Page 12 - HOH

Thursday 16 OcTOber 2025 locAl
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The legend of the Kibrahacha tree

ORANJESTAD—The Kibrahacha is a famous tree Kudawecha. Upon telling Kudawecha that her
known locally for its bright, yellow flowers that father was sick, he immediately accompanied
blooms for just three days. Scientifically known Aretima back to her hut, where he encoun-
as Tabebuia billbergii, and in English as the Yel- tered her father in a bad state. Not willing to
low Poui, this tree is native to the Caribbean waste any time, he told Aretima that the only
islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao, and is thing that can cure her father is a home-made
considered among locals as one of the most potion made out of the Kibrahacha flower.
spectacular trees on the island. But did you also At the time the Kibrahacha was not yet in her
know that the beautiful yellow flowers have a blooming season, but the stubborn Kudawe-
story behind them? cha was determined to bring back Aretima’s
father back to health, and so off they went to
The Kibrahacha is said to have extremely hard the nearest Kibrahacha tree.
wood—so hard that it can break an axe. In
fact, that’s what its name means in Papiamen- When they arrived at the tree, they saw that it
to: “kibra” (break) “hacha” (axe). The flowers was covered head to toe in thorns, with only a
bloom around April and May, but this only last few closed flowers at the very top. Kudawecha,
for about three days, as the flowers start to fall experienced veteran in all things Aruban flora
off and the tree starts growing its green leaves. and fauna, told Aretima to start plucking the
The Kibrahacha is especially particular, as it’s thorns of the tree to climb to the top where the
the only one among its neighboring trees to flowers are. Aretima, just as determined to save
starts blooming first. her father, didn’t hesitate to start.
er quickly made a tea out of the flowers and
The legend of the Kibrahacha To her surprise, every time she plucked a thorn gave it to her sick husband. Miraculously, after
Written by Hubert (Lio Booi) of the tree, a bright, yellow flower bloomed in just one sip of the tea, the father’s fever left his
its place. The thorns were hard to pluck out, but body immediately, and he opened eyes and
One day Aterima, who lived west of the hill Sero Aretima continued plucking with enthusiasm sprung up feeling new.
Warawara, woke up one day to find her father and wonder at the unfolding sight before her.
sleeping in his hammock, suffering a bout of ter- Not too long after she was able to fill her entire The next morning, they all visited the same
rible fever. Her mother was very worried, and as satchel with the yellow flowers. Kibrahacha tree that saved the life of Aretima’s
was the custom in the olden days, asked Ateri- father and they saw another miracle. The tree
ma to go fetch Kudawecha, who was a episte- Kudawecha, satisfied to see Aretima so happy was covered again in the same bright, yellow
mophile, to come see his father. and encouraged to help her father, took her flowers, with not a thorn in sight. And as the leg-
back to her hut. end goes, from that day on, the Kibrahacha
Aterima wasted to time and went to go fetch Upon arriving back at the hut, Aretima’s moth- tree no longer produced any more thorns.q

Aruba’s neighborhoods; the meaning behind their names; Ayo & Alto Vista

of discovery, where you’ll
learn not only the beautiful
names but the history be-
hind it that gives it life and
meaning.

Ayo
Ajo, or Ayo, is a word with
Arawak-Indian origin. A
(or Ha) is an Indo-Antil-
lean generalizing word.
If you were to change a
part of the word “Ayo”,
namely ‘Yo’, to ‘Yu’ and
make ‘Ayu’, it would mean
(Oranjestad)—Just like torical background and “white.”
any other country, Aruba meaning that teaches us If you’d like to know more built his by his own means
has unique and beautifully about the island and its rich However, as we now know, about the rock formations the very first chapel or
named neighborhoods that culture every day. the name of the neighbor- at Ayo, stay tuned for our church of Aruba. The walls
all form a part of its culture hood is ‘Ayo’. The word ‘Yo’ article where we tell you all of this church were made
and development. Many With this series, we want stands for Yocahu, which is about its location and his- with rocks but the roof was
of these names have a his- to take you on a journey another word for ‘creator’ tory. made of dry corn stalks. The
in Arawak/Taino and in the church was inaugurated
Papiamento spoken today, This neighborhood’s abbre- by father Pablo Algemesi
‘Ayo’ means ‘bye’. viation is; A.
If you’d like to know more
At Ayo, you can find some Alto Vista about the Alto Vista
of the most well known rock This word combination can Church’s beautiful history,
formations. These forma- be roughly translated to a stay tuned for our article
tions became a well loved ‘high point of view’ and the where we tell you all you
and visited attraction at neighborhood received need to know about it for
Aruba that is held in high this name from the Hill. when you visit it.
regards by both tourists
and locals alike. In the surrounding areas, This neighborhood’s abbre-

DomingoAntonia Silvestre viation is; AV.q