Rugged Beauty

Covering nearly a fifth of the island’s surface, Arikok National Park showcases Aruba’s stunning diversity of flora and fauna, including many of the island’s 200+ species of domestic and migratory birds. You’re likely to cross paths with turquoise lizards, iguanas, wild goats and donkeys, as well as its other land-loving inhabitants. The park features unusual geological formations, including giant boulders, natural bridges and pools, gaping caverns, and other-wordly coral rock facades. It is also home to archeological sites, ranging from an abandoned gold smelter to centuries-old rock and cave paintings left by the Caquetio Indigenous peoples.

The Visitor’s Center complex, built with South American hardwood, has a large wrap-around veranda that makes an idyllic setting for an outdoor group event, overlooking breathtaking vistas of Aruba’s desert-like hillsides, dotted with small flowers amid expanses of wiry trees and towering cacti. If the view leaves them itching for more, hikes, horseback rides and guided jeep ours can also be arranged to help your group further explore the park’s nearly 8,000 acres of rugged terrain.