Our New Office

August 16th, 2008. Today’s big plan – drive from the northern tip of the island all the way down to the southern tip while following the rugged off-road trails of the northern coastline. The guidebook we purchased said it would be a nice way to see some wildlife, the history of Aruba, and to learn more about what a desert island is really like.

It started off well enough – we had a great breakfast, got some coffee, and then began our trek.

About an hour in, I got our little Suzuki Grand Vitara stuck in some deep sand. Stupid move on my part.

The sand dunes where we got stuck.

After trying for 30 mins in the mid-day sun to dig out, Sara and I managed to get about 6 feet. We decided we needed help. Sara flagged down a couple of SUPER nice guys (Terry and his son Terry, if you’re reading this, again, thanks a lot) and they graciously agreed to help us try to dig out one more time. It was at this point that we all agreed the rental’s 4wd system didn’t work.

When that didn’t work, they gave us a ride to the California lighthouse where we called a tow truck.

The “tow truck” was nothing more than a new Mistubishi Montero with a long cable and a couple of guys. The driver and his assistants pulled our little Suzuki out of the sand in less than 5 minutes, then informed me that I owed them $300. Cash. I said I’d give him $100, but he stuck to his guns. So, I told him we needed to go to the ATM.

When we got back to town, I asked someone working at a rental car counter (not the same one we rented from) about the tow expense, and I was told it was too high. So, instead of getting cash out of the atm machine, I called the police and told them I thought I was being ripped off.

The Aruba cops showed up just a few minutes later, and I told them what happened. They seemed to agree that $300 was too much…until they realized they knew the tow truck driver. Ya – that’s right – the cops and the tow truck driver were buddies. The police told me I owed him $300. Cough-corruption-cough.

There are a lot of lessons to be learned here (like don’t get stuck, insist on being quoted a price before you allow someone to perform work, etc.), but this one is the biggest for me: Locals are out to get tourists. Don’t trust anyone – not even the local police.

My next stop was Budget rental car, where we got the Suzuki. The 4wd system wasn’t working – that much was clear when only one wheel was spinning in the sand. I asked Budget for a new rental and a discount of some kind for my trouble. In response, I was told that it didn’t matter that the 4wd system didn’t work because I shouldn’t have been off-road in the rental. My response – Why did I pay extra for 4wd that didn’t work? After driving all the way to Budget’s main office in Aruba to talk to the manager, I was told someone would take care of me when I returned the car on Monday.

After our $300 tow and the rental car company’s poor service, Sara and I decided it was time to relax at the pool. Later that evening, we had some neighbors over for dinner.

Brad, daughter Evey (spelling?), and Kris.

Brad, Kris, and their 8 month old daughter Evey (I hope I spelled that right) came over for dinner and we talked about Aruba. Brad & Kris (originally from a small town in Canada) have been living here for nearly 6 months because Brad is going to school here. Without putting to fine a point on it, they’re starting to get sick of the island. They tell us about all the bad experiences they’ve had here, we tell them about our little adventure today, and we all enjoy discussing exactly why we think Aruba is worse than the U.S. and Canada.

Don’t get me wrong – Aruba isn’t bad – but it’s not great either. The people here can be rude, service is often slow, and everything is grossly overpriced. We even learn from Brad and Kris that Aruba has a secret two-price structure where locals pay about half of the advertised price. The fact that a secret “locals discount” exists should be proof positive of Aruba’s corruption.

In any case, we’ve resolved ourselves to focus on the positive aspects of Aruba (despite our experience today) and try our off-road adventure trek again tomorrow.