Day 25

Today was a very early day in Aruba... I had hoped to get some great
sunrise shots in Aruba and the best place to do that was the cliffs in
Arikok National Park. The problem is that getting there is very
difficult and requires a serious off road vehicle, like the Land
Rovers used on my tour yesterday. Fortunately, my host in Aruba had
the answer in some Yamaha Rhino's which are pretty heavy duty four
wheel drive vehicles.

We arranged a sunrise tour using the Rhino's and I met my guide at
4:30 AM to start a long drive through the darkness to Arikok National
Park. My guide actually gave me the opportunity to drive the Rhino on
the city streets which was pretty cool and the Rhino is pretty fast
getting to nearly 40 MPH's. Once we hit the park I turned the keys
over to my guide since the trail is notoriously difficult to manage
during the day and I wanted no part of it in the darkness of night.
Eventually we arrived up high on the cliffs overlooking the eastern
coast of Aruba and waited for the sun to come up.

The Rhino - Our ride this morning.



Sun trying but failing to break through the heavy clouds that morning.





Unfortunately, the weather was extremely cloudy and completely
obscured the sun so any chance of decent surnise pictures was gone.
We did try to make the best of the situation with some pictures of
Arikok National Park which are below.

Cactus on a tropical island anyone?



The calm before the storm...



After spending some time up high on the cliffs of Arikok National Park
we decided to take the Rhinos down to the coast and visit Natural Pool
to see what kind of shots we could get with the soft light of mid
morning. I tried shooting for about 30 minutes but the light was just
not cooperating and we decided to hike back up to the Rhino's and head
somewhere else.

Natural Pool and the native crabs waiting for a meal.





Right when we got back to the Rhino's it started to
rain... Not just a light drizzling rain but a serious downpour rain
which is very unusual for a very dry and arid island like Aruba.

The trails quickly turned into streams or in some cases rivers with
the rain falling all around us and made getting back to Club Arias
difficult. There were a couple points we had to stop because the rain
had created huge pools or rivers of water and we were not sure if the
Rhino could make it through unscathed... The hour drive back to the
Club was brutal with sheets of ice cold rain in an open air vehicle
but eventually we made it back in one piece.



After a hot shower and snack to recover from the Rhino Tour that
morning; I headed off for my last major activity in Aruba... Scuba
Diving! This was something I had not planned on doing for a couple of
reasons: 1. I am not a very good swimmer, snorkeling in open seas is
challenge enough for me. 2. I'm not scuba certified which is a
requirement to go diving.

However, I met a very nice couple John & Heidi at Club Arias who both
are big scuba divers and had spent the last week diving all over the
island. The dive shop they have been using does an introductory dive
session where you get a brief safety lesson, give you all the required
gear, and take you out scuba diving. I had planned to do a sailing
trip that afternoon with some snorkeling but figured scuba diving
sounded like a lot of fun so I headed over to NE Fly & Dive to meet up
with John & Heidi.

After signing numerous waivers and statements of health, I was
introduced to our dive master and several other people doing an
introductory dive. We watched a 'fascinating' safety video on the
basic concepts of scuba diving and after getting all of gear in the
van, headed out to the beach for a shore dive. Once we reached the
beach, our dive master went over the gear with us and helped us put on
the 40+ lbs of stuff necessary to scuba dive.

Fully geared up we waded out into 5 feet of water and practiced some
basic scuba diving techniques with our masks, regulators, and all the
other elements I can't remember off hand. It really wasn't as
difficult as I had imagined but there were a few things that threw me
for a loop:

1. Breathing Underwater: The actual breathing part was easy...
However, the instructor talked about controlling your breath to
conserve the limited oxygen supply in your tank; to try for a 4 second
inhale and 12 second exhale. I tried that and failed miserably with
constant inhale and exhales... It's weird adjusting your breathing
patterns like that since in everyday life we have unlimited air so
there is no reason to control your breathing in such an extreme way.
The instructor said most first time divers end up breathing like Darth
Vader underwater and I was no exception.

2. Balance: All the gear you carry while scuba diving really messes
with your sense of balance and especially how you swim underwater.
The idea of leaning forward and controlling the direction you swim by
pointing your arms and only propelling yourself with your legs was a
very foreign concept to me.

Eventually I got the basics down and the dive master took me and
another first time diver down into the depths of the Caribbean Sea.
It was a really cool experience staying down that long and seeing the
coral, fish, and other forms of sea life up close and personal. We
actually swam out to a shipwreck and got to dive into the boat to see
the inside including the engine which was pretty cool. The dive
lasted about 30 minutes and I found out later we spent most of the
dive about 50 feet under the surface, which is pretty deep for a first
time dive. The experience overall was pretty cool and if you get the
chance to take an intro scuba class I would highly encourage it.
Below are a few pictures from the experience:








That night I enjoyed a relaxing dinner at Club Arias, made plans for
the last few days of my trip, and packed for my flight the following
morning. Thanks for reading my blog and as always any questions /
comments please post below or email me at
chris@pricelessperspectives.com