We start at the Local TV sender, TeleAruba in Pos Chiquito, and from there we start the hiking along the Spanish lagoon and go upstairs to the old bridge and have the view of the begging of the Spanish lagoon
After passing the new bridge under, then we hike along the Spanish lagoon mangrove trail. We will pass along one of the oldest Aloe Farms at the top before we head back down to meet the trail again. At that point, you will see one of the 7 shell middens located at the Spanish Lagoon that has been carbon-dated between 1465 - 1280 BC Proceeding inland along the mangrove trail you will see quite different flora and fauna as this is our only inland water area on the island. You will also see a point in the trail where they loaded the barges with the gold to take out to the ships over 100 years ago. At the end of this amazing trail we will pass by the protected “Shoco” nest area. If we are very lucky and very quiet we can see these amazing creatures. Aruba’s national symbol is the Shoco. This burrowing owl is only found in Aruba and is the most photogenic animal on the planet. A true pleasure to see.
We visit the ruins of the Old Balashi Gold Smelter Ruins. Right next to the old French men's pass. There is a great story of the haunted Frenchman’s Pass that you will hear first as it is located next to the head waters. Then we will show you the old ruins of the Balashi Gold smelter. Much it is still there to see. From there we will hike up along the ridge overlooking the whole Spanish Lagoon area. Best spots for your vacation sightseeing pictures. The Bushiribana smelter was built in 1825 by the Aruba Island Gold Mining Company to extract gold from the ore that was being mined in the nearby hills of Ceru Plat. It operated for ten years. The site has beautiful views and rich history also a great view of the Spanish Lagoon
I did the Spanish Lagoon tour and I was very impressed. My guide, Enzon, was professional, well prepared, and clearly knows the area very well. He answered all my questions and shared plenty of useful information about the trail, the beaches, and the surroundings. I had a sprained ankle, and he adapted the pace and was considerate throughout, which I really appreciated. Highly recommended.
It was a great hike. Excellent guide!
Enzon was a great guide. Picked us up at our resort and gave us a personal tour. Saw 3 owls which was a highlight of our trip. Enzon spotted a boa in a tree branch above our trail and krpt us safe.
Mick was our knowledgeable & patient guide. We learned a lot about cacti, mangrove trees, fish, & birds. Highlights were burrowing owls, bare eyed pigeons, and sampling red cactus fruit. Highly recommend this tour & tour guide.
Since I live on Aruba as a pensionado (2017) the wetland Spanish Lagoon has become one of my favorite nature spots to visit. It's incredible how many different animals live in the small area, especially birdwatchers will be delighted. I highly recommend to visit the Spanish Lagoon before sunrise and then experience how nature awakes, often with a wonderfully colored sky. Keep in mind that it can be very hot when you walk in the sun, use special lotion.
The hike was very calm and didn’t require much effort besides a few small areas. Our tour guide Jason was very kind and knowledgeable on the native history and names for everything we saw. Overall, the experience was great and I would recommend it if you are on the fence with it.
We went on a nature hike and finally got to see Shoco Owls! I wasn't expecting to see so much wildlife or learn so much about plants and the Island history.
Early morning pick up with Meck?? (Spelling). Very charming and entertaining professional and knowledgeable guide. Amazing sights and sounds of the area and tons of early morning birds including and owl. Meck made the tour for us most enjoyable. A great early morning learning experience.
Hiking tour and appropriate comfortable clothing and bug spray important. Binoculars if available could also be helpful.
We had a wonderful hike through the Mangrove forest and the mine ruins. Jorge was a wonderful guide! We hiked with kids ages 8 & 6. The 6 year old was a bit tired, and required an occasional piggy back ride. Our 8 year old walked the entire way. Closed toed shoes are a must! I highly recommend bug spray which we forgot! This was an incredible morning seeing the wonderful nature of aruba including cactus fruit!
Aruba Nature Adventure Tours was an incompetent disgrace that made the Spanish Lagoon and Mangrove Trail Half-Day Hike with Private Guide as unpleasant as it could possibly be. We paid $200, albeit through Viator as middle company, for this hike. On our way to the rendezvous point for the hike, we called the point person at Aruba Nature Adventures. He told us that nobody was there to meet the us, the hike customers, at the appointed 7:15 a.m. time and hung up on us. How do you not know the day, time, and location that your paying customers are scheduled for the hike and make preparations for this?! After Aruba Nature Adventures hung up on us and we turned our cab around to go back to our hotel, then their man called us back and wanted to reschedule for another day. After some back and forth about that, he later said he had someone to guide us on the hike, after all. We then had to turn the cab around YET AGAIN, to meet at the rendezvous point! Thankfully, Rambo, our guide, who later said he was called in on spur of the moment on his day off, was the MAJOR high point of the hike. He was AMAZING and only his wonderful guidance through this made the hike worth it! He knew every animal, tree, bush, shrub, rock, river, lake, fish, and path in the park, as well as the history, back story, and entire life story of them all, too! He went beyond the call of duty in not just his knowledge, help and making the hike as easy as possible for us (this was an intermediate level hike); but he also went out of his way to drive us to the main Oranjestad Bus Station after our hike. So, although our marvelous guide, Rambo, would get more than 5 stars, if possible, this company Aruba Nature Adventure Tours would get ZERO stars! All the initial rudeness and back and forth was too much problematic inconvenience for us as customers. I would not recommend Aruba Nature Adventures to my worst enemy. The company is bad. Avoid it like the plague.
