ATV in Aruba – A Matter of Life & Death

May 07, 2008 | Tags: Aruba, Daily, Travel

Second installment of the “Best Memories of Aruba” collection!!

ATV riding on the east coast of Aruba is NO easy feat! All the photos and movies I will show about my ATV adventure don’t do justice in explaining how crazy the ride was. No way could Jeff or I take pictures of the actual scary part, because we had to hold on for dear life. There’s nothing I can do or say to prove to you how scary this was, unless you go yourself.

An employee of Rancho Daimari picked me and Jeff up at the Renaissance Hotel, and we went through a major maze of roads to the ranch where our ATV tour would begin. Our route took us through crazy roads that were bumpy as hell. Our heads were bobbing and our jaws were clenched shut as we tried to prevent our teeth from breaking. The pink cross on the rear view mirror says it all about how jarring the drive was!

Once we got to the ranch, we had to sign legal papers to release the ranch from being sued if something were to happen. My signature on the release of liability papers probably had evidence of a shaking arm. Those legal papers SCARED ME, especially after seeing how bumpy it was on the way to the ranch. Even the rules scared me.

I was ready to go right back to the hotel and kiss an iguana instead. Jeff reassured me and said everything would be fine.

Not even a quarter mile out on my rented ATV, I already got stuck on a rock, scared shitless. The tour guide had to come down the hill and help me get back on track. He told me that the rest of the tour wouldn’t be as hard as the beginning hill. I believed him and went on. Our tour had two major stops: the Natural Bridge and the Natural Pool.

The Natural Bridge was fairly easy to get to, no major mishaps or any heart attacks. I felt good, ATV riding was easy after all!

The bridge wasn’t that awesome because it collapsed in 2005 and ruined the little pool that it used to have.

The dirt area is where the pool used to be. Next to the Natural Bridge, we saw the Baby Bridge, which was pretty cool, but nothing that makes you scream OMG!

After the Natural Bridge, we all ventured to the Natural Pool. Remember how the tour guide told me that the beginning hill was the hardest of the entire tour? WELL, HE LIED TO ME. And, remember how I said ATV riding was easy after all? I FOOLED MYSELF! Getting to the Natural Pool was scary! Keep in mind that I went skydiving before, and the Natural Pool route was SCARIER THAN JUMPING OUT OF A PLANE! There were big rocks everywhere and the hill was just as steep as it was to get to Stinson Beach, California by car. One of my tires even got flat, and the tour guide had to pump air back into the tire. That’s how jarring the rocks were on parts of the route!

Once we got to the bottom to the Natural Pool, I allowed myself to take in the beauty with Jeff, taking pictures and all. The ocean and rocks reminded me of Northern California, while the cacti and desert landscape reminded me of Arizona. So, as a result of my observations, I dubbed the east side Arizfornia.

Once it was time to leave the Natural Pool and go back up that crazy hill with a million rocks, my eyes welled up with tears and I said, “Jeff, I’m scared of dying, and if I don’t make it back alive, I love you.” I’m sure deep down he thought this was funny, but he kept a cool face and again assured me that every thing would be fine.

After the Natural Pool, we went back to the ranch. I stopped right before the ranch while nestled in the hills to take pictures. Everyone was way ahead of me and had already parked at the ranch. By the time I got back to the ranch, I couldn’t find everyone and got lost. I kept going and going, until I got stuck on another rock, with YET ANOTHER FLAT TIRE. All I could think was, “Good Lord, I’m glad this tour is over and I’m on the ranch!”

I googled the link for Rancho Daimari to include in this blog, and I found this thread about a woman who died on the same type of ATV tour. All I can say is I am glad I did not read this while standing at the bottom of the Natural Pool hill, because I would have FREAKED about going back up the scary rugged hill and would have been so determined that I would die.

I must emphasize, the Arizfornia coast was SCARY AS HELL. All the peeing I did in my pants (kidding) and close heart attacks were worth it, because I couldn’t ask for a better accomplishment than yelling, “That wasn’t so bad after all!” and “I’M STILL ALIVE!! TGALJC!!”

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