Page 7 - aruba-today-20231121

A7
LOCAL Tuesday 21 November 2023
Enjoy one of the best views on Aruba at the top of the Hooiberg Hill

(Oranjestad)—If you are mountain located in the ment decided to renovate the stair for a little rest. The
a regular hiker, or may- coastal state of Falcon in these stairs in 1991. This view at this resting stop is
be want to spice up your Venezuela, providing one new project delivered the also a sight to see.
morning work out session, of the best views you can newer staircase with only The best time to climb the
then you might enjoy one get on Aruba. 587 steps. However, don’t hill would be early in the
of the most popular climb- be fooled—it may still be morning or right before sun-
ing sites on the island: The located at the center dis- a work out to get on top. set, as it may not be as hot.
Hooiberg Hill. Accompa- trict of the island, Santa In addition, there is now a However, the hill is of course
nied with a 600-step stair- Cruz, the Hooiberg Hill is the gazebo placed halfway up open all day, every day.
case, this hill overlooks a second highest point on the
great part of the island, the island at 165 meters above
Caribbean sea, and some- sea level (or about 540 feet
times even the Santa Anna above sea level). The high-
est point is Jamanota Hill
at 189 meters (620 feet),
located in the Arikok Na-
tional Park. ardo Tromp constructed it.
At that time, the staircase
The staircase that run on consisted of 900 steps.
the side of the hill was first Over time, as the steps
built in 1951, when Mr. Edu- faced erosion, the govern-

Lessons from our elders:

Plants and fruits for medicinal use (part 2)

(Oranjestad)—In last themselves, mostly be- pomegranate skins are make a drink and this can
week’s edition, we shared cause of how easy it was said to have a few benefits be used for irritated gums;
with our readers some me- to do so. Cut the end of a for our health. According just take a swig and let the
dicinal use for plants and sweet potato let it sit in shal- to customs, pomegranate tea sit in your mouth for a
fruits, passed down from low water until it starts to skin tea can help those that couple minutes.
our elders through genera- sprout. Then you may plant suffer from diarrhea. Dried
tions. This week, we present it in the ground. Sweet po- pomegranate skin tea is Source: Remedi i Kustum-
two more uses of fruits and tatoes need plenty of wa- also good for people who ber di nos Bieunan (Medi-
plants for medicinal use. ter to grow, especially in grow into a tree. have worms. Pomegranate cine and Customs of our
the first week in the ground. In terms of medicinal use, flowers can be boiled to Elderly) by Dinah Veeris
Sweet potato It was said that once you
According to our elders, start to notice the ground
sweet potato is mostly use- crack underneath the flow-
ful for low blood pressure. ers, it is time to harvest. This
People who suffer from low should happen around
blood pressure were ad- month 3.
vised to eat sweet potato 2
to 3 times a week. Howev- Pomegranate
er, if you have high blood Pomegranates are also
pressure, it is best not to eat one of the easier fruits to
too much sweet potato, as plant and harvest. Origi-
this raises blood pressure. nated from Persia, this
Sweet potatoes are also plant can grow almost ev-
great for people who work erywhere. In Aruba, there
hard labor jobs, and it’s are many homes that have
been said to be aid blood a tiny or big pomegranate
circulation in the body, tree. You may be wonder-
as well as help those with ing what the difference is
hemorrhoids or diarrhea. between a small and big
pomegranate tree, for
Many of our elders opted which the answer is based
to plant sweet potatoes on harvest time. Tiny trees
produce tinier pomegran-
ates that can be harvest-
ed early on. Contrarily,
big trees produce bigger
pomegranates, but they
need enough time to fully
ripen before harvesting,
otherwise you might end
up with bitter seeds. Pome-
granate trees are also very
easy to plant. In essence,
if you just throw the seeds
on the ground, they could