Page 19 - AHATA

Tuesday 27 May 2025 locAl
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National Park Arikok: Aruba’s biggest nature conservation

The National Park Arikok situated within the park. few families that worked
comprises almost 18 % of Jamanota hill 188 meters the land. These families
the island. Its rugged ter- (617 ft) and Arikok hill 176 found ways to survive in
rain, desert-like hills filled meters (577 ft), from which the difficult conditions, and
with tall cacti, breathtaking the name of the park is de- were able to erect their
coastline and protected rived. homes with materials found
local flora and fauna wel- in the area. Two of these
come you to be explored. The line of the permanently adobe houses have been
There are numerous ani- wind-and-wave beaten restored. Park rangers are
mals to discover, for ex- North Coast is broken by learning many of the old
ample the sea turtle who several bays (boca’s). Most building techniques in or-
lays his eggs on the park’s of them are small yet im- der to preserve this unique
beaches. pressive inlets at the mouth Aruban mud-house. At Cu-
of dry riverbeds. Some nucu Arikok and near Plan-
The national park Arikok of these bays (boca’s) tation Prins you can find
takes you on a memorable are spectacular sights, these adobe houses.
journey of the islands past adorned with white, sandy
offering unique geological, beaches and sand dunes, Park Management
cultural and historical sites. as is the case at Boca Prins For the management of
These can all be enjoyed and Dos Playa. the park, a dedicated
and explored either on foundation “Aruba Conser-
your own or during guided Arikok is also home to Con- vation Foundation (ACF),
tours. A wide variety of ed- chi, Aruba’s most impor- formerly known as Aruba
ucational and informative tant natural attraction; also National Park Foundation.
programs and fun activities known as The Natural Pool. This foundation was estab-
is available. The journey to the Pool is lished in July 2003. In Feb-
and adventure by itself and ruary 2017, mangrove and
Did you know that four of only possible by foot, horse, wetland RAMSAR site #198
the in total seven species ATV or 4×4 vehicle. Spanish Lagoon was an-
of sea turtle lay their eggs nexed to Arikok National
on Aruba's beaches? In Cultural and Historical Park due to its importance
the national park, a Least sand before emerging. Aruba is assigned as a Na- components as a feeding and breeding
Tern (Sternula antillarum) tional Park, to protect and There are a number of sites area for water birds and as
keeps a strict eye on a very Nature Conservation preserve the flora, fauna, within the park that attest a nursery area for a variety
special event taking place The protected area of Na- geology and historical re- to the history of Aruba. The of marine organisms. With
below on the beach: a tional Park Arikok was of- mains present within Arikok Caquetío Indians left rock this addition, the areas un-
majestic Leatherback (Der- ficially established in 2000. National Park. paintings in Cunucu Arikok der FPNA management
mochelys coriacea) heads Arikok National Park is a and Fontein Cave. The bird increased by 70 hectares
back to sea after laying her 34 square kilometers (7907 The Landscape drawing in the park logo is while the amount of spe-
eggs, while another nest acres) of natural area, lo- There is a great geological a copy of one of these his- cies of flora and fauna to
laid 2 months ago by the cated at the north-eastern variety within the park. The torical artistic expressions. be conserved to over 250.
same female hatches— part of Aruba which con- main aspects are the rough On December 21st, 2018
a very rare occurrence tains examples of most of hills of the volcanic Aruba Old plantation (Cunucus) (AB 2018 no. 77) Parke Ma-
of daytime nesting and the island’s flora and fau- lava formation, the mysteri- sites tell the story of an ac- rino Aruba – currently con-
hatching. Sea turtles pre- na against a backdrop of ous rocks of the batholithic tive yet challenging agri- sisting of four marine pro-
fer nesting in the cool and great geological complex- quartz-diorite/tonalite, and cultural past. tected areas (MPAs) – was
dark hours of the night. And ity. We are proud to state the limestone rocks from officially established and
hatchlings usually wait for that approximately 18% fossilized coral. The two These Cunucus were also subsequently brought un-
the cue of cooling surface of the total land area of tallest hills on the island are residential areas for the der management of ACF.
In 2019 management plans
will be established for the
new MPAs which include:
coral reefs, sea grass beds,
mangrove systems, a large
diversity of breeding sea-
birds. Parke Marino Aruba
also contains potential
shark nursery areas, en-
dangered sea turtle nest-
ing beaches and marine
mammal nursery areas.

Visit the National Park
Arikok to see the wonder of
Aruba’s nature. The visitor
center in San Fuego and
entrance in Vader Piet (San
Nicolas) is open daily from
8:00 AM to 15:30 PM. Con-
tact the ACF via e-mail,
info@acf.aw or call +297
585 1234 for more informa-
tion. q