Rooi Santo is Calling
Does the Santo stand for sand or holiness, I wonder? I guess just sand.
We went for a hike in Rooi Santo last Sunday. It took us about 70 minutes, from parking our cars as Ting Wei Supermarket, to getting back into them just before sunset.
It’s an easy, leisurely hike, no need for any survival safari gear. Maybe a flashlight in case night falls earlier than expected because you took your time, oohing and aaahing the cacti.
Take the road to the side of the food store, then make a right down a residential street and a left, and off you go, you are in the Boroncana mondi, in wilderness.
The path would lead you at a pleasant incline to the top of Seroe Pela – your GPS might reveal you have arrived at Rancho Azul and the North Shore Cottage, it then rolls downhill towards the ocean.
The ocean is roiling at this point, crashing, big drama, white caps, and salty spray. Gorgeous.
We swung around, making a loop slightly to the north and started climbing up among tall, magnificent cacti, 127 genera with some 1750 known species, well almost, but they are very photogenic, I took pictures, my companion said it reminded him of Tuscany!
Tierra del Sol is visible at this point, hanging on the Anabui ridge, marking the sky line.
The terrain in the rooi is surprisingly red, the color of rust, a testimony to the content of iron oxides in the dirt. It is hard when dry and a sticky messy when wet.
Just before leaving the rooi, we took a stroll through Prima Vista, a villa neighborhood with immense mansions, most of the empty, and silent.
DIP must have been working overtime to inspect all these construction sites. Naht.
While the wilderness was surprisingly clean, no plastic bags, no Styrofoam containers, some of the Prima Vista’s edges were terribly littered. I guess the neighbors only care about what’s happening inside their gates.
Good news: No boas. Not a single one.
My walking companion was hoping to run into the neighborhood donkeys, but we saw none.
Great Sunday happy hour activity. Highly recommended. You can conclude the exercise session with a cold beer and French fries at 080, or stick to being good, go home to have some spring water and steamed veggies.
The Third Edition of Aruba’s E-Aruba Business Seminar is on its way
Save the date, June 9th, 2018, 9am to 2pm, at the Renaissance Convention Center and organizers made it super affordable so there is no excuse for not showing up. And bring the students in your life along, they only pay Awg 50.
As in three previous editions, the event is organized by Mark Benson Denz, Infinity Media, only this year he teamed up with Diederik Kemmerling, from the Lab, considered Aruba’s supreme social media marketing guru. With main sponsors such as Aruba Bank and Digicel we are guaranteed an excellent program for the day.
Aruba Bank will be available to talk to local start-ups and e-commerce clients about their plans during the seminar.
For the 2018 seminar three excellent international speakers agreed to grace us with their presence Microsoft’s Miri Rodriguez, a Storyteller & Social Media Manager, Mario Vinasco, Marketing Manager Data Analytics of UBER, who will also talk about the topic du jour AI, Artificial intelligence, and Andrea Vahl, famous for writing a simplistic tell-all guide to the mysteries of social media. Vahl is a bit of a standup comic, so prepare to be entertained, but she drives her message home, as one of the most prominent women in social media.
Three presentations by local talents will round up the menu of speakers. Stefan Oostervall will discuss cryptocurrencies, systems which promise to decentralized the control of banks, Diederik Kemmerling who will share best practices and reveal facts and figures about the use of social media in Aruba, and a representative of Digicel, who will speak about making our homes smarter, and our lives consequently easier, with the latest technology.
Lots of networking opportunities at the coffee corner will conclude the day. #BusinessSeminar
More about the speakers:
Miri Rodriguez develops content across key technology trends, speaking about Microsoft products and services and sharing storytelling techniques. In her spare time, Miri enjoys volunteering in her local community and coaching professionals of all ages and backgrounds for personal brand building. Her superfood is ice cream and she can run in heels!!
