Bonaire
December 8th-15th, 2003
I was sitting on top of a rock pile named Subi
Brandaris, savoring the sweet coolness of the salty breeze wafting up from the
sapphire blue Caribbean 784 feet below me, when an intangible impression became
a tangible thought – Bonaire is paradise. Make no mistake about it; they even
say so on their license plates, although they confine paradise to the realm of
diver’s. It is a diver’s paradise to be sure, thanks to farsighted dedication to
protecting the waters around Bonaire (they were designated the Bonaire Marine
Park in 1979) the reefs teem with life so vivid that it resembles a Technicolor
fantasyland. But the paradise doesn’t stop there, topside attractions offer up
just as much beauty as their underwater competition. The island itself is a
wondrous place where iguanas bask under bougainvillea, pink flamingos wade
gracefully through vast salt pans, and cacti offer a thorny perch to parakeets
and trupials.
The afternoon sun burned our backs as we floated
carelessly in the Caribbean water. Our mask and snorkel had become our favorite
luggage item, so much so that I was beginning to think the imprint of our masks
was going to become a permanent facial feature. The lure of the pristine reef
and the myriad of marine life kept us dazzled for hours on end, so varied and
entertaining was the underwater world that we ended up with a lovely shade of
red coloring just on our backsides. No matter, we had found for ourselves what
so many have found before…one of the most accessible snorkel/diving islands in
the world. Thanks to the colorful marine life and the great visibility, Bonaire
is consistently one of the Caribbean’s top diving destinations. We made sure
that we thoroughly enjoyed this amazing resource to its fullest, but we actually
did manage to pull ourselves out of the water occasionally. Nightly trips to the
capital city of Kralendijk, and a couple of days with a rental car exploring the
countryside proved even more what a wonderful island destination Bonaire is for
any traveler.
From our base at the
Divi Flamingo we rented a Suzuki
Jimny and set about exploring the island. Our first stop was the famous “1000
Steps” dive site, to get to this site you drive along a road that hugs the side
of a cliff. The views along this drive are fantastic; stretching out in front of
you is a gorgeous rocky shoreline with numerous shades of blue deepening from
turquoise at the shore’s edge all the way to azure on the horizon. It makes you
wish you had a better word than “Wow!” to say around every corner! Arriving at
“1000 Steps” we said, what else, “Wow!” The scene is right out of a postcard, a
rugged stone staircase built into the limestone cliff snakes its way down to the
coral rubble beach. The clear blue water beckons for the intrepid to delve into
its depths. We packed up all of our snorkel gear and made our way down the
steps, by the way there are really only 67 steps so don’t be too impressed with
our effort. Once we were at the water’s edge we could tell it was a little
choppy, but we decided to make one pass and see what we could see. We swam with
the current and watched as the sea fans swayed below us to some unheard music,
kaleidoscopic staghorn, star, and brain coral covered the sea floor, and many
wondrous fishes rounded out the scene. Huge parrotfish snacked away on the
coral, while schools of blue tang circled the reef, all the while we kept an eye
on the deep hoping to catch a glimpse of something big, perhaps a whale shark,
but nothing appeared out of the blue. After one pass we decided the waves were a
little choppy for our tastes so we headed back to the beach, exiting the water
was a bit tricky due to the rocks and the wave action, but we escaped unscathed.
Our next excursion took us to the Southern part of the
island where mounds of salt sit like petrified white dunes against turquoise and
pink pools of water. These colorful waters are salt pans, or salinas, where sea
water collects and then dries in the sun leaving behind salt. The colors range
from the turquoise green of newly flooded pans, to the pink color caused by
water-borne fungi, bacteria, and brine shrimp rich in carotenoid. Your first
thought while reading this might be about how industry ruins a landscape, but to
the contrary these salt pans provide a home and feeding ground for flamingos.
