"BonBini" means Welcome in Our Lodgings We finally got to Aruba!! June 15th, 2001 Written by Helen & Mark Now you're all probably wondering why we are so excited about Aruba. Well the fact that Mark has been in Venezuela for 2 years now and I have been here for over a year, and yet, we have never managed to find the time to go to Aruba, which is only 15 mins from us by plane...until NOW!!! Aruba is a Dutch island and very, very different to Venezuela! We could hardly believe the differences in these 2 countries, and yet they are so close geographically. It's a friendly island totally oriented towards making the tourists happy. In fact.."One Happy Island" is their slogan and they love to live up to it! English is widely spoken and the US Dollar is accepted everywhere. We rented a car and saw almost all of the island in a couple of hours. It's very small, but very, very beautiful. We left some of the sights for our next visit..and it sure won't be 2 years before we go back! That's for sure! We went with some Venezuelan friends of ours, Humberto, Anna Maria, her mother and their gorgeous baby Adriana. We swam, drank pina coladas, ate LOTS and had a wonderful 3 days, thanks to our fabulous hotel The Mill. We couldn't have done better for our choice of hotel. Low rise and affordable! $85 a night got us a beautiful room with a balcony, king size bed and jacuzzi. It was terrific value and great service. We wanted to stay in a place that was full of culture and I think we found it. The pool was the 'hub' of all their 'cultural' activities including beer drinking contests, watermelon eating contests, Salsa dancing lessons and of course Bingo..all held around the pool at the open air bar. We will definitely be staying there again...One happy hotel mon!! Boy are we smiling!! Oh look! We even made the headlines! The Old Mill Currently housing a restaurant, this re-constructed Dutch Windmill was built in 1804 and brought to Aruba in 1962. It faces the entrance of the Bubali Bird Sanctuary and has our hotel in the rear. The poolside bar The barside pool All this and a pool boy too! Me & another Okie in the pool Even the wildlife is tame! What a nerve! The big, big bed!! The big, big tub!! The big, big boy in the big, big tub!! Anna Maria & Adriana enjoy a morning dip Back To Venezuela! More Aruba Fun If you're too cheap to send me a message WITH a bottle then feel free to click the bottle and write it in my GUESTBOOK! You are listening to: Kokomo - The Beach Boys