A Land Tour of BONAIRE

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On FOOT  &    By TRUCK

🦶 & 🚙

... a short travelogue. 

We're also here to dive and snorkel; for that go here.

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Readers: Blue links are clickable

BONAIRE is a Caribbean island in the Leeward Antilles, and is a 'special municipality' of the Netherlands. Its capital is the port of Kralendijk. It's a small island, covering roughly 111 square miles, with a width that ranges from 5 to 12 kilometres and a length of approximately 40 kilometres. It is located approximately 80 kilometres off of the coast of Venezuela. Population, approximately 23,000.

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DIVI FLAMINGO

We stayed at the Divi Flamingo Beach Resort and Casino for 2 weeks. The resort is conveniently located about a 10 minute drive from the Flamingo International Airport.

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Room 301

A pool, just in front of our room; usually quiet and uncrowded.

Yellow Shouldered Amazon Parrot

A few made their homes in the foliage near our room; squacking quite loudly as they made their way to and from throughout the day. The Yellow-shouldered Parrot is at threat from both the pet trade and habitat loss, and its very small range area increases the impact of these problems. Some of this habitat loss is due to overgrazing by goats.

Looking northwards. The house reef along the resorts waterfront is quite popular for snorkelling. We would often sit in the (blue painted) restaurant at lunch and watch fish swim about in the crytal clear turquoise water below. Snorkellers reported seeing eagle rays and green sea turtles this close to shore. I didn't see a single eagle ray and only 1 distant, small green sea turtle after 14 dives ... 'should have spent more time snorkelling!'

1/2 priced adult beverages every day between 5 & 7 pm. Mondays also included some snacks; coconut shrimp, cheese balls, chicken wings etc. and were sometimes served to guests by management and staff from DIVI Dive.

Looking south towards the capital KRALENDIJK and the cruise ship port. 

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KRALENDIJK

... is the capital city and main port of the island of BONAIRE in the Caribbean Netherlands. The language spoken in the town is Papiamento, but Dutch and English are widely used. Papiamento (or Papiamentu) is a Portuguese-based creole language; combining Portuguese and Spanish, with a considerable influence by Dutch, Arawak Indian and African languages. As of 2017, the town had a population of 10,620. Off the coast of Kralendijk lies the uninhabited island of Klein Bonaire.

  

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There are many great restaurants on the island; we got to enjoy a couple ...

La Cantina; the food was glorious as were the re-purposed wagon wheels as table tops.

A Bonarian styled Beef Tartare - with flaked parmesan, field greens, red onion, tomatoe, black olives ... a balsamic drizzle.

'What's a better lunch than this? well, maybe Helen's above 😋' ... 3 generous pieces of fresh grilled wahoo (fish of the day) on a salad of mixed greens & herbs, cocktail tomatoe, sliced soft boiled egg, big chunk of garlic focaccia ... and a squeeze of lime.

A couple of sandwiches and a nice chardonnay at Casa Bizzaro

Helen's: On 'too BIG a bun' - fresh chicken salad, lettuce, red pepper, red onion ... only ate 1/2 the bun  

On a bun - goat cheese, a mix of slivered vegetables (radish, pickled onion, peppers) walnuts, arugula ... a very light drizzle of olive oil

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NORTH LOOP

... from KRALENDIJK 

Route in brown

Driving Culture

There aren't many roads; but there are enough. No stop signs or traffic lights, 40 km/h in towns and 60 km/h on highways; those are maximum speed limits for the whole country. The locals may drive faster; but tourists shouldn't. Never saw a police vehicle.

Tourista drivers contend with - endless potholes, collapsing pavement edging, narrow roads, Bonairian/Bonairean drivers, feral donkeys, free-range goats and whip-tailed lizards. Dirt and paved roads are in various stages of decay; a description of the best condition might be 'fair only'. 

Some roadways, including the one into the Washington Slagbaai National Park require a higher clearance vehicle; due to very deep potholes and very high-centered sections. Cars are prohibited from travelling some of these roads. 

We rented a Chinese built JAC truck; a 2wd with decent ground clearance. These are the vehicles of choice for the shore divers who travel to the dozens of locations around BONAIR's coast. 

