One Happy Island

 The Aruba Health App (where you can get your test results back) didn't have a notification when I woke up Sunday morning, but I decided to log in and check anyway.  To my delight, our results were in and they were negative; we were "free to move about the cabin", or in our case, the outside world.  The email confirming our negative status was sent at 1:06am so that was a pretty good turnaround.  We putzed around for a bit and then decided a trip to the grocery store should be prioritized because although I had brought coffee with us, we didn't have any milk.  As it was Sunday, we weren't sure what would be open, but we found a small shop down the road from us.  Back at the apartment with coffee in hand we headed for the water.  

It was a 5-6min walk down the road to get to the water, but I wouldn't call it a beach.  Malmok 'Beach' is more of a rocky ledge of limestone and coral along the coast.  A nice place to snorkel (the Antilla Shipwreck is off-shore and visible because of the clear water) and swim according to the visitor guide, but definitely not made for sunbathing.  Despite only being 10am it was hot, so we sat under a palapa (little thatched umbrellas) and chatted while watching the little lizards (some of which are bright blue) scuttle around and reveling in the salt air and blue vistas before us.

Back at the apartment we live-streamed my pastor's sermon and then had some lunch.  Our third travel-mate was soon to be arriving, so we decided to hang out at the pool for a spell while we waited.  She had a vastly different experience at the airport (no lines it seems).  Plus she'd been able to get her PCR test before leaving the U.S., because of her line of work, so she ended up having to wait for us -- the directions on my phone to get to the airport were not the reverse of the route we'd taken the day before, so that slowed us down as I don't trust myself with directions.

We quickly collected her from Queen Beatrix Airport and went in search of coffee (she drinks coffee like I drink water).  Our first two attempts resulted in business that were closed so we headed towards the Cruise Terminal hoping the tides would turn.  We did find the "I 'heart'Aruba" sign and a stand selling empanadas.  Not knowing if our issues with closed stores was due to a Sunday or the pandemic we decided to just head back to the apartment when she spied an open coffee shop - point for us.  After showing us our little home for the week we quickly decided that we should do a sunset sail and we should do it tonight (the biggest discounts are on Sunday).  We booked and paid online, got dressed and headed out.  While standing on shore waiting to get on the boat we read a sign that said there was a rope swing on this cruise - which explained why everyone else was wearing swimsuits!

The boat was nice enough and the crew was entertaining.  We sailed south towards Eagle Beach and they put down the anchor so we could use the rope swing.  The youngest really wanted to go in and I wasn't opposed.  As our Grandmother had taught us: if you don't have a swimsuit, don't let that stop you, clothing dries!  I'm not a fan of heights but the swing wasn't that high off the water and the water was amazing.  We even did some tandem swings, which turned out rather comically.  The sunset on the way back to dock was just lovely and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

The sun actually sets rather early here, so since two of us were already wet we figured some time in the pool was the perfect ending to our day.  Add some Domino's pizza delivery, eaten while in the pool, and a warm Aruba night - vacation perfection!

Pandemic Travels

 As the world continued to reel from the effects of COVID-19 it became clear, in late April, that my trip (scheduled to depart at the end of May) to the Balkans was not going to happen.  I was incredibly disappointed that my long awaited trip to Croatia would not materialize and yet relieved that the decision on if I should still go was out of my hands.  With that trip post-poned to 2021, and vacation time to use, I scrambled to find a pandemic-friendly alternative.  Flights to Aruba were relatively cheap and who doesn't love a week at the beach?  But oh, what a roller-coaster just to get here.  Our first set of flights, on Spirit Airlines, were cancelled so we had to try to get our money back; the the rules about open/closed borders seemed to change week-by-week.  The accommodations I had booked were non-refundable so we decided to take our changes and book another set of flights.  Blessedly, my cousin did some research and found out that we had to get COVID tests prior to our arrival (I was just planning on showing up, we had a place to stay, what more did we need?).

We had our plans in place and about a week before we were to leave I decided I'd better read up on this Covid testing process and I realized our plan was fatally flawed.  Aruba was only accepting 1 type of test, the PCR test. In our area getting a PCR test is not that easy and even if you get one the results take 5-7 days.  Aruba was requiring you to be tested and upload your results within 72 hours of your arrival in their country.  If you do not do this you have to pay them $75 and they will test you at the airport.  You then have to go straight to your hotel and quarentine in your room until you get the results.  We were going to pay $90 here in the U.S. for a Rapid Test, but further digging revealed that it wouldn't be a PCR test, and therefore would not qualify...  

Well, it took a really long time to get out of the airport.  They were only allowing small groups into Customs & Immigration (despite the customs area being designed to handle large crowds), but I eventually managed to get my 2020 passport stamp and we headed off to baggage claim.  Another long line to get everyone through the bag X-ray and then on to the medical screening.  Once there the test was quite fast (since we'd paid already) - fast, but not comfortable at all.  A throat swab and a nasal swab, a little packet of face masks and they sent us to our apartment to await our results.

Bananas Apartments was landscaped to perfection and the Dutch caretakers were lovely - pandemic perk: we had the entire place to ourselves!  Our flight had left very early in the morning, so we were exhausted by the time we arrived.  Thanks to an hour spent in the pool we managed to stay up until 9pm.  I was keeping my fingers crossed that our test results would be in overnight and we could pick up our third member at the airport the next day with a clear conscience....