myself living in.

We were back in our room around 7 PM. We were trying to decide where to head for dinner. Personally, I’ve been really wanting to try this restaurant right across from the gym here called Aquarius. And that’s exactly where we went. We thoroughly enjoyed the dinner seafood buffet where they had a nice spread of hot food. Lamb and chicken and beef, tenderloin, veggies, quiche, sushi salads, soup. But the highlight was the made to order seafood. We helped ourselves to a couple rounds of lobster, muscles, shrimp, and fish.

That was basically it for us. We ended the night watching some Netflix on this nice 65 inch TV in our room and fell asleep.