Aruba has fantastic beaches, great swimming & snorkeling, decent food, lovely sunset sailing cruises, shopping, diving, golf.
Many fun things to do.
No Niagara Falls, no Great Canyon, no lakes, no volcanos.
Our biggest Natural Bridge collapsed in 2005.
Visitors still pay homage to the piles of rubble its collapse left behind.
Please accept the fact that we are not BIG on landmarks.
We were not meant to be an Adventure Destination.
The few monuments/landmarks we have are often abused, and many we had, including historical cunucus, were bulldozered.
Curacao is much better at recognizing and protecting cultural heritage.
Recently I saw the five salina, Bubali, Palm Beach, Cerca, Malmok and Druif at Tierra del Sol, will be getting new management by Fundacion Parke Nacional Aruba, with investment from the Tourist Product Enhancement Fund, contributing to the creation of a new entity: The Western Wetland Project.
What will you be doing?
Sending water from RWZI to the salinas?
How will you create an “eco-sistema vibrante,” in the salt pans?
By running unfiltered poop water into them?
Yesterday we saw that Fontein was finally purchased by Fundacion Parke Nacional Arikok
Where did the money come from?
We really want to know.
You just saved and managed to swing it?!
If indeed the area has historical, cultural, geological and archeological value, you should leave it alone.
The purpose of conservation is conservation.
Sure, clean the place, gently, restore as little as possible.
One of my friends writes: With the Western Wetlands and Fontein areas as part of the Fundacion Parke Nacional Aruba protected areas, we see the real threat of Disneyfication entering into nature conservation in Aruba.
There is a very fine balance between ecotourism, nature conservation and sustainable tourism. Turning protected areas into “theme parks” is a major ecological disaster. Because by default themed parks are capitalism, maximizing profits and thus maximum number of visitors driven, which defeats the purpose of nature conservation which in essence is about minimizing all human impacts.
Offer our visitors more time to breathe and relax, less time in roller coasters, more unstructured days to enjoy freedom from schedules and timetables, less hyped activity, a more organic menu of well-being, and rest from the craziness of the outside world.
