Aruba Oranjestad Horses Bay Self-Guided Walking Tour

Tour Details

Type
Walking
Duration
1 - 2 Hours
Audio Stories
10
Deep Dives
5

Welcome to the Aruba Oranjestad Horses Self-Guided Walking Tour

Wondering what those blue horse sculptures are all about on your Aruba tour? Take this self-guided walking tour through Oranjestad to find out.

About the Tour

Ready for a swashbuckling excursion through paradise? This walking tour gives you a deep dive into the history of the island and the Oranjestad horses.

What You'll See

Welcome
Welcome to Aruba! This tiny island is full of exciting history: I’m talking pirates, conquest, and an ongoing fight for independence!
Rosalinda
Meet the beautiful mare Rosalinda! This gentle creature represents hope. * Here in downtown Oranjestad, you’ll find 8 life-size blue fiberglass horses scattered around the city. It’s almost like a treasure hunt! Each one represents a different historical moment of Aruba, and embodies a characteristic of the island
Saturnina
Meet the stray mare Saturnina, representing self-sufficiency. * Livestock trade, and especially horses, thrived here for 300 years. Gerard Bosch, an early Dutch visitor, gives an account of this trade and some of it’s more … exciting... practices. He specifically describes how sailors would get horses off the ship and onto the shore. They didn’t just lower a plank and have them walk down. No - that would be too easy! Instead, the sailors would hoist the horses overboard. They would then have another horse strategically placed on-shore which would incite the desperately swimming horses to swim towards it. * Talk about tough love!
Escapia
Horses weren’t always the norm here in Aruba. In fact, the indigenous peoples of the Americas were originally terrified of the Spanish horsemen, believing them to be monstrous hybrid creatures. These horsemen were the first heralds of change and transformation, where new ideas of territory, ownership, exploitation, and development were forcibly superimposed on the local Arawak peoples.
Sinforosa
The early Spanish conquistadors considered Aruba an “Isla Inutil” -- useless island. Of course, they quickly realized their mistake. Aruba is strategically placed in the Leeward Antillies, and easily accessible via a natural harbor. This made it an obvious candidate for a “rancho” -- or ranch. The entire island was devoted to livestock breeding and herding. These animals, and the horses in particular, were instrumental to the Spanish as they launched militaristic missions across the mainland
Eufrosina
Meet the joyful mare Eufrosina, drinking from the fountain of life. * When the Dutch gained control of the island, they maintained the livestock trade in much the same way as the Spanish had. It became a thriving marketplace. In fact, records indicate that Dutch settler Peter Stuyvesant stopped over during one of his many raids on the neighboring lands. Stuyvesant later went on to great fame as the first governor of America’s New Amsterdam… now better known as New York City.
Ambrosio
Meet the stallion Ambrosio, a symbol of power and nobility. * Livestock herds made local Arubans quite wealthy. Among the most prosperous and respected was Mama Grandi. Her sizable herd roamed the Noord district, and included horses, donkeys, cows, sheep, and goats.
Bonifacia
Meet Bonifacia, trustworthy, honest, responsible, and self-sacrificing. * The livestock trade thrived in the early years of Spanish and Dutch rule. But the early 1800s brought upheavals, and the English and French depleted the livestock of the island. When the Dutch ultimately gained control over the other European powers, they brought stability… and taxes. The Dutch privatized the livestock trade so that they could tax it. They also sold huge parcels of island land to private citizens, unintentionally dividing up herding and breeding opportunities. These factors made the entire trade unprofitable and it fell into a steep decline.
Celestina
Meet the heavenly filly Celestina, unpretentious, pious and a true Samaritan. * These sculptures are intentionally symbolic, encapsulating layers of identities and generations of history. Their blue coating is the color of the Caribbean, representing spirituality, calmness, subconscious, power and success. Their presence here is a socio-economic and political reminder of Aruba’s past. And their public display is a stark reminder of our present society’s disconnect from the natural world.
Conclusion
You’ve now seen that Aruba is a small island with a big history! Centuries of piracy and colonization have dealt the island a rough hand, but it’s come through it all with a powerful sense of independence. The history of seafaring adventure still lives on this island to this day. I hope you've enjoyed diving deeper into this picturesque island! Be sure to check out some of the other self-guided tours we offer to see other parts of Aruba

Preview the Tour

Stop 1 : Welcome

Stop 8 : Bonifacia

How It Works

Additional Information

What do we do?

Simply put, Action Tour Guide is an audio guide, map, and tour book – all in one app! We are a GPS-enabled app-based tour that narrates information based on your location right on your phone. You can experience our driving and walking tours at your own pace and literally at any time of the day!

Lifetime Validity

Changing travel date? No worries! All individual tours come with lifetime validity.

No Network Needed

The tour works offline which means you do not need your phone network to enjoy the tour. However, we do suggest you download the tour at your home, hotel, visitor center, etc before you head out for a completely immersive experience.

Not an Entry Ticket

This is not an entry ticket.

Aruba Oranjestad Horses Bay Self-Guided Walking Tour

Tour Details

Welcome to the Aruba Oranjestad Horses Self-Guided Walking Tour

About the Tour

What You'll See

Welcome

Rosalinda

Saturnina

Escapia

Sinforosa

Eufrosina

Ambrosio

Bonifacia

Celestina

Conclusion

Preview the Tour

Stop 1 : Welcome

Stop 8 : Bonifacia

How It Works

Additional Information

Reviews

Tour Details

COMPANY

SUPPORT

CONTACT US

Aruba Oranjestad Horses Bay Self-Guided Walking Tour

Tour Details

Welcome to the Aruba Oranjestad Horses Self-Guided Walking Tour

About the Tour

What You'll See

Welcome

Rosalinda

Saturnina

Escapia

Sinforosa

Eufrosina

Ambrosio

Bonifacia

Celestina

Conclusion

Preview the Tour

Stop 1 : Welcome

Stop 8 : Bonifacia

How It Works

Additional Information

Reviews

Recommended Tours

Aruba Island Self-Guided Driving & Walking Tours Bundle

Aruba Santa Cruz Self-Guided Driving Tour

Aruba Noord Self-Guided Driving Tour

COMPANY

SUPPORT

CONTACT US