Cacti, Dust and Birds

This morning we headed off in the jeep to explore the island. The concierge was pushing the jeep tour, but we are really more into doing our own thing. So, we had our own tour of the island. Much more comical, and most likely, much more interesting to us. We headed off to find Arikok National Park. Now, you would think an island which has set aside a lot of land as a park would want people to find it, right? Well, Arubans don't seem to be into signs. But we finally stumbled across some hand-made signs along the road leading us to the park. There, we talked to a ranger in a trailer, who gave us a map and tried to give us advice, but wasn't much help to us, as we were interested in hiking, not seeing the caves or the museum. We did end up going to one cave, but couldn't even find the museum... We wandered up the rutted dirt road to a parking area. Snowman was a crazy driving fool, bouncing me around, but really did a great job. We wandered down a well-constructed path through the cacti and dry, dry desert land. It was hot. Really hot. We did a bit of running, and a bit of hiking, as we meandered on, scaring up all the lizards around us, enjoying the cacti, the breeze and the views. Also saw a few groups of wild goats, and some really cool birds!

After our run, we headed on towards the caves on the other side of the island. The road was pretty gnarly in parts, but absolutely passable. Still, we were glad we had the jeep. We passed one couple in something that looked like a Corolla. They did not seem to be enjoying the ride as much! Also passed a group of ATV/Dunebuggy riders on a tour. Cool. Still, as noted, we were happy to be on our own. After a quick tour of the small cave, we decided to stop at the middle-of-nowhere bar/restaurant/souvenir stand for some lunch. The breeze off the ocean, just a 1/4 mile away, kept us cool as we ate a really good lunch for a random stop on the quiet side of the island!

We then headed on, getting lost here and there, but still essentially on course, until Baby Beach, where we shed our shirts and jumped into the turquoise waters. Gorgeous! And a nice bathwater temperature. Perfect.

We got a bit off course again as we crossed back over to the other side of the island to see the Natural Bridge. Well, the bridge has collapsed, so not much to see there, but at least the drive was cool. On our way back into town, I got a bit overheated and demanded that Snowman stop and get me icecream. Luckily, we passed a Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins and I was saved :-)

All in all, a hot, dusty day, but a great adventure!

For those flora and fauna buffs out there, we've seen: Tropical Mockingbirds everywhere, many sparrows, carib grackle, one Babnanaquit, two Crested Caracara in the park, many Troupial, lots of great black-headed gulls and one great egret down by Baby Beach. Not to mention lots of lizards and iguanas, and many, many cacti.