De Palm Tours operates an island attraction just a few hundred yards off shore of Aruba. In the next photo, you’ll see it from above.
You’ll find plenty of activities on De Palm Island. Snorkeling, water slides, beaches, and snacks all await your arrival. A small boat takes you from the main island out here and runs regular service back and forth all day. Bring your swimsuit, your towel, and a smile. You’ll have a great time.
Bon dia from Aruba.
During my latest helicopter flight over Aruba, I managed to grab some still photos of some favorite locations. This one is of Zeerovers, the fisherman’s wharf in Savaneta.
Zeerovers is located to the left of the frame where you see the boats docked. This place is great for a cold drink, watching the fisherman land their catch, and the men with knives filet it with amazing skill. They’ll also fry up some of that fish for you, too. There’s an exciting scene in my next novel, Hacha’s Gold, here as well. Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be posting more of these photos from the air so stay tuned to The Bent Page.
Bon dia from Aruba.
For several years, I’ve wanted to take the helicopter tour of Aruba. I know the island very well from ground level, and I’ve seen it when arriving and departing via commercial aircraft. However, it was time to see it from about 500 above ground level. In order to stay on budget, I combined a bit of sight-seeing with a real estate photo mission. Worked out perfectly. So, here’s a video showing takeoff from the Seaport Marina, flying north along the low- and high-rise hotel area to the Marriott Complex. Next, we turned inland toward Paradera then south to Spanish Lagoon and my neighborhood of Savaneta. From there it’s inland toward the windmills at Vader Piet, an important location in my next novel, Hacha’s Gold. Finally, a turn north and west, past the Palo Margo raceway and along the coast to the heliport. Check it out.
The pilot did an excellent job of orbiting around the sites I wanted to photograph. There is a fair amount of traffic in and out of the Queen Beatrix Airport, which is very close to where we were flying. He had to juggle the control tower’s orders while navigating to and from my requests. The flight wasn’t cheap, but it was worth every cent. If you’re in Aruba, don’t miss the chance to see the island from up there.
Bon dia from Aruba.
This blog carries some of my flying adventures. Regular readers will remember my recent adoption of the Cirrus S20 as the cross-country flying machine of choice. It’s a steady ship, capable of 135 knots cruising. The control yoke is mounted to the side, which actually works very nicely as the pilot can rest an arm on the molded door panel and be quite comfortable. Here’s a shot of me at the helm.
The Garmin G1000 avionics suite is impressive, too. Plenty of situational awareness, an excellent autopilot, and clear graphical representations of what’s going on with the airplane. Of course, take note to the old magnetic compass in the upper part of the photo. You have to have one of those to go flying. Even your commercial airliners have them. If all else fails, pick a heading and go for it.
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