A very Dutch - Bonaire

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Kralendijk on the island of Bonaire is part of the Dutch Caribbean. We had a lovely Dutch guide who showed us the island travelling in an open top large lorry. The native plants are the Divi tree and the cactus which grow everywhere on this very flat island. Even some of the fences around properties are made using the cacti. It is hot but the NE trade winds blow constantly across the island. We drove to the National Park where there are flamingoes on the salty flat marshes. Salt has been an important production for many years. We also saw other native birds such as the Heron, Frigate Bird and a tiny little yellow sparrow like bird- sorry forgot it's name. There are also lots of wild donkeys on the island.The other plants which grow in profusion and are protected are the mangroves with their amazing root system in and by the sea. We took a walk along the beach to find lots of seashells and different types of coral and eventually came to a lovely beach where the very blue sea is calm because it is protected by the coral reef. Here we actually had a swim in the Caribbean sea which was gorgeous as it was so hot. It is a lovely island with lots of Dutch influence in the buildings- very clean too.

Back on the ship we came 2nd again in the Trivia . The same very good team keep winning. We attended one of the shows because they were doing opera which was very good but mostly we have been meeting different people over dinner and in the bar.

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Comments

[Rich S.]

My impression
I've visited many Caribbean islands but not Bonaire. It appears very arid and barren; not like most Caribbean isles.

[Kate Lubinski]

Flamingoes!
Those flamingoes are so cool, you must have taken their picture near the Salt Pier, right? I recently went there diving and I absolutely loved it, Bonaire is an incredible island and it deserves more exposure! I wrote about my experience here - https://dive.site/explore/site/salt-pier-l5Jg