With my Ma being a geographer we are always heading out on some crazy adventures.  This time, I was in charge of mapping out the order of our events in Bonaire.  But reading a map is tough, and many of the best adventures happen when there is no plan.  So we threw the map away and just decided to wing it!  I am a true geographer’s son.

My adventure on Bonaire started with a quick trip around the southern part of the island.  This section of the island is really quiet.  We are we able to spot a few flamingoes, from a distance.  The salt flats were really cool too.  Some of the water was pink, and we could not explain why.  It was crazy looking. There was so much salt they were using giant front-end loaders (thank you Big Construction Truck book) to move all of the salt.

Ma is always looking for interesting culture and tourism aspects from our travels.  On our drive around the salt flats, we stopped to see the slave huts.  These were sleeping quarters for the slaves that were used to load the salt onto the large ships in the 1850’s.  They were painted four colors, the color of the Dutch flags at the time so that the ship captains knew where to go to load up the salt.  These houses were super tiny.  As you can see below, I climbed in for reference.

The next day we made the trek out to Washington Slagbaai National Park.  They have a driving route around the park that shows you 15-20 different places.  We decided to take the long route, roughly 3 hours.  We started off heading straight for the coast to see some really cool geological formations.  We got out to take some pictures of the water and cliffs, and I was immediately distracted by the lizards running around.  These guys are some quick creatures.  They were sneaky too.  I would get close, and they would shoot underneath the truck.  Ma stopped to take a couple of pictures of me, and just then one turned and ran straight towards her.  I tried to point it out, but it was too late.  The lizard ran between her legs and escaped.  I was so disappointed.

We drove a bit further to see the water as it crashed against cliffs on the shore.  We go to see a few blow holes, which were amazing.  The power of the sea is just awesome.  We hopped back into the car and continued on our journey through the park.  We saw a few beaches, some large iguanas, and some old buildings.  The road was bumpy at the end, so I curled up in my seat and took a nap.

The next day the owner of our house stopped by to see how we were doing.  She suggested that we head to the Echo Bird Sanctuary.  They have free tours on Wednesday.  So we did!  There was a small group when we arrived, about 12 people.  During the visit, they spoke about what they do at the sanctuary.  They do a lot of work with preserving the land, but their primary focus is to help the parrots on the island of Bonaire.

Now it was time to explore some of the towns.  There are two main towns on Bonaire, Rincon, and Kralendijk.  We drove through Rincon several times, but the reason we went back again was for Pa to visit the Cadushy Distillery.  They make all kinds of liqueur, rum, vodka, whiskey, but their best product (I’m told) was the Cadushy Liqueur made from cactus from the island.  Ma and Pa both said it was tasty and it looked cool because it was bright green!

Later that day we headed into Kralendijk to walk through the city and find a cannon and gelato.  The main strip of the town was lined with stores, restaurants, and bars.  We found our cannon, got the traditional cannon picture, and headed off to get some gelato because it was HOT!  It was the perfect gelato at the perfect time.  I feel sorry for those who are lactose intolerant.  Gelato might quite possibly be the greatest thing ever!

We saved the best for last.  It was our final day on the island and it was time to head to the Donkey Sanctuary.  Here they rescue and rehabilitate donkeys from all over the island.  They had about 300 of them.  Pa got us some carrots, and we were allowed to drive through the sanctuary and feed the donkeys.  We would roll down the windows, and the donkeys would put their long snout into the car.  What a great time.  This island has a lot offer, even if you decide to stay above the water!