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News From Aruba
Vacations By Aruba is a travel blog that promotes Aruba.
So naturally you would expect to only read “tourist” news.
However, if something “bad” is happening on the island I would also like to inform you about it. Just as much as I do the good things that’s going on in Aruba.
So here’s what is been going on in Aruba last week…
Be Careful in Aruba
There was two cases of tourists who lost their belongings.
Fortunately one of them was lucky to get all of his stolen items returned.
The first incident happened near the beach at Ritz Carlton – Fisherman’s Hut.
A family decided to go to fisherman’s hut since they were on a cruise stop on the island. They left their belongings behind unattended under one of the huts and went swimming.
When they returned they were surprised to find that all their belongings were gone.
The police was notified and came quick to the scene to find out what happened and brought the family back to the cruise port.
When they returned to the cruise port, they found their belongings back.
The person who returned the families belongings did the right thing.
The second scene happened at midnight.
A lady went for a late night swim on the beach in front of Hilton Hotel. After a while she spotted someone standing under the palapa where she left her belongings.
Before she could get out the water and find out what’s going on someone took her belongings. Left with here clothes and purse. The police found her clothes a few meters further from where the incident happened.
These two incidents could of been easily prevented.
Aruba is a safe place for tourist.
However, if you’re not going to be careful when traveling these things are bound to happen – anywhere.
Even in Aruba – Paradise!
My advice for you, whether it’s you’re first time or return visitor – be careful with your belongings.
Some tips for safety in Aruba are…
- Don’t leave your belongings unattended
- Don’t give out personal info about your credit cards
- Avoid walking in dark areas at night
- Don’t leave with all you’re cash at hand. (Leave money in the safe at the hotel)
- Park your rental car in a safe place and always lock the doors
- Don’t leave phones, wallets, tablets and money where it can be seen in the car.
Something new to do in San Nicolas
There’s a new initiative going on in San Nicolas to get the local community and tourists more in touch with the city’s rich culture and history.
It’s called “Experience San Nicolas”.
Experience San Nicolas is a unique way to get in touch with the rich culture of San Nicolas.
The culture of San Nicolas is a mixture of all the nationalities that live in the city. This mix of nationalities gave birth to a whole pot of delicious culinary dishes, art, music and it made history.
Experience San Nicolas will be held on the first Sunday of every month.
Shops like WEMA, El Gallo Royo, Alankar, JM Enterprises, La Aruba, Joy’s Restaurant, Aruba Store and O’Niel Restaurant will have different deals and promotions.
Search for “Experience San Nicolas” on Facebook to see their page for updates.
Here’s the program for the 3rd edition of Experience San Nicolas, which is today 5 February 2017.
Experience San Nicolas Program for 5 Feb 2017
Giving Away Free Re-usable Bags
If you didn’t know it yet, plastic bags have been banned in Aruba.
The decision to ban plastic bags was made, because plastic bags cause damage to Aruba’s environment.
You usually see plastic bags that flew away stuck in the trees along the roads.
But plastic bags are gone for good now!
Following the ban on plastic bags AHATA (Aruba Hotel and Tourism Authority) gave away re-usable bags for free to people. They gave away the bags at two supermarkets where a lot of locals shop for groceries, Save a Lot in Noord and Hong Kong in Paradera.
Here’s a video of what exactly went on that day…
Aruba Bird life Conservation is on a mission
The members of Aruba Bird life Conservation and 15 kids traveled as special guests to the annual festival of birds in Colombia.
The prime Minister of Aruba, Mike Eman, was also on board for the trip.
The mission of Aruba bird life conservation and the government is to learn from other countries how they protect their birds.
Greg Peterson, of Aruba Bird life Conservation said the birds in Aruba are not protected as they should be. That’s the reason why this trip was essential in learning how Colombia protects their birds. So Aruba can implement these different strategies to conserve Aruba’s birds.
The kids and all invites learned how to analyze, observe and recognize birds they saw.
The prime minster said during a speech that there is plans of making a marine park in Aruba. This should be interesting, there’s plenty of places to build it.
I hope the marine park becomes reality.
It will be another fun thing to do in Aruba.
Aruba has over 900 different species of birds. And protecting them is going to be top priority from now on.
Accident At Mangel Halto
Last week a teenage boy managed to get the car he was driving into the beach at Mangel Halto.
The boy who was driving didn’t have a driver license and was under the age limit of driving. He was driving near the beach at Mangel Halto and somehow ended up in the sea.
The car that made it into the water.
Bystanders quickly notified the police and ambulance.
The authorities didn’t take long to respond and got to the scene quick.
Two other girls were also in the car.
They all got out without injuries and sent to the hospital for further check up.
The boy probably took the car without his parents knowledge and this happened to him.
We all did things we weren’t allowed to do as kids and learned our lesson – this will definitely teach them a lesson.
Thank God none of them got hurt.
Carnival Casio & Soca Monarch Winners
It’s carnival season in Aruba and the biggest music festival during carnival took place last night.
Casio & Soca Monarch is the largest local music event featuring the island’s greatest music creators and bands of carnival.
The music event took place on 3 days featuring over a 100 song compositions by carnival bands and only 2 winners to be selected at the final day. One person as the Casio Monarch and the other as Soca Monarch (one person can also win both prizes, if their song is good enough)
The winners of this years Caiso Monarch is Mighty Talent Jr. (The son of Claudius Philips, you might know him from happy hour at La Cabana) and Blacky won the Soca monarch. He’s a talented singer from San Nicolas.
Click here to see the carnival schedule for 2017.
Might Talent Jr (Left) and Blacky (right)
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