Mario Vinasco has over 20 years of progressive experience in data driven analytics with emphasis in database programming and predictive models creatively applied to eCommerce, advertising, customer acquisition/retention and marketing investment. Mario specializes in developing and applying leading edge business analytics to complex business problems using big data and machine learning platforms. Having worked for Facebook, now for UBER as a data scientist he knows how to improve the effectiveness of consumer-facing campaigns.
Andrea Vahl is a Social Media Coach, Speaker and Strategist. She is a co-author of Facebook Marketing All-in-One for Dummies. She specializes in helping small businesses with their social media strategy and has worked with authors, realtors, restaurants, retail stores, medical health centers, online bloggers and more. She also uses her improv comedy skills to blog as an entertaining character named Grandma Mary – Social Media Edutainer. You can find more information at www.AndreaVahl.com
Stefan Oosterwaal has developed Arubits and owns Bitcoin Trading & Consulting. He also has a sweet side as the owner of Linda’s Dutch Pancakes and Pizzas, where he was the first one on the island to accept BitCoin for payment. His company helps business and charities accept and understand bitcoin, the innovative digital currency. Contact him or visit www.arubits.com to get started.
Diederik Kemmerling is the managing partner at The Lab Agency, a Lecturer at DOC Opleidingen and a Guest Lecturer at University of Aruba. He is an energetic marketing professional with experience creating an effective online marketing presence. Diederik works specifically with E-commerce and handles all aspects of sales and online marketing approaches. Specialties: Search Engine Marketing and Optimization SEA/SEO, Affiliate Marketing, Comparison Shopping Engines (CSE), Web Analytics, Keyword Research, Link Building, On Page and Cart Optimization, Usability optimization, Mobile, Email Marketing, and Social Media.
If you did not get what he does, you definitely must attend the E-Aruba Business Seminar….
Balashi: Aruban at Heart
We welcomed the rebranded Balashi at an abandoned Cunucu house in Koyari, totally decked out and illuminated by Elite production and Brouwerij Nacional Balashi.
The country home’s shell was digitally mapped green, with digital hex signs; the cactus and aloe glowing blue in the garden. Guests were invited to go wild in the photo booth, then take a Virtual Tour of the brewery inside the structure covered with digital wallpaper and decorated with a charming Balashi bottle wall and great displays.
The party in honor of the beer’s rebranding, followed the rebranding of baby sister Chill, in February, during Carnival.
Balashi was given a new look and a new tag line ARUBAN AT HEART, reflecting the fact that the beer ingredients are imported from Europe but the bubbles are made here. The term is also inclusive towards our many loyal visitors who are Aruban at heart, drinking Balashi on our beaches, willing to belong, even just for a week, to One Happy Island.
Marketing diva Yadira Harms sums it up: Proudly presenting Balashi’s brand new look, our local island brew made with passion and quality.
The beer she explains is crafted in small batches in Balashi and follows a 20-year-old recipe.
Yes, Balashi, named after the neighborhood it is brewed in, has been a best-seller on the island for 20 years.
Would you believe it?
So, what’s different? The label on the bottle is clear, and smaller, the red is deeper, the Fofoti icon is now a stylized illustration, the back of the bottle just features the icon. The can, available within a few more days is deep green, in a matte finish, with almost invisible gold aerodynamic swirls, red lettering, and a gold icon. It looks decisively manly.
Unlike other brands the bottle is worth the statiegeld when empty, the returned deposit, and all bartenders who collect the caps off the bottles they sell are invited to hand them in for prizes.
Brilliant idea: They would surely be interested in littering less and selling more.
Don’t worry, the taste remains the same with a soft bitterness at the end, and a golden color, made with the island’s famously delicious water.
I understand the brewery also runs a great farmers program in which the discarded malt and hops are used for livestock feed, I want to know more about it.
Mich Bermudez and Yadira Harms co-hosted the event. They spread the festivities over five nights so that they could mix and mingle more intimately with their guests.
It is apparent that the two love what they do, and that the brand commands their creativity and loyalty.
