Aruba Date Night

Aruba, a tiny Dutch Caribbean island off the coast of Venezuela, has dry, sunny weather, blond beaches and gentle surf. Constant trade winds bring cool breezes and cause the divi-divi trees to slope southwesterly. European influence shows in architecture that features Dutch gables painted in tropical pastels. It’s also evident in language, with English, Dutch and Spanish spoken alongside the local tongue, Papiamento.

Capital: Oranjestad

Currency: Aruban florin

Continent: South America

Population: 104,822 (2016)

Cool Facts:

• The island is located 15 miles north of Venezuela.
• Aruba was declared a useless island because of its absence of natural resources, including precious metals
• For a period of 108 years between 1816 and 1924, the population of the island increased from a mere 1,732 to 9,021
• The island has plenty of baseball lovers, as well. The tiny country has also produced some of the best athletes on the world stage
• People from more than 90 nationalities can be found in Aruba. Thus, you have a good chance of meeting someone from your country if you happen to visit this island nation.
• 18 percent of Aruba’s land area lies within Arikok National Park.
• Four countries, including Aruba, form the kingdom of the Netherlands. The other three countries are: Netherlands, Curacao and Saint Maarten.
• The nationality of the citizens of Aruba is Dutch, which is also the nationality of the citizens of the other three countries in the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
• The legal drinking age in Aruba is 18 for beer, wine, and spirits.Aruba does not have any significant natural sources of fresh water. You can drink Aruba’s tap water without any worries, as it is supplied from a saltwater desalination plant.
• Most Arubans are multilingual, and are able to communicate in English and Spanish, as well.The official currency of Aruba is Aruban florin. However, many businesses operate using U.S. dollars instead of florins because of a large number of American visitors to the island. You can pay in U.S. dollars at hotels and resorts on the island.
• In most schools in Aruba children have all their lessons in Dutch. They can only speak Papiamento during the Papiamento class. 
• Aruba is not in Hurricane Alley, which means there’s no BAD time to visit Aruba.
•  Aruba is home to a rare species of the burrowing owl. It lives in burrows in the ground hidden by cacti. It is one of Aruba’s national symbols and appears on postage stamps.
• Aruba is home to wild donkeys! Locals tole me tales of trying to catch them in their youth and tame them. There is also a donkey sanctuary for injured and mistreated donkeys. 
• Lion fish is an invasive species in Aruba and the government have encouraged locals to spearfish them. They make a MEAN ceviche apparently.

 For dinner we had an Aruban chicken and rice dish with lettuce and tomato salad and kesio, which is basically like a flan for dessert.

this is a bread they eat- called pan bati. It's basically like a cornmeal pancake.

putting shrimp tails on his fingers.... :)