The Desert Interior
Inland from the beaches, Aruba reveals a sun-baked desert of cactus, aloe fields and the wind-sculpted divi-divi trees that all lean southwest in the constant trade winds, the island's natural compass. It is a landscape that surprises first-time visitors, dry and golden and dotted with rock, and it sits just minutes from the resort strip yet feels like another island entirely.
Scattered across this arid country are the giant boulder formations of Casibari and Ayo, where you can clamber up for sweeping island views, and at the northwestern tip stands the California Lighthouse, named for a ship wrecked offshore. The climb rewards you with a panorama over dunes, sea and the whole island, and it is especially lovely at sunset, when the light turns the rock and the desert to amber.
The interior is made for exploring by jeep, UTV, ATV or on horseback, bouncing along dusty tracks past cactus and rock to ostrich farms, aloe plantations and the quiet village feel of Noord. It is a different, wilder Aruba, and we love weaving a half-day out here into a beach week to give the trip its sense of discovery.
