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Spanish Lagoon Mangrove Trail: A Half-Day Exploration with Private Guide
4.5
13 Ratings
Savaneta
Embark on a half-day exploration of the Spanish Lagoon Mangrove Trail with a private guide. Discover the ruins of an old gold smelter and the haunted Frenchman’s Pass while learning about the history of this rarely visited part of the island. Visit the Shoco nests and enjoy a delicious lunch at Ricardo’s restaurant on Eagle Beach.
Duration:
3 hours
Cancellation:
1 day
learn more
Highlights
- Pos Chiquito - 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
- 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.
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Balashi Gold Mill Ruins - 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
What's Included
- Private Tour Guide
- Water during the tour
What's Not Included
- Tour guide Tips :)
Additional Information
You are invited to hike with us along the Spanish Lagoon Mangrove Trail inland to the headwaters where you will find the ruins of the old gold smelter neighboring the haunted Frenchman’s Pass. Well-informed and enjoyably personal guides will lead you along this mangrove-laced trail while explaining all there is to know about this rarely visited part of our island. Archaeologists have recently carbon-dated various shell middens as far back as 1465 BC as Spanish Lagoon was a principal area of exploration by the Archaic Amerindian first arrivals from Venezuela.
After exploring the old Balashi Gold Smelter Ruins, we will take you to visit the “Shoco” nests. The Shoco Athene Aunicularia Arubensis is our renowned burrowing owl.
Location
TeleAruba
We will start the tour down at pos Chiquito and park at our Local TV station TeleAruba and from there we will start our tour. You should be available 15 min before the tour starts at 7:30 am.
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.5
(13 Ratings)
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Savtrav500
Mar 17, 2024
Best way to see the beautiful, natural Aruba - 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!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mike_s
Feb 12, 2024
A very memorable morning tour with private guide! - 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!
Review provided by Viator
B1545tfalanm
Apr 3, 2023
Mangrove magic - 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.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Colette
Feb 24, 2023
Awesome!! - 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.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mircea12345
Dec 11, 2022
Amazing day in Aruba's nature - 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 !
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Travelinglibrarian8
Aug 30, 2022
Great nature hike and lunch! - 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!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Go780994
May 1, 2022
Perfect day hiking the mangroves - 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.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kristyn
Apr 17, 2022
Great break from the beach crowds - 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.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Robert_p
Jun 19, 2024
Aruba Nature Adventure Tours is horrible! - 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.
Review provided by Viator
Thehitchhiker2
Jun 19, 2024
an unorganized, incompetent disgrace - 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.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
