Day 5

Photos of one of Aruba's famous natural landmarks, the Natural Bridge, can still be found on postcards and books all over the island, as well as on the Internet. Even the Google Earth satellite image shows the bridge. Although the formation collapsed in September 2005, it's still an interesting place to see.... and a "baby bridge" has started to form nearby. I read somewhere that it might rival the size of the original bridge in, oh, a few thousand years or so.

Our next stop was Arikok National Park. Its narrow, winding road is punctuated every couple of hundred feet by sharp dips in the pavement lined with rough rocks; probably good for draining water off the road during the short rainy season, and undeniably excellent for forcing cars to drive very slowly! We visited Fontein Cave, decorated inside by thousand-year-old Amerindian paintings, and Quadirikiri Cave, which receives light from the outside through holes in its ceiling.

We ended the day at the Casibari Rock garden... a public park and gardens surrounding a pile of huge boulders, with paths and stairways providing access to the top of the rocks.

On our last day, we went swimming (and in my case, snorkeling) one more time at Arashi Beach, on the northwest shore, then visited a factory where aloe is processed for skin care products. After that, it was time to pack and leave for the airport for our flight home.

Aruba is a beautiful country, and there are many more things to see and do than we had time for on this trip. I'd love to return some day!

Fontein Cave's paintings are protected by a fence and locked gate	Fontein is a shallow cave with a low ceiling	Mike and Marguerite at Fontein Cave
The entrance to Quadirikiri	Looking up at blue sky from deep inside the cave	Stalagmites and other rock surfaces host green plants thanks to available light
Surface plant framed in overhead opening to Quadirikiri Cave	In front of the collapsed Natural Bridge	At Casibari Rocks, the paths weren't that risky...just uneven, with few railings between you and a long drop
We encountered strong, gusty breezes every day of our trip (Mike hanging onto his hat)	Negotiating the boulder path	Mike on level ground while Marguerite enjoys boulder climbing
Cacti and trees often share space, getting completely tangled together