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The Guadirikiri Caves

Aruba Attractions

If you love ancient history, natural wonders, nature, and cave exploration then while your vacationing and site seeing in Aruba visits the Guadirikiri Caves. Located inside the Arikok National Park it is nestled back into among the jagged cliffs on the outer edge of the park. Cave exploration can be fun and educational for children and grown ups alike.

Now the cave chamber extends around one hundred feet and has two natural chambers that allow the sun to beam down over the ancient primitive drawings that have been know to date back to the time of Christopher Columbus.

It's both amazing and fascinating to behold these early Indian pieces of art that's engraved in the walls of this cave. You will hear the ancient story of a forbidden love that was denied by a native tribal chief who did not approve of his daughters chosen love. As the story goes, the tribal chief did not approve of his daughters love for this man and he locked them both away in the cave to die. After their death, their rebellious spirits broke through the top of the cave and soared toward the heavens. The glimmer of light that shines down through the cave today is where these spirits are said to have burst through still defying the wishes of the tribal chef, by still being together even after death.

Now the Caribbean was filled with Pirates and during the 18th century pirates raided and plundered Aruba and perhaps this cave may hold their hidden treasures. In fact, the Dutch built Fort Zoutman in 1796 to protect Aruba from these thieving pirates. No one knows if the pirates hid treasure on this island but it would be wonderful to accidentally trip over one.

So who were these Indians that painted there stories in the Guadirikiri Caves?

Well it's believed that the Arawak Indians migrated originally from the eastern slopes of the Andes and made their way down the mighty Amazon River to Venezuela and on to the Antilles and on to Aruba among other places. Leaving their tales and stories still seen today in the Guadirikiri Caves of Aruba. These Indians were the only inhabitants of Aruba until 1499 when Alonso de Ojeda discovered this unique island and claimed it for Spain. Here is a great source for more information about these artists of these caves.
www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/southamerica/arawak.html
www.centralbank.an/art/expo-200109/main.htm

Today, the Guadirikiri Cave is home to several small fruit bats. They are very harmless but can give you a scare if you are not prepared for their quick darting around. Outside the entrance to the cave is a concession stand that is open from 10am to 6pm daily. There you can rent flashlights and even helmets if you are a little scared of these cave dwellers.

There are tours available around Aruba that will include this unique cave. At Aruba Adventure Tours you can take a jeep safari in which you can decide to rent a jeep and explore on your own with directions to all the great sights to see or one of their tour guides can drive and give you more freedom to see the sights. They also have group tours available. For more information you can contact them at Telephone: (297)-5688720 or by Fax: (297)-5859315. Their website is at http://www.arubasafari.com/.

Many visitors love using De Palm tours for all their guided tours. They have several wonderful tour packages available that will make sure everyone enjoys their vacation in Aruba. You can visit their website at http://www.depalm.com/index2.htm, or call them at the United States location at: 781-821-6016 or toll free 1-800-766-6016. Their telephone number in Aruba is Tel: 297-582-4400.

The Watapana tours offers jeep and ATV's tours that will get you up close and personal to Guadirikiri Cave. The jeep tours begin at 9am and some discounts are offered from time to time. The normal price for the jeep tour is $53.00 per person. Lunch is provided on the beach and drinks are available for the entire tour. They have two ATV tours daily for a three hour excursion. The price for these tours are for couples $90.00 with each person having their own ATV and single for $80.00. Included in the tour is free drinks and snacks, helmets, and a full tank of gasoline. For more information you can check out their website at http://www.watapanatours.com/ or contact them by telephone at (297) 835191, (297) 944545, or (297) 5678118. Their email is watapanatours@setarnet.aw.

No matter how you plan on during your stay in Aruba you will be very disappointed if you do not include a visit to Guadirikiri Cave.