It’s Party Time!

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May 25, 2020

We continue our escape from Wisconsin’s winter in Aruba. Let me be honest – this post contains a lot of photos that aren’t very good. Photos taken with low light, of moving parades, taken while dancing or riding a kukoo bus. Maybe you should take a minute to pour yourself a cocktail so you’ll be a little more forgiving of my failures in this post. I’ve already had one, so I can take the criticism.

Click on the first photo in each group and scroll to see the square photos at full size.
To start at the beginning of this series, visit Dodging the Deep Freeze 2020.

Here on Aruba, Umbrella Drinks are the Colors of the Sunset

Although this may be inaccurate during the 2020 quarantine, the number of drinks in which I imbibe during a week at home can typically be counted on one hand. It may take two when I’m on vacation, but when I’m vacationing on Aruba – it may also require a foot or two.

Once we survived the heart-pounding taxi-ride to the resort and the cab driver is hauling ass back to the airport for another fare… we could sense the laid-back vibe of Aruba. Once we were transported to paradise and greeted by the friendly staff at La Cabana, stress started to melt away. We did some quick unpacking and scurried down to the Caribbean for our first sunset (and drink) on Aruba. Ahhh, this is the life.

Here on Aruba, happy hours last way longer than an hour, umbrella drinks are the colors of the sunset and comfy lounge chairs call your name. As the sun heads for the sea, folks around the pool head inside or to dinner. Since the temps only drop slightly, evenings are peaceful and quiet, and oh so relaxing.

Aruba’s Carnival

But if you want to liven things up, Aruba’s Carnival has been cause for celebration for more than sixty years. There is quite a line-up of events starting in November and ramping up in January and February. This year we arrived on the Monday after all of the festivities were over, which was unfortunate for two reasons. Not only did we miss the celebration, but it seems folks need to rest up (and sober up) after two months of partying. The day we arrived was considered a holiday and our cab fare from the airport included some additional holiday pay.

The Lighting Parade

When we were here in 2017 however, one of the final nights of carnival lined up perfectly with our friends’ arrival to join us for our second week. Although it was a long flight for them and the boys weren’t that interested in a parade, us girls decided to venture out to the streets of Aruba on our own. We took the bus and joined a large crowd for the Lighting Parade. Oranjestad looked fantastic all decked out in lights!

Photo Ops

Many parade members stopped along the route in their colorful, illuminated costumes for photos with spectators. We were thrilled to have a little girl in front of us who seemed to be a magnet for many of them. I don’t know if she knew them, or just liked their beautiful costumes, but it sure made for less-blurry photos when they stopped and posed.

It Went off Without a Hitch

We left for the parade on a whim without a whole lot of information. Although I had ridden the bus several times, I had only been to Oranjestad once at this point. According to the bus schedule, the last run was before the parade would end. Although we didn’t confirm, it seemed to make sense that busses would run late on parade nights, and worst-case we could catch a cab back home. We found a great spot to watch the parade just past the Renaissance Hotel – a short walk from the bus station. Our evening flowed easily and we were never concerned about our safe return.

Our only real miscalculation was the wait time from the parade’s scheduled start to its arrival near us – almost at the end of the route. Turns out it was a really long parade! After asking several other spectators along the route, we determined we had plenty of time to grab a few drinks at a restaurant down the street with outside seating. We figured we could rest our feet, do a little girl-talking and people-watching and get back to our preferred location for viewing as the volume increased with the parade’s approach. It turned out to be a wonderful night and one I will never forget!!

Rum anyone?

Arubian Taste came highly recommended for the finest local Arubian Rum and a really fun time. We called for info and Jerome said he would pick us up at La Cabana. He and his wife Marcia applied us with LOTS of samples of their fabulous rums. Many varieties had “medicinal” properties, or a funny name or story that went along with them so we really had a great time.

Although we decided we loved many of the 30 or so varieties that we sampled, we obviously had to trim down the number of bottles we really “needed”. Once that process was complete, Jerome knew of our plan to have dinner just across the parking lot. He said it would take a while to package our purchases for transport back to the states, so we should return after dinner.

