Although most people that go to Aruba go there to enjoy the sun, the beach, the year-round mild weather, the food and even gambling, there are also other things worth visiting. One of those is the Arikok National Park. This park is located in the north-east side of the island facing the rough Atlantic Ocean. Perhaps that’s reason enough why this side of the island is not as prone to tourism as the milder Caribbean south-west side. Still, this park offers more than just a couple of things to explore. The park itself covers about 34 square kilometers which is roughly 20% of the islands size. Considering that Aruba is roughly the size of Michigan, this is a considerable sized park. Among other things, you can take guided tours in the park to explore its flora and fauna or you could take a tour to the natural pool. For more adventurous souls, you can just wander around and walk in completely unmarked paths and trails in any direction you want. One thing to keep in mind for this is PLENTY OF WATER. Not only the park is hot without a lot of shades areas but there have been cases where the authorities have had to go pick up unprepared people. Besides all the above, the park is remote enough that, even after being in Aruba more than a couple of times, I didn’t even know it was there. I guess that’s what maps are for. So after spending 4 or 5 days in the beach with Val, we were ready to do something different and what better place than this to go on a hike. With a small rented car we drove and drove and finally got to the entrance of the park where we were greeted by a friendly guard that couldn’t tell us if the park was open or not. In the end we learned that the governor was having a party in the main building but we were able to get tickets and continue on our way. From there on the drive was long and tedious. Don’t get me wrong, the road is good but every hundred or so yards there are ruts to probably divert water deep enough to make any compact car bottom out. After a while we finally made it to Boca Prins and parked in front of the only building in the area, a very desolated restaurant that, at that time, we didn’t know if it would open or if it was abandoned. Then we started walking. At first we found a very nicely marked path going towards the coast. For a moment we thought the park was very well developed, but shortly after, once we got to the staircase that climbs down to the Boca Prins, that was it. From that point on the trail was barely marked with 4x4 that looked exactly like washout logs from the sea. It wasn’t much of a problem though; having a huge ocean on the side makes it real easy to navigate. As we hiked north, we noted the terrain was incredible rough. It felt like solid rock that has been eaten up by the constant hit of the waves. Erosion at its best. As you can imagine, the views were fantastic although not changing much. On one side we had dry arid land with several goats eating anything that looked barely green, some white patches of sand and the multiple shades of blue of the ocean. Watching the waves hit the shore repeatedly was almost hypnotizing. Eventually we lost the trail, more than a couple of times but we continued along. At a point we saw some white deposits on the rocks that ended up being raw sea salt in big crystals. The terrain made our pace slower than what Val and I normally do but in the end we got to the parking lot at Conchi where you can descend to the natural pool. We still had plenty of water but it was a very hot day. Luckily for us, we found a guy in a pickup truck selling or sorts of drinks and snorkeling gear. A few Gatorades and some lunch later we decided to head back roughly the same way we came and not follow our original plan of a big lop that would have lasted more than a day. Coming back was equally impressive as going out although being early in the afternoon, it got extremely hot to the point that we both had to stop and hunch down under a tree to recover a bit. After a short break we decided to just push for the car and go get something to drink but were pleasantly surprised to find the restaurant opened. Without thinking too much, we went in and sat down for a nice lunch and cold drinks which brought all the energy back. We knew that there were some caves nearby so having still some time, we got in our little car and drove south to Guadirikiri Cave. At first we thought it would be a tiny cave not offering much but as soon as we walked in we were wowed by the space and beauty. The cave has several skylights that open to the blue sky and allow you to walk without a flash light. We visited several rooms in the cave admiring the different shades of yellow, orange, green and even blue. It was a magical place. After that we tried to visit the Fontein Cave but we found that park authorities had decided to close it to human traffic to protect the bats that inhabit the cave. It was an incredible day in a very surprising part of the island I never knew existed.
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