Jess got up at 6:30am and got in the shower, letting Jer snooze a bit longer. Eventually we both got ready and made our way downstairs for breakfast at 7:30am. Continental breakfast was included in our room rate, and (since the MVC Eagle Beach caters to Dutch tourists at least as much as Americans), we found that this included cold cuts, cheese, hard-boiled eggs and yoghurt, as well as the typical croissants, breads, fruit, coffee/tea and juice. It was pretty tasty and substantial, a good start to our day. We failed to check into our room, however, as the ABC Tours jeep safari picked us up before the desk clerk arrived.
We were driven to the ABC tours office, where we signed a waiver and release and were then assigned to Jeeps (actually open-sided Land Rover Discoveries with roll cages). We had requested to sit in the guide's Jeep, but ended up in one driven by a fellow passenger instead. Happily, the passenger is question was a long-haul truck driver named Larry, who was both a great driver and a great sport. He and his lovely wife, Wanda, sat up front, while we sat in the back with Mark and Gene, a fun couple from Massachusetts. The other Jeep had eight people, and our 14-person group was a great size; we saw tons of bigger tours during the day and didn't envy any of them!
We realized the trip was going to be awesome when Mark lost his hat just a few minutes after leaving the ABC office. Our guide, Rocky, threw his Jeep into reverse and drove back for it, scooping it from the road without even leaving his seat! He returned the hat to Mark and we set off in earnest. Our first couple stops were brief photo spots: the California lighthouse, built in the 1910s and named after a ship, the California, that wrecked nearby and was the impetus for the lighthouse's construction. Next was Alto Vista chapel, a tiny Catholic chapel built in 1750 on a hilltop overlooking the Caribbean; it fell into ruins until 1950, when a local schoolteacher spearheaded a restoration effort, and now the little church is back to its original condition (and still in use for services on Tuesdays and Good Friday).
We drove along the coastal road, noting the multi-million dollar homes (many of which were a bit McMansion-ish) and the old fisherman's shacks (now popular for partiers and perhaps campers), and stopping to see a cool blowhole that sprayed water into the air each time a wave hit. Our next official stop was Baby Bridge, a small natural bridge where Rocky let us hold cute little hermit crabs that scuttled over our hands, tickling our palms. ABC Tours just adopted the litter-strewn beach by Baby Bridge, so we were glad to hear that it would soon be cleaned up. We went a bit further to the Bushiribana Gold Mill ruins, which the British gold mining company built to resemble a fort overlooking the water, in hopes of dissuading pirates. Unfortunately, the salty air eroded the mill equipment, so it shut down after only 10 years, leaving ruins which afford great views of the Caribbean for marauding tourists. We then went to the famous collapsed Natural Bridge, which was the largest sea-eroded rock bridge in the Caribbean until it fell a few years ago (miraculously, the collapse happened in the early morning, so no one was injured). Though the collapsed bridge was interesting, the smaller natural bridge next to it was even more so. Rocky mentioned that the ground has become unstable, so the second bridge isn't expected to last much longer.
From there, we drove inland to the Ostrich Farm, where we went on an informative guided tour and saw emus and ostriches. A few lucky people got to sit on ostriches that the guide tricked into sitting down; although we didn't get to do that, Jess did get to feed them — their really strong necks snaked around her as she held the dish, which was a really neat feeling. After the tour we had lunch at the restaurant, but sadly, it didn't include ostrich. Jer and the rest of the group had BBQ ribs and chicken with a side salad, fries and rice. Jess opted for the vegetarian lunch — pumpkin soup, garlic bread and a salad. It was all quite tasty.
Our first post-lunch stop was a quick visit to the Donkey Sanctuary, which isn't normally on the itinerary but was added because someone requested it. (it wasn't Jess, but she would have if she'd thought of it.) They house about a quarter of Aruba's feral donkey popularion (which numbers about 200, after being down to only 20-30 in the 1970s), but the highlight was the 4 month old donkey foal. From there, the real off-road adventure began, and we bumped and jolted over the rocky scrubland in Arikok National Park, up and down hills on rutted Jeep tracks to the Natural Pool (also known as 'turtle pen" in Spanish, because fishermen used to leave small sea turtles there to fatten up before eating them). Unfortunately, the seas were too rough for us to be able to swim safely in the Natural Pool, so we admired it from above and wondered at the bravado of the few people who braved its churn. We then headed to the National Park visitors' center to use the restroom and see their local snake display (housing 3 types), before getting back in the Jeep and driving to the Guadirikiri Caves, which had two chambers with holes in the roof where sunlight filtered through, followed by a low tunnel, which ended in a chamber that had a few Indian cave paintings, such as a butterfly and a spider. They were a bit hard to see, but quite interesting. Rocky then had us cover our cameras and hold still, while he startled a few hundred bats from the next chamber and got them to fly above our heads. It was very cool — Jess expected it to be scary, but it wasn't.
Our final official stop was Baby Beach, a protected cove at the southern end of the island, where the water is shallow and warm. If you brave the cooler water where the ocean meets the cove, however, you can see blue tangs, sergeant majors and other tropical fish, swimming fearlessly around your ankles and eating bread from your hand (Rocky had thoughtfully provided this, for our fish-feeding pleasure). It was very pretty and fun, not to mention refreshing after the dusty, bumpy day we'd had. Then Rocky took us to his uncle's fish shack in Savaneta, where we had some fried red snapper as a snack — it was delicious and inexpensive. Our awesome tour complete, we headed back to the ABC Tour office, where Larry happily handed over the keys and we all climbed on a bus so Rocky could drive us back to our respective hotels.
We were quite glad to grab a quick shower at our hotel, washing off the day's grime before heading down the beach for dinner. Jess had made reservations at Passions, a restaurant on the sand at the Amsterdam Manor Beach Resort. The maitre d' couldn't find our booking, but seated us anyway, and we got to watch the sunset as sailboats passed on the horizon. Once again, we made a meal of appetizers — the creamy, tomatoey Arubian seafood soup for both of us, followed by a rich Caribbean crab salad with brandied sauce for Jess, and watermelon salad in a sweet-spicy chili glaze for Jer. The key lime pie for dessert was light and delicious. Although it wasn't quite as good as the previous night's meal, the food was tasty and creative, and the ambience was excellent (it doesn't get much better than tables with linens and tiki torches, right on the beach overlooking the sunset).
After dinner we came back and looked at our pictures, while Jess updated this journal. Then it was bedtime.