We woke to very grey skies and drizzle – strange since we
were coming into the group of islands that are arid and full of cactus so not
the weather you would expect. Since we
were not due to arrive until noon we held out hope for a change but were not that
lucky.
After breakfast, we wondered the shopping area of the ship
for a bit just seeing what was there.
Ken was thrilled to find a couple of golf shirts with pockets – a rare
find these days – so ended up getting them.
By then it was time for another rehearsal of the pop choir which we
finished just in time for a very quick
bite to eat before heading off the ship and catching our mini bus tour of the
northern part of the island.
Unfortunately we drew a first time guide who had little to
say other than what was written on her sheet of paper but we still got to along
the windward side of the island and enjoy the intriguing low limestone cliffs
filled with little caves alongside the road that had been carved out by the sea.
We saw a very large iguana up in a tree,
a donkey wandering through a village (there are many wild ones on the island –
goats too. Because of the wild goats and
donkeys most everything had fences around it many of which were made from
Cadushy cactus (tall and skinny). Near
the end of the island is the salt water Goto Lake which is a habitat for
flamingos. The masses come in January
but there were already some there. This
is where they lay their eggs and raise their young before flying off to many
other points. It was fun to watch them
in the water when we stopped for a few minutes.
At various points all along the shoreline there were small rocks painted
yellow with a couple of words on them to identify if this spot could be used as
a stepping off point to enter the water to snorkel or dive and enjoy the highly
protected marine park with over 30 varieties of soft corals, 50 species of hard
coral and 200 different rainbow-hued species of fish. This is a highly prized area for divers from
around the world because it has been so well protected as also because of the
currents that encourage large growth and thus a huge variety of species to see.
Unfortunately I don’t have very good pictures because of the wet
windows and lack of sun to show off the various shades of blue in the water. The island is not real developed either so
there are many miles of just all kinds of cactus in from small plants to huge
bushes and tall spikes. They all of
course have their spines on them so I can’t imagine doing much hiking off the
main road and it is so narrow and windy I wouldn’t feel safe on it.
Some goats were behind fences obviously being raised for the
meat and milk. According to our guide it
is difficult to grow much in the way of fruits and vegetables on the island due
to the dry conditions so those items need to be imported from Holland, Venezuela,
and the U.S. However, there is a lot of
cheese because of the prevalance of goats.
A short time after we returned from that trip we boarded a
small glass bottomed boat and took a trip out to Little Bonaire Island where we
could be away from ocean traffic and see lots of the underwater life. Our guide had spent a good deal of time with
marine scientists while growing up on Bonaire and has developed a good deal of
knowledge about all that we were seeing making it a very interesting trip. The rain had stopped but the heavily clouded
skies kept us from seeing a sunset while out but we did get to see all of the
lights coming on and sparkle while coming back to our ship.
Since it was passed or assigned dinner
time, we decided to just clean up a bit and go to the pizza restaurant they
have on the ship where we enjoyed a delicious salad and each of us could get a
personal size pizza of our choice. This
spot was right on the edge of the piazza where so much activity is centered
which meant we could enjoy the steel drums entertaining people in the center
sitting area while we ate and do lots of people watching. Just after we finished a young couple
provided a fantastic gymnastic show using lots of hula hoops including a huge
48 pound one. What fun that was to
watch!!!
We then went to the Princess
Theater for the main entertainment of the evening provided by the incredibly
talented Paul Tanner, a vocal impressionist.
Through him we enjoyed Nat King Cole, Neil Diamond, and Elvis Presley to
name a few.
And so another day came to an
end for us .
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