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LOCAL Monday 11 noveMber 2024

The legend of the Kibrahacha tree

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

Aruba to me

For today we received a lovely message from Bruce A.
Bennett from Hawthorne, New Jersey, USA.

He wrote to us saying: “Aruba to me is spectacular sun-
sets.”

Thank you for sending us this wonderful message sharing
what Aruba means to you with us and our readers!q

ORANJESTAD — You are back and we give permission to The Aruba Today News-
would like to portrait you! By inviting you paper, Caribbean Speed Printers and any
to send us your favorite vacation picture of its affiliated companies to use said ma-
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