With few exceptions, much of the island is a barren landscape - flat, featureless, dry, hot, arid and windy ... dirt, mud, cacti, coral and limestone.

Green Iguana (juvenile)

Onima Indian Inscriptions

The Arawak Indians left drawings on rocks and in caves on BONAIRE in the 15th century. The Indian rock drawings you will see during this tour at Boca Onima are the best preserved and most intact ones on BONAIRE. These drawings are made with a reddish-brown kind of dye. To this day, people do not know what the inscriptions represent. To protect the fragile drawings from vandalism, lattice-like fences have been placed around the paintings.

  

Coral, cacti, parrots

ENDANGERED: Bonaire is home to the Yellow-shouldered Amazon Parrot. 

This parrot is a flagship species for the dry forest ecosystem. Due to decline  in VENEZUELA as a result of intense poaching, BONAIRE is an important stronghold for its survival globally.

Captain Don Stewart

Captain Don Stewart, was best known as Captain Don, 'The Father of Bonaire'. He was a story teller, an advanced scuba diver, an environmental activist and protector of the coral reefs that fringe the coastline of BONAIRE.

His dive knife, regulator and depth guage (a red cloth ribbon) are on display at the museum in Washington Slagbaii National Park

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Colours become progressively less visible underwater in the order they appear in the colour spectrum, with red fading first. Blue and purple are the last to change due to their shorter wavelengths and higher energy.

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SOUTH LOOP

... from KRALENDIJK 

Route in brown

Donkey Sanctuary Bonaire

Feral Donkeys

... are protected on the island. Donkeys have been living here for hundreds of years. They were originally brought over by the Spaniards in the 17th century and used to perform hard labour. Once modern transport made them unneeded they were left to their lot. 

However, not all donkeys are feral here. The Donkey Sanctuary Bonaire is committed to providing a protected life for all donkeys on BONAIRE. Information is given about the living environment of donkeys to the islanders, at schools and to tourists. More than 800 donkeys currently live in Donkey Sanctuary Bonaire. They are provided with food, drinking water and medical care and have a lot of space and freedom

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Bonaire Whiptail Lizard

Willemstoren Lighthouse

BONAIRE's first lighthouse was built in 1837. Locals stop here to collect driftwood and to build fanciful shapes from objects that have washed ashore.

Slave Huts & Salt Pans

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Slavehuts (see row of huts at the horizon) were constructed in 1850 during the slavery time and served as camping facilities for slaves working in the salt ponds to collect and ship the salt. 

A couple of groupings of these huts still remain today; freshly painted and with new roofs. They function today as photo opportunities for visitors.

The following several photos illustrate the BONAIRE Sea Salt operation, highlighted by a distinctive line of white salt pyramids at the southeastern end of the island. 

Each pyramid, roughly 50-feet high, contains approximately 10,000 metric tons of 99.6% pure salt. Depending on the time of the year, there can be upwards of 200,000 metric tons of salt neatly stacked in long rows awaiting shipment.

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Salt Pans

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Once harvested, the salt is washed in sea water to eliminate the small quantities of calcium sulfate dihydrate, common gypsum, which is mixed in with the salt. The washed salt is then stacked into BONAIRE’s iconic and unmistakable salt pyramids.

Salt Pier

This facility can produce between 300,000 and 500,000 metric tons of salt annually. It is exported all over the world in roughly equal portions to Europe, Asia and North America.

Sorobon

Located on the eastern side near Lac Bay, is one of BONAIRE's treasures. The sandy entry, warm shallow waters and BONAIRE's steady trade winds and sunshine, provides a stellar combination as some of the world's best kitesurfing, hoverboard and windsurfing locations.

Lac Bay

Both loops combined could be completed in 4-6 hours of easy, slow driving. 

We chose a relaxed pace over 2 mornings; one for each loop. 

🦶 &    🚙

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Where To Next ? ... CURACOA in March 2024.

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We're LOAFin Around 

... follow along, if you like.

  

Refer to our Trip163 gallery for all photography for this trip.

Cameras

#1 -  GoPro Hero 11 with TELESIN underwater housing

#2 -  iPhone 11

Unless noted, all content is by LOAFin Around. 

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