Ayo Rock Formations are monolithic rock boulder

Boulder

In geology, a boulder is a rock with grain size of usually no less than 256 mm diameter. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive....

s located on the island of Aruba

Aruba

Aruba is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km east of Guajira Peninsula...

 in the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

. They are located near Ayo village, about 3.2 km from the natural bridge towards Casibari. Casibari

Casibari

Casibari is a village on the island of Aruba, located towards the center of the island....

 Boulders are about 3.2 km inland between Natural Bridge (now defunct) and Oranjestad

Oranjestad, Aruba

Oranjestad is the capital and largest city of Aruba, which is in the Caribbean north of Venezuela. Oranjestad is located on the southern coast near the western end of the island country...

, the capital of Aruba, west of Boac Andicuri.

History

The Arawak people were the earliest settlers on the island. They used to visit Ayo Rock Formations so that they could hear incoming thunderstorms closing in on the island of Aruba. They also carved paintings in rocks called petroglyphs while performing religious rites.

Formations

One of the unusual and notable rock formations is the Casibari Boulders

Casibari

Casibari is a village on the island of Aruba, located towards the center of the island....

, which are tonalite

Tonalite

Tonalite is an igneous, plutonic rock, of felsic composition, with phaneritic texture. Feldspar is present as plagioclase with 10% or less alkali feldspar. Quartz is present as more than 20% of the rock. Amphiboles and pyroxenes are common accessory minerals.In older references tonalite is...

 rocks seen to the north of Hooiberg

Hooiberg

Hooiberg is a 168 m high volcanic formation on the island of Aruba. It is located almost in the center of the island and can be seen from virtually anywhere on the island....

. They are reddish brown in colour and rise above the desert landscape giving a panoramic view of the island. They are located amidst cacti, and lizards are commonly encountered here. The boulders have unusual shapes resembling birds and dragons. There is no plausible explanation yet for the presence of these unusual wind-carved boulder formations on a flat sandy island. However, the geological formations seen on the island are of volcanic origin in its eastern sector, and some areas which are of coral formation are ascribed to the sea which was at higher level. However, in the diorite

Diorite

Diorite is a grey to dark grey intermediate intrusive igneous rock composed principally of plagioclase feldspar , biotite, hornblende, and/or pyroxene. It may contain small amounts of quartz, microcline and olivine. Zircon, apatite, sphene, magnetite, ilmenite and sulfides occur as accessory...

 rock formation region, the Ayo Rock Formations are seen in a heap of monolithic boulders.

Walking trails

Walking trails and steps have been set around the formation. They pass through several narrow tunnel which make the access through a single line quite difficult. Casibari formations are approached 3.2 km from the Highway 4A/B. At the entrance, there is a formation named Dragon Mouth. On a clear day, the entire island and even Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

coast line can be seen from the formations site.

External links

• Ayo Rock Formations – aruba.com