On our first day in Aruba, we arrived late at our cottage at the edge of a desert that two years ago was designated as a national park. Since it’s a new park, there are no official entrances, no park rangers, no paved roads, just double-track dirt paths through the rocky, rolling landscape. Even though it was dark, Megan and I and her cousin, Avery, who had joined us on the trip, decided to walk out into the desert with a lantern. Trish opted to remain at the cottage, and as it turned out, she made a smart decision. We’d walked along a path for about a quarter of a mile, mostly with the lantern turned off so we could see that vastness of the star-studded sky.
We were about to turn back when we stopped, listened closely, and realized we could hear the ocean pounding on the shore in the distance. So we decided to continue on, walking into the wind. About a mile or so later, we found the beach and explored the rocky shoreline. It occurred to me that it was a great night for an adventure, and I put out a wish to the desert spirits that something unusual would happen. I didn’t know it, but Megan did the same. And, oh, we found our adventure soon enough.
We started back, but became confused about the location of the trail. So, with the lantern on, we headed cross-country along an uphill grade. Big mistake. Soon, we found ourselves surrounded by tall cactuses, imposing rocks, thick hedges of prickly cactuses, steep drops and sharp climbs. There were also golfball-sized cactuses growing low to the ground, and it was impossible to avoid all of them. The spikes pieced Megan’s foam sandals and penetrated the bottom of her feet. I pulled out as many of the thorns as I could by the light of the lantern, but she quickly attracted more of them. Meanwhile, Avery was recovering from a sprained ankle and now it was bothering him. Our forward movement slowed to a crawl. Megan could barely walk, Avery hobbled, and they both yelled at me to slow down and come back with the lantern.
Finally, as we reached the top of a hill, we could see the lights on the cottage in the distance, but we couldn’t move toward it. We were blocked and our intended short hike into the desert was turning into a nightmare scenario in the dark, strange environs. By that time, we were all hoping that Trish would drive the rented car out into the desert so we could see where the path was located…and hopefully catch a ride back. No such luck. The key was in my pocket.
So we decided the only thing to do was to backtrack to the beach, and find the trail, basically starting over on our return trip. That’s when I put out another silent call to the desert spirits. “Never mind about the adventure. We just need to find the way back to the cottage.” I repeated it several times. With Megan’s feet and Avery’s ankle, this journey could take us well into the night.
Megan started shouting for Trish, who we later learned had heard her shouts and started scurrying around the cottage, looking for the car keys, then a flashlight that worked. She started out into the desert several times, but her flashlight kept dimming, forcing her to turn back and scour the storage closet for another lantern.
Meanwhile, we knew the way to the ocean was into the wind, which served as our compass. We covered about a hundred yards when eureka, we found a trail. Only thing…it wasn’t the right trail. At that point, we didn’t care. We just wanted to get out of the rugged desert landscape and onto a cleared path. We followed it for about a quarter of a mile when it crossed another path. This time, I knew it was our path, and we turned away from the wind and continued walking.
When the cottage finally came into view again, it was a great sight, and there was Trish standing outside the porch, her dim flashlight barely penetrating the darkness. “What happened to you guys?” she called.
“You don’t want to know,” I said.
“Oh God, my feet,” Megan groaned.
“We got lost,” Avery said.
The first night adventure was over, and amazingly, it had lasted barely an hour and a half. The three of us had thought we were out there for three to four hours. How the desert spirits played tricks with us that night.
