We were given the chance to take a trip without our Niño’s, and believe me, we jumped. Thanks to wonderful friends who took great care of them, we set off on a worry free long weekend to discover the Caribbean island of Aruba just 16 miles off the coast of Venezuela. The flight in was the perfect glimpse to the turquoise waters and just how beautiful this scenery would be.
Oranjestad
We stayed the beautiful Renaissance Wind Creek Aruba Resort in Oranjestad. A short 5 minute boat ride from the main resort gives you access to a private island with local resident flamingos. They are free to roam, but often stick around for the (approved and healthy) snacks. The island features a family friendly side and an adults only side. When you are traveling without kids, I bet you know exactly where to find us.
Arikok National Park
For the adventure portion of our trip, we booked a horseback trail ride through the Arikok National Park. We saw the arid desert and cactus landscape all the way down to the rocky shores of the island. It was both peaceful and beautiful, one of us may have enjoyed it slightly more than the other, but the other is a champ and I love him.
For the rest of our time in Aruba, we did some city exploring, shopping, day-drinking, and lots of eating. We made sure to waste some hours in a hammock and caught up on some R&R.
What can I say? It was the perfect 5 day getaway. Such a friendly, clean and down to earth island vibe, even our taxi drivers were happy to make conversation. Seeing that we were not too far away to begin with, our travel days didn’t eat too far into our vacation time. I would highly recommend Aruba for your next vacation.
Another great place to vacation is the Big Island of Hawaii, check out my post here! Cheers!
[…] UPDATE: It was just as amazing as I’d hoped, you can read about it here. […]