Aruba Pool’s Resources Make A Splash

Sept. 15, 2015 - PRLog -- In a global TripAdvisor poll, the Dutch Caribbean’s Conchi was voted among the 12 best locations in the world for natural swimming. Conchi is the local Papiamento word in this Dutch Caribbean island for the shell-shaped Natural Pool, one of its many hidden gems.

To enjoy its inviting waters, visitors have to be a little adventurous. Surrounded by a large barrier of lava rocks which greet the crashing waves of the Caribbean, Conchi is at the base of the northern shore cliffs within Arikok National Park and one has to cross rocky ravines on foot or horseback.

Nature has left Aruba with a number of natural gems. For examples, thousands of years of pounding waves and winds have slowly carved away at the limestone cliffs on the same northern shore to create eight natural bridges. The largest and best-known was the Natural Bridge at Andicuri Beach which sadly collapsed in 2005. The most impressive structure of its kind in the Caribbean, its ruins still attract visitors and the remaining Baby Bridge nearby also merits a visit.

While the entire Island is peppered with huge diorite boulders, Casibari Boulders and Ayo Rock Formations boast the most remarkable collections. Arawak Indian rock drawings decorate the monolithic stones of Ayo, providing evidence of the great importance these rocks held for the island's early inhabitants.

The California Dunes are a protected nature reserve at Hudishibana, an area at the north-western tip of the Island. Named after the famous ship that wrecked just offshore, these rolling dunes of pristine sand soften the cratered limestone landscape and provide a perch from which to admire the waves crashing along the rocky shore and the California Lighthouse standing guard on the plateau nearby.

The Hooiberg, meaning ‘haystack’ in Dutch, is the cone-shaped mountain that rises 540 feet up from the centre of the island. Hikers can take the 550-plus steps to the top, where a panoramic view and encounters with wild goats, parakeets, and colourful lizards make the climb worthwhile.

Offering a birds-eye view at 620 feet, hikers also discover sheer serenity atop Yamanota, the island’s highest elevation point, providing memorable panoramic views.

The most visited among several small limestone caves along the northern shore within Arikok National Park, the Guadirikiri Cave is famous for bursts of natural sunlight that seep through limestone holes throughout the cavern. Explorers can venture through various layers of the cave, which range from tall and wide to low and narrow. The cave is also home to a colony of bats.

The nearby Fontein Cave is noted for the decorative brownish-red Arawak pictographs etched by the Amerindians on its walls and ceiling. Fontein Cave is marked with rich ancestral history that continues its storytelling among thousand-year-old stalactites and stalagmites. Shallow in depth and low in height, the cave invites visitors to crawl through the space, uncovering civilisation and history at every turn.