- Visit places otherwise unreachable by car or bus, including the Natural Pool
- Entertaining, knowledgeable tour guides
- Complimentary drinks and snacks
- Various packages available, including snorkeling or island hopping
- Difficult to hear tour guide at times
- Many other tours at each stop, so you're never alone
- Bumpy, dusty experience not for everyone
- Not an actual safari
- Address: L.G. Smith Blvd. 142, Orandjestad, Aruba
- Telephone: 297-582-4400
- Email: indo@depalmtours.aw
- Cost: Adults US$75, Children (under 12) US$37.50 (tips for guides appreciated as well)
De Palm tour guests ride in a Land Rover or Jeep Wrangler. With bigger groups, one or more people volunteer to drive while the tour guide leads the way in a tiger-striped pick-up truck. Commentary will reach you through a one-way radio set up in the jeep, though at times it is difficult to hear over the sound of traffic. The patter includes funny anecdotes and Aruba facts, including that usually half the American tourists on the island are from New Jersey and New York.
Stops include the picturesque Our Lady of Alto Vista Chapel, built in 1750 and still an active Roman Catholic church; the stark and beautiful California Lighthouse, named after a ship that sunk off the nearby coast in 1910; exploring the ruins of the Bushiribana Gold Mill, a remnant of the island's brief gold rush; and a natural bridge, a smaller neighbor to the former island landmark that collapsed into the sea in 2005.
Guests also can take a dip in the natural pool or snorkel at Baby Beach. The natural pool, named Conchi in Papiamento, is only reachable by Jeep or horse. The only drawback is that hoards of jeeps come and go from each stop, and it can be difficult to take a picture without strangers wandering through your shot. And don't expect a real safari, lizards are the extent of the wild animals you'll see passing through.
