Day 2 - Sunday - First Full Day in Aruba

Day two in Aruba started off pretty amazing! I got up and had a great breakfast at the hotel and then went down to wait for the water taxi to take me to the private island. Here is the cool little stop under the hotel where you wait for the taxi…

 And here I am on the boat with the other people headed over to the private island.  This island is free and included when you stay at the Renaissance Aruba. 

 Here is the first person I met when I got off the boat.  They really do have flamingos on what they call flamingo island. I feel bad for the flamingos because people just chase them around and want to get selfie's all day.  They really are beautiful creatures!  

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 Here is me in my spot for the morning. I found a great spot off by myself to leave peacefully and a hammock.  Hammocks here in Aruba are great because there's always a breeze and your hammock just gently sways you to sleep!  

Here is my awesome spot!!!   

Here is another picture of the flamingos… See the people constantly following them around. I guess they are well cared for though. 

Flamingo island also has iguanas… Cute and big iguanas  everywhere!   

One more... 

The second half of my day I had the Afternoon Delight cruise booked with DePalm Tours.   The tour company picked me up on this big bus to take me to the pier to get on the catamaran.    

Here is the boat that we took for the catamaran tour. It was me and about 30 other people… Everybody was really fun! 

  Here is me taking a selfie while I snorkeled! It was so much fun there were so many fish! I have a video later to take you snorkling with me!     

Here is a picture I took of the boat while I was snorkeling next to it.

Click  HERE  if you want to snorkel with me!!! 

 After snorkeling we all got back on the bus to ride back to our hotel. On the way we saw this… Someone had way too much to drink and swerved off the road. They missed a bunch of bushes but they hit a fire hydrant. It's a really bad day for somebody but thank goodness no pedestrian was hit!

I got back to my room, showered and headed out for dinner. One of the guys that drove the bus today recommended this restaurant so I thought I would try it out.  He actually recommended the pizza and the pasta… So I started with the pizza tonight. I got the meat lovers and it was phenomenal. I ate half and  brought half back to my room for dinner tomorrow night! If you're in the area you should  check out Casa Tua!!

 On the walk back from the restaurant to my hotel I saw this beautiful lite Christmas tree. Even though  there's no snow it's still Christmas here in Aruba! 

I got back to my room after dinner and they left me chocolate!  Could the night get any better?

Here is a close-up… Yum chocolate! And to answer my last question; yes, the night got better… Look why… 

 Here's why! I decided since I won last night I would take $20 and play in my same slot machine. I put my 20 bucks in and lost. Once I got to my last $2.50 I won! As you see I won and I cashed out! I'm running while I'm ahead again! 

  Well guys… It's off to bed now but I promise to bring you along on the adventures tomorrow! Tomorrow is an early breakfast and then off to the private island to my hammock - hopefully! Fingers crossed it will be empty. I'm going to spend the morning there and then go swap out my rental cars in the afternoon. I had two free days with national that I needed to use so tomorrow I will switch to Hertz.  Hopefully they will give me a car that I don't have to worry if it's going to run or not. I also plan on making a complaint to National because the car they gave me was ridiculously crappy! 

 No excursions or tours planned for tomorrow. Just a nice day of chill and relax! 

 I really really hope you guys are having an amazing week as well.  

 Everyone ready for Christmas? Ever won at the casino? Ever won the lottery? 

Day four - Capt. Andy’s Na Pali Snorkel Picnic Sail

Good morning guys! Hope everyone is good! Can’t believe it is day four already!!! I have recap dinner last night and then get into explaining our amazing day four!!!

Last night we had an amazing dinner! We decided it should be our splurge night so we made reservations and a fine dining restaurant right on the water in Kauai called The Beach House.

It did not disappoint!!! Here is the view when we arrived a little early for our reservation... beautiful sunset!!!

This little guy just finished surfing while we were there-he was so good and so adorable...look for him in about five years to go pro!!!


Here are my mom and her friend Sandy toasting their fancy drinks! I had to get a picture because they both said it the best drink they ever had!!!! Sandy is in the left and she had Missionary’s downfall and Mom is on the right and she had a Monkeypod Mai Tai. I had water - lol!

This is the view from our dinner table. We asked for a window-how amazing is this view?!?!? Soo breathtaking!!! Our waiter was Mervin and he was spot on with all of his recommendations and the food and service was phenomenal!!!!! PS - the rolls are awesome too!!!


So our day four adventure was Capt. Andy’s Napoli Coast Snorkel Picnic Sail. You can read about it here.  It was a six hour deal that included breakfast, lunch, snorkeling and a catamaran ride along the Na Pali coast of Kauai, Hawaii.

Here we are just on the boat!!


And here is the beautiful coastline.


We drove along and got amazing pictures of waterfalls, caves and cliffs.  We also stopped multiple times to watch sea turtles swimming along and dolphins playing and racing our boat! They like to play in the wake the catamaran makes!! Sooo cool!!! See if you can spot them!!! I swear - the dolphin jumps totally out at the end!

Video 1 HERE

Video 2 HERE


Beautiful!!!


Gods beauty really is unsurpassed!


I was amazing how blue the water was and how massive the cliffs were!


Another waterfall!


It was soooo pretty...the pictures do not do it justice!!! This is where we all got in and snorkeled around-it was so cool!!!!

Another beautiful cliff...


This is where they show a helicopter landing in the Jurassic Park movie...the first one was filmed here.


Our tour guide and captain Sterling said this is the most photographed part of Na Poli coast...you know I wanted to show it to you guys!!!! Beautiful!!!!


Secluded beaches all over the coastline...

Our beautiful selfie with the most amazing backdrop ever!!!

Come along for the cruise below...

Video HERE...

It has been so incredible so far!!! I hope everyone else is having a great week wherever you are! I am savoring ever moment of this time with my mom and every moment of this time in paradise!!! It really is so beautiful and I am so glad I came!!!!