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                                                                                                           LOCAL Wednesday 23 april 2025






























            The legend of the Kibrahacha tree


            (Oranjestad)— As the climate be-    Written by Hubert (Lio Booi)
            gins  to  dry  up  here,  the  Kibraha-
            cha is ready to bloom.  Known lo-   One day Aterima, who lived west
            cally  for  its  bright,  yellow  flowers,  of the hill Sero Warawara, woke up
            this  special  tree  only  blooms  for  one day to find her father sleeping
            three  to  four  days  only.  Scientifi-  in his hammock, suffering a bout of
            cally known as Tabebuia billbergii,  terrible fever. Her mother was very
            and  in  English  as  the  Yellow  Poui,  worried, and as was the custom in
            this tree is native to the Caribbean  the olden days, asked Aterima to
            islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Cu-   go fetch Kudawecha, who was a
            racao,  and  is  considered  among  epistemophile, to come see his fa-  they saw that it was covered head  and  encouraged  to  help  her  fa-
            locals as one of the most spectac-  ther.                               to  toe  in  thorns,  with  only  a  few  ther, took her back to her hut.
            ular trees on the island. But did you                                   closed flowers at the very top. Ku-
            also know that the beautiful yellow  Aterima wasted to time and went  dawecha, experienced veteran in  Upon  arriving  back  at  the  hut,
            flowers have a story behind them?   to  go  fetch  Kudawecha.  Upon  all things Aruban flora and fauna,  Aretima’s  mother  quickly  made  a
                                                telling Kudawecha that her father  told  Aretima  to  start  plucking  the  tea out of the flowers and gave it
            The Kibrahacha is said to have ex-  was  sick,  he  immediately  accom-  thorns  of  the  tree  to  climb  to  the  to  her  sick  husband.  Miraculously,
            tremely  hard  wood—so  hard  that  panied  Aretima  back  to  her  hut,  top where the flowers are. Aretima,  after  just  one  sip  of  the  tea,  the
            it can break an axe. In fact, that’s  where he encountered her father  just as determined to save her fa-    father’s  fever  left  his  body  imme-
            what  its  name  means  in  Papia-  in a bad state. Not willing to waste  ther, didn’t hesitate to start.    diately, and he opened eyes and
            mento:  “kibra”  (break)  “hacha”  any time, he told Aretima that the                                        sprung up feeling new.
            (axe).  The  flowers  bloom  around  only thing that can cure her father is  To  her  surprise,  every  time  she
            April and May, but this only last for  a home-made potion made out of  plucked  a  thorn  of  the  tree,  a  The  next  morning,  they  all  visited
            about  three  to  four  days,  as  the  the Kibrahacha flower. At the time  bright,  yellow  flower  bloomed  in  the  same  Kibrahacha  tree  that
            flowers start to fall off and the tree  the Kibrahacha was not yet in her  its  place.  The  thorns  were  hard  saved  the  life  of  Aretima’s  father
            starts growing its green leaves. The  blooming season, but the stubborn  to  pluck  out,  but  Aretima  contin-  and  they  saw  another  miracle.
            Kibrahacha  is  especially  particu-  Kudawecha  was  determined  to  ued plucking with enthusiasm and  The tree was covered again in the
            lar,  as  it’s  the  only  one  among  its  bring  back  Aretima’s  father  back  wonder at the unfolding sight be-  same  bright,  yellow  flowers,  with
            neighboring trees to start blooming  to health, and so off they went to  fore her. Not too long after she was  not a thorn in sight. And as the leg-
            first.                              the nearest Kibrahacha tree.        able  to  fill  her  entire  satchel  with  end  goes,  from  that  day  on,  the
                                                                                    the  yellow  flowers.  Kudawecha,  Kibrahacha  tree  no  longer  pro-
            The legend of the Kibrahacha        When  they  arrived  at  the  tree,  satisfied  to  see  Aretima  so  happy  duced any more thorns. q

            Planning on snorkeling? Get to know our Candelchi!


            (Oranjestad)—If you’re ever  fish that swims all year long  candelchi, we mean several  tinguished by the following  the dorsal spine or marks on
            planning on snorkeling during  in the waters of Aruba.    different species but without  characteristics.  They  are  the body.
            your vacation on Aruba, you                               distinguishing them by spe-  heart-shaped with pink or red
            may spot fish that you can’t  Let's talk about the names of  cies. In this picture, we are  hues and often show heart-  In Aruba:
            recognize. One of these may  fish. Do you know your fish?  showing the most common  shaped  streaks  between  Candelchi  are  found  on
            be the “Candelchi” (Squir-   The Department of Depart-    one in our waters, which is  the scales along the body.  reefs or areas with structure
            relfish), a common, yet shy  ment  of  Agriculture,  Live-  called squirrelfish in English or  They have hard fins and are  in the water where they can
                                         stock, and Fisheries, known  scientifically known as Holo-  always armed. Over at our  hide. Although they prefer to

                                         as  Santa  Rosa,  offers  this  centrus adscensionis.     sister  island  Curaçao,  they  hunt for food at night, they
                                         informative  article  that  il-                           are  called  "bari  di  clabo"  are  also  active  during  the
                                         lustrate some fish and their  Under  candelchi,  we  in  (nail barrel) for that reason.  day.  They  are  edible  and
                                         names in Papiamento.         Aruba generally refer to all                              delicious  when  prepared
                                                                      the different species of squir-  In our waters, there are 7 to 8  dry  and  crispy  with  lime.  It
                                         Candelchi, Squirrelfish, Ho-  relfish. They all look alike and  types or species present and  is particularly challenging to
                                         locentrus adscensionis:      it's really difficult to distinguish  they are sometimes caught  scale the fish, which is why
                                         Candelchi actually refers to  between them.               and seen occasionally. They  it is not one of the favorites
                                         the entire squirrelfish family                            can be distinguished by dif-  among fishermen. They often
                                         or, as some say, when we say  The squirrelfish family is dis-  ferent marks such as color on  live in groups.q
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