Ayo Rock Formations are monolithic rock

boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

s located on the island of

Aruba Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of ...

in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. They are located near Ayo village, about 3.2 km from the natural bridge towards Casibari. Casibari Boulders are about 3.2 km inland between Natural Bridge (now defunct) and Oranjestad, the capital of Aruba, west of Boca Andicuri.

History

ARAWAK INDIAN PAINTINGS IN THE AYO ROCKS ON ARUBA

The

Arawak people The Arawak are a group of indigenous peoples of northern South America and of the Caribbean. Specifically, the term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to the Lokono of South America and the Taíno, who historically lived in the Greater ...

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 A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

while performing religious rites.

Formations

One of the unusual and notable rock formations is the Casibari Boulders, which are

tonalite Tonalite is an igneous, plutonic ( intrusive) rock, of felsic composition, with phaneritic (coarse-grained) texture. Feldspar is present as plagioclase (typically oligoclase or andesine) with alkali feldspar making up less than 10% of the total ...

rocks seen to the north of

Hooiberg Hooiberg is a 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. The Dutch word ''hooiberg'', literally translates into ''haystack'' in English ...

. 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 A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

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 ( ) is an intrusive igneous rock formed by the slow cooling underground of magma (molten rock) that has a moderate content of silica and a relatively low content of alkali metals. It is intermediate in composition between low-silic ...

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 (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

coast line can be seen from the formations site. AYO ROCK FORMATIONS - ARUBA

References

External links

Ayo Rock Formations
– aruba.com {{coord missing, Netherlands Landforms of Aruba Tourist attractions in Aruba Rock formations