History lesson for the day: Bonaire is an island as part of the Leeward Antilles, along with its sister islands – Curaçao and the more well known, Aruba. The three islands are commonly known as the “ABC islands” and are controlled by the Netherlands. The islands are 80 km off the coast of Venezuela. Bonaire is probably the least known island and is noted for its snorkeling and scuba diving. There are only 24,090 inhabitants living on the island. It is small- 24 miles long and 3-5 miles wide.
Approaching Kralendijk, Bonaire.
Docking next to a ship that beat us here.
The Spanish, led by Alonso de Ojeda and the more well known Amerigo Vespucci, arrived in 1499. They decided the islands were useless because they found no metal deposits, but they did maintain control because of its salt deposits. The Dutch ventured into the area because they needed a source of salt for their herring industry. They took over by 1636 and the islands remain in their control to this day. End of lesson.
I again booked a Viator tour that would show us the highlights of the island, which we soon learned were not much! There were only 8 of us on the tour which made it for easy traveling. Our 20 passenger van unfortunately has in the need of repair of its air conditioning but with open windows and a nice ocean breeze the trip worked out just fine.
The main industry on the island is the production of salt, gleaned from the sea. The salt is mined from ponds which are first flooded with sea water, dammed up and allowed to evaporate to dryness. It is then collected and shipped to theUS where it is used for commercial purposes, like salting roads. It is not the salt we use for cooking. Centuries ago it was back-breaking manual work for the slaves who mined it; thankfully today it is highly mechanized. We drove to the mining area and viewed the small “slave huts” that slaves occupied while mining the salt.
Modern condos for sale near town.
Typical shoreline on Bonaire. It is popular with scuba divers since you can enter the sea directly from the beach.
Salt ponds occupy most of the north shore of the island.
The story of the slave huts located near the salt ponds.
The slave huts on Bonaire.
The slave huts located on a beautiful shore. Ironic!
What the inside of the slave hut looked like. Slaves lived here during the week while they worked.
Pile of mined salt ready for transport.
Explanation of mining salt from the sea.
Equipment used to load the salt onto ships.
The conveyor system used to load ships.
Rock salt after harvesting.
This is salt foam! Never saw it before.
The slave master’s hut made from pieces of coral that litter the beach.
The Ricinus plant, where castor oil comes from.
Castor oil seeds.
We saw many of the repurposed school buses (without windows) used as tour buses. Ours was a more modern van.
From there we drove to the south part of the island to see the few other tourist attractions the island offers- the 1000 steps, a large inland salt lake and the local distillery where we got to sample some of the local liquor. Oh, we did get to see some of the wild donkeys that still inhabit the island! Returning to the ship there is a small shopping area near the cruise port but nothing unique caught my attention or dollars.
Cactus is used extensively for fencing on Bonaire. Looks pretty effective to me!
Crystal clear water that drops off quickly near shore. Good for scuba diving.
A stone arch that is popular with new brides as a photographic site.
Caves that ancient people lived in.
The beach near 1000 steps.
The stairs called “1000 steps”. Although it is only 87 steps to the beach scuba divers with gear say it feels like 1000 steps when you are carrying your gear back up from the beach.
We looked but did not bother walking down to the beach!
Lake Goto, a salt inland lake.
Agave plant ready to be made into tequila.
Lake Goto is home and breeding ground for flamingos.
Bonaire uses colored signs to denote different types of signage.
Home of Cadushy distillery.
Marketing sign for Bonaire.
The various liquors made from cactus here. The green one is made with lime and is the traditional drink on Bonaire. The other liquors have been made for other islands in the region.
They also make gin, vodka and other alcoholic beverages.
Sadly, some truth to this!
These seed pods grow on the bark of the Calabas tree! The pods are often used as cups or painted ornaments.
Description of local products.
Explaining how catcus is used as fencing in Bonaire.
The working part of the distillery.
A local church on Bonaire.
A three foot iquana sunning itself on the road. He quickly left as we approached.
Lots of wild cactus growing along the road.
One of the approximate 1100 wild donkeys that roam the island.
This is a gumbo-limbo tree, but called the “tourist tree” because its red peeling bark resembles tourists who have been out in the sun too long.
Seru Largu, a monument on the highest hill on Bonaire was installed after the year 2000 passed without the major disruption that had been projected.
Our local guide for our Bonaire tour.
Nice views from the top.
The cruise ships in the harbor.
Homes with the Indian chief logo indicate the occupations are descendants of the original tribes..
Note donkey warning sign on the side of the road.
Lovely mural at the local AM radio station.
Fairly large cemetery outside of town.
A flowering tree called the royal poinciana. Locally it is called the flamboyan tree.
Iguana on the downtown street.
Colorful buildings in the rather small downtown area.
A door in Kralendijk.
Nice shot of the ship docked in Kralendijk.
View of the downtown area from our ship.
When we visited this area in 1992 we visited 2 of the 3 islands in the group and I could not remember which one we did not visit. I know now. It was obviously Bonaire, as there was no real reason to do so unless you are an avid snorkeler or scuba diver.
Another relaxing afternoon on the ship followed by pre-dinner music, drink ( still free!) and card playing ( Yvonne winning most of the rummy game, but I prevailed when playing kings on the corner) followed by dinner in the main dining room.
Minestrone soup.
Buratta caprese salad.
Yvonne chose the Branzino fish dish. I chose pasta bolognese which was a disappointment.
Tonight’s main theater entertainment was by the ship’s production staff and called “Piano Man” which featured much of the music of Billy Joel. It was entertaining!