Red Fish is a wonderful seafood restaurant and very convenient if you’re tasting rum in the Orange Plaza Mall. The fun continued with an excellent waiter and the food and service were fantastic at Red Fish! We returned to grab our purchases and Jerome returned us to La Cabana. This turned out to be an absolutely fabulous afternoon!

“Come on in and taste it for yourself! We have many flavors of rum including Coconut Rum, Ginger Rum, Blueberry Rum, Cranberry Rum, Raspberry Rum, Lemon Rum, Coffee Rum and the new favorite Almond Joy Rum. We also have Arubian Ponche De Crema and the Arubian Mudslide. Pre-mixed island drinks like Aruba Ariba, Arubian Sniper, Mai Tai, Hurricane and Sex on the Beach are also available (the liquors are all in one bottle, you just add juice). You’ll find our prices are reasonable and you’ll save from the cost of drinks at your resort. Buying rum in Aruba is a great way to start your vacation.” – READ MORE

The Kukoo Bus!

We had also heard that lots of folks had fun on the Kukoo Kunuku party bus. Since we all agreed we’re not still young, but definitely still young at heart – this should be for us!

“Where the fun never sets! Catch the island spirit and get ready to paint the town red, on this wacky whimsical one of a kind bus. The Kukoo Kunuku is all about making new friends while having fun. Every night we cruise city streets and ramble down country roads, while shaking our maracas, in search of a great Caribbean party. Hop aboard the Kukoo Kunuku for an evening of fun and entertainment or a day full of adventure. Don’t miss the bus!” – READ MORE

A beautifully painted party bus picked us up at La Cabana and whisked us off for our evening of island-touring and debauchery! We were one of the first stops for pickup, so we were able to access the seriousness of the evening ahead of us by observing other folks as they loaded up. Everyone seemed pretty laid back at this point, so not too many hardcores were aboard. Not sure if that was good or bad?

Champagne and Another Sunset

First stop was just north of Arashi Beach, where we saw one of the most beautiful sunsets of our trip. Momma – our party hostess – poured us all a glass of champagne to toast the sunset and the night ahead. Once back on the bus, Momma told us to just let go and have a great time because in her words: Nobody knows you here and nobody gives a f***. She definitely had a way with words!

Next stop was a casual Caribbean dinner at the Casibari Music Cafe and Grill, near Paradera. A nice band was playing while we enjoyed a wonderful chicken dinner and drinks. I see starting in September of 2020, the Casibari Jazz Festival will become an annual event, which may be worth looking into if you plan a visit during that time of year.

It’s Party Time

From here on out, the night is kind of a blur. We bought sippy cups (shown below) for free refills and it was fun to visit different bars at night. Some were pretty busy, but others not so much. They definitely changed up the music and even included disco. That’s where they lost me.

My favorite part of the whole evening was driving from bar to bar with our music blaring out our open windows. We yelled and waved at bystanders as the bus honked. Other vehicles honked at us and we yelled back and raised our drinks. And the roundabouts were the best! We went around the roundabouts multiple times, all the while yelling with our music blaring! One time we circled a roundabout four times!

I think we stopped at five different bars for a total of six hours, which in my opinion was about two bars too many. It was a really good time (for a while), but it turns out I’m not the bar-hopper I once was. Momma did show us how they party on Aruba!

Casibari Redux

While we had the car on this year’s trip, we decided to visit the Casibari Rock Formation during the daylight. We grabbed an early lunch at the Cafe and then explored a bit around this area.

“This rock formation is clusters of huge tonalite rocks that sit together in an area just north of Hooiberg. This rock formation, unique to the more typical features of the area, inexplicably rises up from the desert soil to create an unusual setting. Some of the rocks weigh several tons and feature peculiar forms. The Government of Aruba has created walking trails and steps through the rocks, allowing hikers to reach the top to obtain breathtaking views of the island.” – READ MORE

Of all the islands in the Caribbean, Aruba consistently has the least rainfall – only about 15″ a year. Temperatures average in the low 80s year-round – higher in May thru October, and lower in December thru March. The vast desert landscapes are more apparent in the center of the island, and are in stark contrast to the trade-wind-swept coastal areas where it’s more humid and lush.

For a while today, I felt like we were back in Arizona with cactus and fabulous boulders, but as soon as we arrived back at our condo on Eagle Beach, we clearly were not!