At 8am, the heat was already rising as my taxi dropped me off at the Arikok Park Visitor Centre in northern Aruba. When you think of the Caribbean, you might picture lounging on white sandy beaches with a rum punch in hand. While I had enjoyed plenty of that, today was about exploring a different side of the island. I was set to hike through Aruba’s sandy paths, weaving between spiky cacti, past cave paintings, and giant boulders.

My guide, Stanson, met me at the Visitor Centre, an impressive hardwood and glass building constructed in 2008. This centre provides information about hiking in Aruba, the local flora and fauna, and much-needed air conditioning. It’s the starting point for hikes in Arikok National Park and is easily accessible. However, the park’s speed bumps make it easier to navigate with a four-wheel-drive vehicle.

Stanson, a student volunteering as a park ranger, was enthusiastic and knowledgeable. We started on the Cunucu trail, an easy path perfect for first-time visitors. This circular route from the Visitor Centre takes about two hours to complete. The ground was unusually damp from overnight rain showers, the first decent rain in three years.

Aruba’s hot and arid climate creates a distinctive landscape covered with prickly trees and cacti adapted to survive the lack of water. Within the park, a few hills offer viewpoints over the island. Our path took us past Sero Arikok at 185 meters, where there’s an air traffic control beacon and a trail leading to the well-known Conchi or Natural Pool on the coast, a popular attraction in Aruba.

When the park was established, locals already used trails to ride horses or donkeys to the Miralamar gold mines. These trails were later cleared and marked with stones to create hiking paths. The Cunucu Arikok trail was an easy, level walk on sandy paths. Although I enjoy challenging hikes in the Alps, I appreciated the gentle stroll in the rising heat, allowing me to take in the natural landscape.

Stanson warned me about the Bringamosa plant, which he described as “like poison ivy on steroids.” It can make your skin burn and itch for several days. The best antidote is to pour alcohol over your skin or rub it with the Seida plant, which looks similar to Bringamosa.

A more pleasant discovery was the Turk’s cap cactus, a spiky ball topped with a felt-like cap containing bright pink berries. These berries, known as Bushi or Bush fruit, can be carefully pulled from their furry enclosure and eaten. They look like tiny pink peppers with little black seeds inside.

As we continued along the trail, we stepped aside for a group of mountain bikers. The park has a few challenging trails, with a new one opened a couple of years ago by the Trails for Life project as part of their “Good for the Neighbourhood” community scheme. High school students constructed a new hiking and biking trail that reaches the Natural Pool.

The trail narrowed, hemmed in by huge boulders that seemed to have been dropped by a playful giant. Here, we saw cave paintings left by the Caquetío Indians, traced in red and white pigment. I could make out an iguana and a bird with outspread wings, an image used in the Arikok National Park logo. There are more paintings in the Quadirikiri and Fontein caves on the other side of the park. These larger caves contain stalactites, stalagmites, and a colony of bats, which are important pollinators for Aruba’s plants and flowers.

Throughout the hike, Stanson pointed out various flora and fauna. I saw the Wayaka tree, also known as Evergreen, which never has brown leaves. This tree survives on deep underground water reservoirs and grows very slowly, perhaps an inch each year. A tree that’s 2-3 meters tall may be around 300 years old.

The park’s cacti come in all shapes and sizes, from tangled thickets to elegant lone cacti framed against the sky. Stanson explained that just as tourism is an economic pillar on Aruba, cacti are the ecological pillar. They provide prickly pear fruit, a main food source for many birds on the island. To conserve water, cacti have shared root systems that spread underground over a wide area. Eventually, a cactus may get too heavy and topple over, but its dried wood can be used to construct frames for old-style adobe houses.

We occasionally spotted birds in the trees, such as the Bananaquit with its bright yellow breast, the blue-tailed Emerald hummingbird, and the Ruby-topaz hummingbird. The Burrowing Owl, or Shoco, is the national bird of Aruba. It buries its eggs deep in the ground, and the chicks dart around to catch insects and small lizards once they are old enough.

At the end of the trail, we reached an old Adobe house, enclosed by a trankera or fence made of cactus plants and a tranchi stone wall. This traditional form of enclosure provides security, fruit, and a haven for wildlife. The house is a replica of an older building destroyed in a hurricane and has been restored to show how a traditional homestead would have looked on Aruba. It’s constructed with a cactus wood frame smeared with a mixture of mud, sand, clay, and saltwater, known as Torto. Inside, we saw a kitchen area with a cooking platform and a stone mortar for grinding meal.

Our circular route took us back to the Visitor Centre. We passed a tree that looked bare and lifeless, but Stanson explained that in Aruba’s arid landscape, every plant has its own survival tricks. After rain, trees like this one quickly flower and fruit, attracting iguanas from miles around.

We also saw plenty of Aloe plants, another economic driver on the island before oil refining and mining. Aloe is known for its cooling and healing properties, and some species provide sugary syrup and fiber for making rope.

By now, we had completed the Cunucu trail and returned to the Visitor Centre. I was thankful for the cool air conditioning and refreshed myself with a drink. Later, I headed back to my hotel with its pool and views over Eagle Beach. My morning in Arikok National Park offered a fascinating insight into Aruba’s landscapes and natural world, far removed from the tourist beaches and bars. I’m glad I went for that hike and discovered a different side of Aruba.

Aruba is small, so it’s easy to get to the Arikok National Park Visitor Centre by hire car or taxi. The taxi ride was about 30 minutes from my hotel at Eagle Beach and even closer from Oranjestad or San Nicholas. The park is open daily from 8am to 4pm, and I recommend arriving early to avoid hiking in the heat. Wear a sunhat and take plenty of water. You can hike the easier trails in trainers and shorts, but for more advanced trails, boots and long trousers are advisable.

The park entrance fee supports the maintenance of roads, trails, and infrastructure. You can book a Park Ranger as a guide for free, but you need to book at least a day in advance. Rangers are also available at the Visitor Centre and around the park for advice and information. I highly recommend booking a Park Ranger, as their knowledge of the flora and fauna will enhance your experience. However, the Cunucu trail is easy to follow and doesn’t require special guidance. More demanding trails in the park may require basic climbing skills and ropes, so these are best taken with a guide.