CARIBBEAN ARUBA DESTINATIONS I


t’s a good thing Pinto knows where he’s going. Setting off


from the rather ominously named Rancho Notorious, the chestnut- and-blond piebald horse picks his way expertly along the stony ground, while I focus all my efforts on not falling off. In fact, I’m concentrating so


hard on just staying in the saddle, that I barely notice the landscape shift – gone are the big boulders and even the slightest hint of green, and suddenly we’re in wide open plains that would look more at home in the Wild West or some vast Argentinian estancia, than a beach-


fringed Caribbean island. This northern region is all


parched, rust-coloured ground peppered with towering San Pedro cacti, bulbous prickly pears and devil’s head cacti with their telling crown of scarlet spikes. The air is gritty with dust, and


there’s nothing but the sound of the horses’ hooves against the ground as we plod along, single file, behind our guide Nestor ‘The Cowboy’ Mendoza. Then the breeze picks up, carrying the sound of waves crashing in the distance, before the desert gives way to the sight of water, and we’re riding parallel to the shore, pulling up


at secluded bay Boca di Pos di Nord. Now this is the Aruba I was expecting. Our half-day horse riding trip


takes us past the terracotta- roofed Alto Vista Chapel, where Aruba’s first church was built in 1750, but it’s the vast, arid landscapes that stay in the mind, proving this is no ordinary island.


w ARIKOK NATIONAL PARK It has all the beautiful golden sands you’d expect of the Caribbean – from Baby Beach with its inches-deep shallow waters, to Flamingo Beach, which comes with a resident flock – but this is also an island that devotes


a fifth of its land to the wilds of Arikok National Park. With nearly 50 miles of hiking


trails and seven species of cacti, the park feels a world away from the coast, although it does boast lofty lookout Miramar, where it’s possible to see the sea in both directions. Guests must pay a conservation


fee of $11 on entry, and can reserve a free guided hike if they book at least a day ahead. Nature rules the roost here


– look for the bright blue flash of an Aruban whiptail lizard, or the slithering body of an Aruban cat-eyed snake, both endemic species – but the park also


14 September 2017 travelweekly.co.uk 51


FAST FACT


KLM flies to Aruba, via Amsterdam, from 16 UK airports or fly via the US with American Airlines or Delta


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