Rambo, our tour guide, was the major high point of the tour. He went beyond the call of duty in not just his knowledge, help and making the hike as easy as possible for us, and this was an intermediate level hike. He also went out of his way to drive us to the main Oranjestad Bus Station after our hike. Aruba Nature Adventure Tours was an incompetent disgrace that made this hike as unpleasant as it could possibly be. Only Rambo’s wonderful guidance through this saved Aruba Nature Adventures in our hike. We paid $200, albeit through Viator as middle company, for this hike. On our way to the rendezvous point for the hike, we called the point person at Aruba Nature Adventures. He told us that nobody was there to meet the tour customers at the appointed 7:15a.m. time and hung up on us. How do you not know the day, time and location that your paying customers are scheduled for the hike and make preparations for this? After Aruba Nature Adventures hung up on us and we turned our cab around, then their man called us back and scheuled Rambo, on his day off, to guide us on the hike. This was too much problematic inconvenience for us as customers. I would not recommend Aruba Nature Adventures to my worst enemy. The company is bad. Avoid it like the plague.
Through our hotel, we booked a private tour with Jorge that included the Spanish Lagoon/mangrove but also the Bushiribana gold mill ruins, and the natural bridge. Jorge's passion for ecology and conservation was clear and gave us context for our stay in Aruba. The resort area is nice but manicured and not what the "real" Aruba is naturally. Jorge was very knowledgeable about native plants, birds, and history. I highly recommend his company and his tour!
The tour company reached out to us that they had to cancel our Friday tour, but offered a refund or a tour on Saturday. So, we chose Saturday. I'm so glad we did! We met down by TeleAruba and it was my husband and I with guide Jorge and Phillip came along (as training?) Both were charming, and knowledgeable. You meet at 7:30am and when I woke up, it was hard to get myself moving, I was wondering if I'd regret signing up for a lagoon tour so early, but it was worth it! It was a beautiful little hike in an unfamiliar part of Aruba. We saw lots of birds, and animals including the burrowing owl. The guides shared nature, geologic, and historical information throughout the walk. It requires the mildest amount of scampering over some downed trees, and ducking under canopy, but overall if you're in even fairly decent you will be fine! This was a very nice morning, and I'm so glad we went!
Jorge did a great tour for us, an easy walk exploring the lush lagoon and a gold mining site. We saw lots of lizards, birds, and found a fossil. He is a knowledgeable guide and an interesting entrepreneur, fun to talk to at lunch.
Jorge was so knowledgeable and made this hike absolutely wonderful. We absolutely recommend it. It made us discover a little know part of the island. We so many different birds and the mangrove trail is so different.
We took a break from the great beaches in Aruba to learn more about the island. Jorge, our private guide was amazing, passionate, dedicated, enthusiastic and extremely personable and knowledgeable. He took great care of us the entire time. We saw a part of Aruba that otherwise we would not have experienced. Jorge picked us up from our hotel. Then, we took a leisurely and very pleasant hike through the mangrove area, got to see close by the high cactuses, the Shoco bird, migratory flocks, crabs, the ruins of the gold mining area and more. We drove to the north shore of the island and ended the tour with a delicious lunch on the beach at Ricardo's. The views were incredible ! Truly a memorable tour, highly recommended !
Rambo was our guide for our Spanish lagoon hike. He has worked many years as a park ranger and he is clearly knowledgeable and passionate about the history and nature of Aruba. We saw many beautiful birds including three adorable shocos. Some fruit and waters were included and lunch at Ricardo’s was great too. Jorge picked us up to and from our hotel and to the restaurant and we enjoyed chatting with him. This company clearly cares about nature and I hope they continue to grow and do well! This was a different activity than the typical activities in Aruba (which we also did some of those) and one you will enjoy if you are a nature lover!
An amazing tour of the mangroves and Spanish ruins made this a memorable day of our vacation. Our private guide Jorge was fabulous, very informative and personable. We ended the tour with a sit down lunch overlooking eagle beach! We highly recommend booking your excursion with Aruba Nature explorers.
This experience was the highlight of our trip. To be able to get out into nature and enjoy the peaceful trails, learn about the local history, vegetation and wildlife was a real treat. Jorge was so friendly, knowledgeable and simply enjoyable to be around. My husband and I really enjoyed our half day experience. The lunch on the beach to cap off the day was fantastic as well. Highly recommend.
Our favorite part was Jorge - our guide. He was fun, enlightening and ready to share his life, his love of Aruba, and his enthusiasm in general. Jorge listened to our interests and made sure to share the special delights of the Spanish Lagoon hike from the birds and plants to the history of the island. We had a delightful lunch as well. Not to be outdone of course was the ability to walk through the center of a mangrove area and see the Shoco owl as well as through the cactus scrub area and visit the gold mining site. This hike was exactly what we hoped we would have - off the beaten track, lots of birds and animals alike. Thank you again for the highlight of our trip to Aruba! Mark and Pat
It was a total pleasure going on this hike. Nancy is very knowledgeable of many topics from flora & fauna to history and much more and gave us much interesting information. I would definitely recommend going with Nancy on any hike!!
I'm a local and it was wonderful to discover this part of our beautiful Island. Was super peaceful and our guide was amazing. Definitely worth exploring!
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