Hooiberg

Hooiberg, Dutch for haystack, is a conical hill of around a hundred and sixty-five metres standing alone in the middle of Aruba, and because the island is otherwise flat it is visible from almost everywhere and serves as everyone's reference point. A concrete stairway of a little under six hundred steps runs to the top. From there the whole island is laid out: Oranjestad and the hotel strip on the leeward side, the windward coast and Arikok on the other, and on a clear day the coast of Venezuela about thirty kilometres south. The rock is an old volcanic intrusion harder than the surrounding stone, which is why it is still there.

History

The Dutch privateer Pieter Schouten probably first sighted Aruba for the West India Company on 24 April 1624 and noted its mountain, and Joannes de Laet wrote in 1630 of an island with two small mountains, one shaped like a sugarloaf; an English account tells of sailors from Sir Michael Geare's ship who landed for water in 1601, seven of whom were killed, and who noted a high mountain in the middle of the island. Shell finds show that indigenous people used the hill as a lookout over the sea, and in modern times it has carried radio and television masts and a navigation light, for whose upkeep a concrete staircase was built in 1951 (Wikipedia, Hooiberg).

What's there

• The stairway - just under six hundred steps to the summit.
• The island view - both coasts and the whole of Aruba from the top.
• Venezuela - visible about thirty kilometres south on a clear day.
• The geology - a hard volcanic core left standing as the rest eroded.

When to go

Year-round. Early morning or late afternoon; the climb is fully exposed and the middle of the day is punishing. Clear mornings give the best chance of seeing Venezuela. The steps are open at any hour.

Good to know

It is six hundred steps in the sun with no shade and no water at the top, and people underestimate it. The steps are concrete and steep with handrails in places. There are no facilities at the base. The view is good rather than spectacular, since Aruba is small and low.

Nearby

Casibari and Ayo rock formations are nearby; Oranjestad is fifteen minutes.

Key facts