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.
Posted By : SavTrav500
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!
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Posted On : 2024-03-17 21:25:01 
Posted By : Mike_S
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!
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Posted On : 2024-02-12 10:48:04 
Posted By : B1545TFalanm
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.
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Posted On : 2023-04-03 15:33:28
Posted By : Colette T
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.
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Posted On : 2023-02-24 12:18:30
Posted By : Mircea12345
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 !
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Posted On : 2022-12-11 19:21:55
Posted By : Travelinglibrarian8
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!
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Posted On : 2022-08-30 14:32:55
Posted By : Go780994
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.
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Posted On : 2022-05-01 08:34:27
Posted By : Kristyn H
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.
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Posted On : 2022-04-17 19:04:43
Posted By : patriciaaH5281YH
Our favorite part was Jorge - our guide. He was fun, enlightening and ready to share his life, his love of Aruba, and his enthusiasm in general. Jorge listened to our interests and made sure to share the special delights of the Spanish Lagoon hike from the birds and plants to the history of the island. We had a delightful lunch as well. Not to be outdone of course was the ability to walk through the center of a mangrove area and see the Shoco owl as well as through the cactus scrub area and visit the gold mining site. This hike was exactly what we hoped we would have - off the beaten track, lots of birds and animals alike. Thank you again for the highlight of our trip to Aruba!
Mark and Pat
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Posted On : 2022-03-31 16:26:49
Posted By : StephanieL2641
It was a total pleasure going on this hike. Nancy is very knowledgeable of many topics from flora & fauna to history and much more and gave us much interesting information. I would definitely recommend going with Nancy on any hike!!
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Posted On : 2021-04-09 22:29:44
