TRAVEL DIARY - KRYSTLE'S TROPICAL THIRTY IN ARUBA (PART 1)

It's been about two weeks since my trip to Aruba and I'm currently sitting in the restaurant of a super cold Upstate NY hotel writing this post and day-dreaming of sunshine, beaches and flamingos! I met my darling pink babies in person for the first time but before I start gushing about them (I'll do that in a separate post) let's stay on track with the happy island. 

Aruba is located in the southern Caribbean sea and is also a constituent of the Netherlands with their main industry being that of tourism. While Aruba has a very tropical climate, I found the overall landscape to be quite intriguing. I was mesmerized by their desert land juxtaposed with white sand beaches.

Ginormous limestone & lava rocks, dust-filled roads, several types of cacti, amazing sights of the ocean and natural pools met us along the way on our UTV tour. The weather is warm but there is also the presence of a strong cool wind that balances out the heat perfectly. 

Outside of our UTV tour we walked around the city, sought out local restaurants and visited the flamingo beach for obvious reasons. We actually stayed at the Renaissance Hotel in Aruba which is a boutique hotel that gave us access to their private island which housed Flamingo and Iguana beach. Our hotel was adult only which made it perfect for traveling lovers but we also had access to the Ocean Suites right across the street which welcomed kiddies with open arms. 

This trip was one of my 30th birthday gifts from Stef and I coined it #KrystlesTropicalThirty - an extension to #KrystlesVintageThirty because 30 is the year to be yourself and do the most.  

Now, without further delay let's dive into a photo re-cap of my vacation in Aruba. It's heavy on images so I tried to add little blurbs to guide you through and offer my suggestions. 

Views, shopping and treats at our hotel. Our hotel had a luxury mall beneath so you know which store I had to pop into. 

I didn't buy anything at Dolce but the salesperson saw my took one look at my banana-leaf sunnies and lead me upstairs to tempt me with all the other pieces from that collection that were on sale. I managed to resist and simply admire. 

Arriving to the Renaissance private island &  Flamingo beach.  

Dinner and Tiki drinks at Madame Janette

Delicious dutch pancakes at The Dutch Pancake House. I had this savory one and Stef had a sweet version with fruit. 

Pretty Bougainvillea and a butterfly. 

City shopping sights as we rode down main street in Aruba's trolley bumping to soca. The street car is free so you just hop on and off. 

Be sure to check out my IG for an exclusive video clip taking the trolley down Main Street.  

Now, let me tell you about Flying Fishbone! It's a must if you visit Aruba, an absolute must!!! The taxi ride there was about 20 minutes, which is pretty long considering the size of the island, but it was well worth the trip. We were seated in the water with an amazing view of the ocean. Yes, you read right! We sat in the ocean for dinner and if that experience wasn't enough, the food was superb! It was by far one of my favorite meals and experiences in Aruba.  

Late night souvenir shopping. 

As part of our UTV tour, we visited Philip's Animal Garden before heading out on the actual tour. I had a blast feeding the animals and as you can see I wanted to take the baby goat aka kid home with me. He was so cute and followed me around for a bit.

Seeing the parrots was also exciting because a few of them looked exactly liked the ones we had growing up. Our parrots repeated words back home so I took a chance and said hello to the parrots at the animal garden and to my surprise one of them said hello back to me and even mimiced my whistle. Watch a quick clip here on my Insta. 

Lots of sights on our UTV tour including the Alto Vista Chapel, Bushiribana Gold Mill Ruins, Natural Baby Bridge and Natural Pools.  We drove through the regular streets of Aruba on our way back from the tour and I took a few snaps of the houses because I love seeing different styles of homes in other countries. Many of them remind me of houses in Guyana.  

Lunch at Sea Salt. Get the fried bread with cheese and paella for sure!

Never a vacation without ice cream (more to come on this one). 

Catching the sunset over at Ocean Suites. 

No questions asked, we officially love Aruba!