In a Nutshell: The brewery is one of the most modern production facilities in the Caribbean, the beer is crafted according to traditional German methods with a local twist. Add world class water, premium Barley and Hops sourced from Europe, applying sustainable production elements such as food for local livestock and returnable bottles, tada, proudly presenting Balashi’s brand new look, our local island brew made with passion and quality.
Medical Tourism: Considerable interest in stem cell therapy in Colombia
A Colombian stem cell specialist is visiting Aruba this week, introducing his innovative and very successful new way of healing with stem cell technology.
Last night he hosted a meeting at the Multi Functionele Accomodatie (MFA) Paradera and there were well over 100 people in the room, suffering from a wide array of diseases, judging from the way they talked and moved, including some aided by companions, wheel chairs and canes.
Dr. Carlos Guerrero’s clinic in Bogota, Stemwell Regenerative Medicine, introduces healthy stem cells taken from bone marrow at the hip into the body by injections. The healthy cells combat and conquer the diseased cells, hereby ensuring great improvement in mobility, decreasing pain and increased well-being.
The doctor went through a presentation describing the process — there is some level of discomfort involved since the procedure is performed under local anesthesia, and then a local patient who experienced great relief following treatment at the Bogota clinic gave a powerful testimonial.
Both reiterated that patients who are suffering from arthritis, arthrosis, fibromyalgia, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, degenerative diseases and neurological afflictions, could contact the clinic to learn more about the possibilities of healing or pain management through stem cell therapy. Dr. Guerrero also talked about the added value of stem cell therapy in preventing future health challenges.
While on the island Dr. Gurrero visited us at Magic 96.5FM as a guest of PICA 96.5%. He talked about his own transition from Orthopedic fixing to regenerative fixing, and how effectively it works. We were interested in the rejuvenation value of the treatment and decided to rush over for a dose or two of his delicious Kool-Aid in our effort to remain forever young.
So, if you are suffering from a tendon or ligament injury, muscle injury, joint damage, nerve pain, or back pain you are a candidate. I believe the all-inclusive treatment to be just over $3,300, and Bogota is a great city to visit, the weather is cool, and pretty perfect.
website www.stemwell.co.
Cruel Joke
One of my lawyer friends says: GOA should have a clear and concise policy in place to deal with the question as to who should be considered refugee or who can claim political asylum. I am afraid that we probably don’t have a policy in place and are just hoping that Holland will take care of it, It won’t.
It was a very cruel thing to do. Reportedly one of the radio stations — we should find out which one — floated a rumor about an upcoming amnesty for Venezuelan illegals and over the span of two days, DIMAS was besieged with very anxious, hopeful and stressed out illegals, wishing to benefit from the miraculous Manna from Heaven.
Desperate people are gullible.
They would believe anything.
The hundreds of illegal Venezuelans came to Aruba as tourists and overstayed their visit. Some came here illegally on small crafts, some were legal before and in possession of work permits but failed to secure renewals.
They were hopeful they would be included in the pardon.
The Police had to be called in.
I am grateful they did not show up with a bus to round up the crowd for deportation, but those illegals should know that the right of the Aruban Police to inspect documents was just restored – a privilege and duty removed a number of years ago when the Coast Guard was formed.
GOA convened a press conference to refute the rumor. The MinPres clearly stated that economic migrants in search of a job and a better life had no legal status in Aruba.
The head of DIMAS made clear that political asylum must be applied for at the airport upon entry and be documented and substantiated well. She also said that in past years 0% of applicants were approved.
Many point fingers at the bureau of Disaster Response that keeps confusing the statuses of Economic Migrants VS. Refugees.
Fingers are also pointed at the opposition, and their desire to raise hell, spread some chaos and confusion.
Whoever’s fault it is, it was cruel joke.
DIMAS: Don’t waste these people’s time. Give it to them straight. Filling out forms that no one would read goes nowhere. Don’t raise their hopes high, then trash them heartlessly.
What do you mean you can’t stop them from filling forms?
Of course, you can.
Just jam your photocopier.
