Page 8 - AHATA

A8
Saturday 19 September 2020

Treasures of our national park

SANTA CRUZ — Arikok Na-
tional Park comprises al-
most 18% of the island. En-
joy gorgeous vistas of Aru-
ba’s rugged terrain, desert-
like hills filled with tall cacti,
a breathtaking coastline
and protected local flora
and fauna.

The national park Arikok
takes you on a memorable
journey of the islands past
offering unique geologi-
cal, cultural and historical
sites. These can all be en-
joyed and explored either educational and informa- as a good example of the
on your own or during guid- tive programs and fun ac- geological history of the
ed tours. A wide variety of tivities is available. You are limestone terraces. Inside
warmly invited to Arikok the cave, visitors can find
National Park and enjoy many Indian Pictographs
Aruba’s natural beauty at that date back to about
its best. Explore the park’s 1000 years. Along with the
highlights. ancient drawings, more re-
cent carvings have been
Miralamar Hills left behind by colonial visi-
A short hike from the Visitor tors some dating back to
Center brings you up to the the early 1800's.
Miralamar Hill. As you walk
to the top you follow a trail Dos Playa
lush with vegetation. At Dos Playa is one of the sea
the hilltop lays the ruins of turtle nesting site on the is-
the Miralamar Gold Mine land. At this pair of beach-
Complex. On this particular es sea turtles of all species
location mine shafts ran un- that occur on Aruba come
derground where gold was to nest. Sea turtles that nest
extracted in rock ore and on Dos Playa are Leather-
processed where it was back Turtle, Hawksbill Turtle,
transported afterwards to Green Turtles and Logger-
the Gold Smelter at Span- head Turtles. During your
ish Lagoon. visit help us protect our na-
tional park by following our
Fontein Cave rules and regulations.
This limestone cave, pop-
ularly known as Fontein For more information check
Cave, is an important ar- out their Facebook page
chaeological site as well Aruba National Park.q