Aruba is full of exotic sights, scents and tastes

This mural called Night Watcher by Mexican street artist, Farid Rueda, features an indigenous Aruban burrowing owl called a Shoco owl.

As I bounced around in the front seat of a land rover – bones jarring, joints rattling and brains scrambling – Bette Davis’s famous line in the movie All About Eve flashed through my mind – “buckle your seat belts; it’s going to be a bumpy ride”.

Even trussed up like a prize turkey as I was, it was impossible to overstate the bumpiness of this ride. Six of us, plus our driver, Sherman, were traversing the rugged terrain in the Arikok National Park, an area of caves, sand dunes and limestone cliffs on Aruba’s eastern side.