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local Friday 17 January 2025

Visit the island’s popular cave sites!

(Oranjestad)—Among the endless sea of dark of the cave. This is why the cave has two holes
brown sand and cacti, there are two caves hid- through which sunlight passes through to illumi-
den in the outskirts of San Nicolas, in the north- nate the chamber.
eastern area of the island. These caves, The
Quadiriki cave and The Fontein Cave are open Though there have been discoveries of Amer-
to visitors of the Arikok National Park, so if you indian drawing on the wall, these have mostly
ever decide to take an “off-road” tour in the been ruined by vandalism. However, the Fon-
park, be sure to visit these prehistoric caves… tein Cave further up north, provides a better
and be sure to bring a flashlight! glimpse in prehistoric Amerindian paintings.

Quadirikiri Cave Fontein Cave
Known for its two chambers accompanied by Longer than the Quadirikiri Cave, the Fontein
a skylight, the Quadikiri Cave is the most popu- Cave contains pathways that stretch to the
lar cave among locals and tourists, as it is easy limestone walls further down. Here is also where
to walk through and provides great lighting for prehistoric drawings can be seen. Though this
pictures. cave does not have its own legend, this was
speculated to have been occupied—or at
As with all prehistoric or ancient sites, there is al- least used by prehistoric Arawak settlers on the
ways a folk legend that adds to the lore and island for rituals and other spiritual ceremonies.
mystery of the site. The Quadirikiri cave is no dif-
ferent. The most well-known legend behind the The Huliba Cave/ Tunnel of Love
cave could be considered as Aruba’s first love The Huliba Cave, formerly known as the Tunnel
story, as it tells the tale of the undying love be- of Love, was once open to the public, and was
tween the chief’s daughter and her beloved. the biggest and most accessible of all three
As legend would have it, the chief disapproved caves. This cave had five chambers, including
of his daughter’s choice of lover, as he thought one that is heart-shaped. This cave had narrow
him unworthy. Stubborn and filled with anger, stairs that led to long pathways deep into the
the daughter refused to turn away her beloved. cave, with a staircase leading to the exit on the
other side. In one of the chambers, there used
So, the chief decided to lock her up in the to be the carving of the Virgin Mary, put there
Quadirikiri Cave, in hopes that she would soon for the protection of the cave.
calm down and turn away her lover. Her be-
loved, in turn, was locked away in the Tunnel of However, the Huliba Cave has been perma-
Love (Now known as the Huliba Cave). nently closed for a few years now, as a way
to preserve the bat population that lives in the
Through the pathways underneath the Tunnel cave. These Long Tongue Fruit Bats and Insect
of Love running up to the Quadiriki cave, the Eater Bats are very important to the ecosystem Do note that these caves are very dark, humid,
two love bird found each other, and refused to of the island. Though this cave is no longer ac- hot, and are inhabited by bats. Do wear com-
let each other go. Because of their stubborn- cessible to the public, it surely is interesting to fortable clothing and shoes, as the pathways
ness, they both died in the Quadiriki Cave, their learn more about the history of these caves and in these caves may be rough and bumpy, and
ascending spirits burning two holes in the ceiling the Awarak tribes that resided or utilized them. don’t forget to bring a flashlight!q