Arikok National Park
Encyclopedia
The National Park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...

 takes up approximately 18 percent of the island, including three primary geological formations, the Aruba lava
Lava
Lava refers both to molten rock expelled by a volcano during an eruption and the resulting rock after solidification and cooling. This molten rock is formed in the interior of some planets, including Earth, and some of their satellites. When first erupted from a volcanic vent, lava is a liquid at...

 formation, a quartz diorite formation, and a limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 formation that extends inward from the coast. These formations have directly influenced Aruba's human settlement, as well as its natural wonders.

Aruba is home to several species which only live on the island, including two unique species of snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...

 and two bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

 species. Rock outcroppings also create micro-climatic conditions to support these unique plant and animal species, as well as settlements. These are located within the Arikok National Park almost exclusively. Inside the park are some of the island's oldest Arawak paintings, and has since drawn attention from the government.

The two snake species are the cascabel (Crotalus durissus
Crotalus durissus
Crotalus durissus is a venomous pitviper species found in South America. The most widely distributed member of its genus, this species poses a serious medical problem in many parts of its range...

 uni-color), and the santanero (Leptodeira bakeri), called the (Aruban) Baker's cat-eyed snake. The shoco (Athene cunicu-laria arubensis), known as the Aruban burrowing owl
Burrowing Owl
The Burrowing Owl is a tiny but long-legged owl found throughout open landscapes of North and South America. Burrowing Owls can be found in grasslands, rangelands, agricultural areas, deserts, or any other open dry area with low vegetation. They nest and roost in burrows, such as those excavated...

, and the prikichi (Aratinga pertinax arubensis), the Aruban parakeet
Parakeet
Parakeet is a term for any one of a large number of unrelated small to medium sized species of parrot, that generally have long tail feathers...

. Another indigenous species, the kododo blauw (Cnemido- phorus arubensus) is the Aruban whiptail lizard.

First designated as an important national area in the 1980s, Arikok National Park is home to popular hiking
Hiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...

trails, covering all kinds of terrain from hills to gold mines, and even plantation ruins.

External links

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