(“Bon Bini” means “Welcome” in the local Papiamiento)
One of the islands Danielle & I have never visited before this trip, Bonaire is very different from most of the others. Dry and hot like its neighbor Aruba, you’ll find no lush rainforests here.
On our first visit, we hired a taxi driver to take us on a tour of the south end of the island, known for its salt flats and flamingo sanctuary. The salt flats were a striking pink, with huge mountains of salt rising above.
Next we visited the tiny huts where they kept the slaves who used to work the salt fields.
They make a pretty picture now, but I can’t imagine what it would’ve been like to live there.
Bonaire’s windward coast is all rocks and crashing waves, and the road is only one lane, which makes passing oncoming traffic feel a little like a game of chicken – eventually one vehicle will pull off to the shoulder to let the other pass, but I’m not sure who decides which driver will pull over!
We didn’t see any flamingoes – apparently they had been chased to the other end of the island by the Hurricane Omar. As we neared the end of the tour, we asked our driver to drop us off at a beach where we could do some snorkeling. Bonaire is legendary for its snorkel & dive sites, so we definitely wanted to check it out.
The driver told us he had to pick up some people at 1,000 Steps, so he could drop us off there for awhile. “As long as it has a beach and some decent snorkeling,” we said. He assured us we would like it, and off we went to the northwest side of the island.
To be continued…
{ 1 comment }
Sounds like something interesting is coming up.
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