The start of this adventure wasn’t exactly a fairytale: I was met with a monsoon, as if Aruba were warning me from day one that nothing here would be what I expected. To begin with, if a few months earlier someone had asked me to place the island on a map, I probably would have misplaced my little pin in a game of Trivial Pursuit. And yet, the stars aligned so that I ended up spending an entire year here. The first thing I did, of course, was search Aruba on Google. Once here, in this corner of the Caribbean facing the coast of Venezuela, I immediately felt that what I was discovering bore little resemblance to online searches. That’s why I decided to tell the destination from my own viewpoint and, in the process, reclaim a kind of photography that I’m passionate about. Aruba hosts many things, but they’re like gold nuggets—hard to uncover. I’ve managed to find them thanks to wonderful people I’ve crossed paths with along this journey.
Nature and Conservation in Paradise
One of them is Elisa, the sustainability lead of Bucuti & Tara, one of Aruba’s most sustainable hotels. Elisa works on the GMC Nature Preserve conservation program and, with the help of friends and hotel guests, they organize tree-planting days. They’re not doing badly: they have planted more than 500 native species.
My connection with nature inevitably grew as the project progressed. I still recall one of the best moments there, that sunrise from the Arikok Nature Reserve alongside Edeline, head of the Aruba Conservation Foundation. You can’t understand Aruba without visiting this unique place in the world: desert, volcanic rock, giant cacti, natural pools, and caves with paintings from the Arawak peoples who lived on the island before colonization. If I talk about unforgettable sunrises, I can’t forget the one at Hooiberg, a hill in the center of Aruba that, being surrounded by plains, gives the impression of being one of the island’s highest points (in reality, it only has 500 steps to the top).
My first swim in Aruba’s Caribbean was at Mangel Halto. Its beach, together with Arashi’s, is among the best areas for snorkeling and, if you’re lucky, you might spot a turtle there. From there you can also see small islands formed by coral reefs that, although not a tourist draw, are very important to their inhabitants (if you get a chance, kindly ask a fisherman to take you over in exchange for a few florins). Mangel Halto is the typical spot for fishermen, divers, and local families. It’s quite common to see lines of cars in front of the beach with good music, food, and cold beer.
