Madiki

In Aruba today, as in 'Aruba, Bahama, c'mon pretty mama'. Quite a small island and along with Curacao next door were once Dutch possessions. Neat little place with lots of colonial Dutch architecture. Also lots of shops if you like Bvlgari, Gucci etc. Was tempted to try one of the waterfront restaurants for lunch, but I was starving by the time we got back.
Anyway, this was our last excursion, and we booked a hi octane, non turbo charged adventure driving a side by side off road buggy thing to see the sights of Aruba. Sounded great, then I find I am going to have to drive on the road as well, and they drive on the wrong side here. To add to the fun, we drove out to the back blocks via the main road and multiple roundabouts where you have to remember to give way to the left. The locals have obviously decided that not killing tourists is a good idea, and they stop and let you through.
The off-road bits were quite fun except for the person in front of us in the convoy that thought the throttle was an on/off switch. Every time he accelerated, we got filled in.
Did a really steep hill. Had to climb up and over. Lots of ruts, rocks (big), and washouts. I found we have no footage of that as the camera person had her eyes closed for most of it. We are going to have to have a talk about what constitutes good content.
The last stop was quite a nice sheltered beach (Savaneta Beach?). Angela parked herself in the shade, and I went for a paddle and looked at the tropical fish in the shallows. Nice.
Anyway, we got back in once piece, dirty, hungry, and somewhat stressed out but wouldn't have missed it for quids.
That's the last stop. Sigh... two days at sea, then the U S of A, where we get off and flit off to the UK.Read more