Keep your eyes peeled for a pink haze out in the distance, when you see that
blurry pink mass you will know you are looking at thousands of flamingos, and if
you are lucky you might see a few close to the road. This is their home,
Pekelmeer Flamingo Sanctuary, one of the largest in the Western Hemisphere. In
the past though, the salt pans were not such a serene environment, for it was
here that slaves worked and lived in huts not much taller then four feet. These
huts have been preserved for all to see, lest we forget their horrors, and you
can see them at Whitte Pan and Oranje Pan while on your way to the flamingo
sanctuary. They are actually quite picturesque despite their unfortunate
history, but as you visit take time to reflect upon what life must have been
like for the men who worked these salt pans. Back on the road you will hopefully
be treated to some close encounters with flamingos for it is quite a sight to
see so many flamingos gathered together in the wild, one that makes you want to
take pause. We sat on some rocks along the side of the road near the
Willemstoren Lighthouse and watched the birds as they strutted about in the
shallow water, and as the sun set a few of them took flight for a journey across
the sea to Venezuela. It was an amazing end to an amazing day.
The next morning we headed north for an adventure in
Washington-Slagbaai National Park. Driving itself in this park is an adventure,
so make sure you rent a 4WD vehicle if you plan to tour the park. The dirt road
is bumpy and rutted and makes for quite a fun drive. Our main goal on this trip
was to hike to the highest point of the island, Subi Brandaris, but along the
way we made sure we stopped at all the park’s highlights. One of the most
fascinating was Suplado, a blow hole where air pressure creates spectacular
splashes and hellish noises. The hike out to the blow hole could turn very bad
if you happened to lose your footing, because if you fall here you will be torn
to shreds by the jagged ironshore beneath your feet…be careful. Boca Kokolishi
was our next stop and it offered up a beautiful black-sand beach and superb
views of the coastline. Just a little further down the dirt road brought us to
our first hike on the island. Pos Mangel, or sweet well, is a nice little hike
to a rare freshwater supply. Here you will find iguanas, lizards, goats, and
several species of tropical birds. They all make the most of the pretty reliable
source of drinking water, and tend to gather in the late afternoon…plan your
hike to coincide with this gathering and you won’t be disappointed. This is one
of the best places to catch a glimpse of the Bonairean parrot and the Caribbean
parakeet. We were too early for their arrival, but we did have a nice time
hiking with the goats and playing with the iguanas. After a short time at Pos
Mangel it was time to get back on the road, we had to start our summit hike
early in order to allow enough time to complete the hike and exit the park by
5:00pm. At last it was time for our big hike, a trek to the top of Bonaire. We
made our way up the rocky slopes until we were standing on the island’s highest
point! A trek such as this one allows you to come to many realizations, and it
was on top of that hill that we realized just how lucky we are to visit such
beautiful places. Being able to see the far reaches of the island and the beauty
of the Caribbean was truly a privilege, and we count ourselves lucky to have had
such an opportunity.
Please
enjoy some of our photos from around the island of Bonaire, and if you enjoy
hiking be sure to read our in depth trail reports (complete with photos) on our
sister website Natural Born Hikers.
It would be hard to pick a bad snorkel/dive site on
Bonaire, and even harder to pick a favorite, but we did end up favoring a few
sites over others. So here are some of the highlights of the reefs where we
snorkeled and some details about what we saw, including an underwater photo
gallery below.
We stayed at the Divi Flamingo and were quite
impressed with the house reef, Calabas, for many reasons. Foremost being the
amount and diversity of marine life that we encountered while snorkeling, and to
a lesser degree the accessibility. It was so nice to wake up and hear the waves
lapping against the shore just outside our window, and to then be able to just
grab our gear, head for the Divi’s pier and be in the water in less than five
minutes. We never had to worry about leaving our stuff on the dock either; we
would just tie up our mesh bag to the lamp post and hit the water. Each day we
would find something new and exciting under the dock, and there was always the
resident fish that made the dock their home. This was nice because you become
familiar with where to find certain fish, making it really nice for photography.
The thing that impressed us the most was the amount of life you could find just
on one dock piling! Bright orange cup corals plastered the pilings and you could
always find some red-lipped blennies hanging out among the polyps. Spectacular
reef fish were always happily swimming under the pier as well. Among the species
we encountered were angelfish, surgeonfish, parrotfish, wrasse, filefish,
blennies, porcupinefish, jacks, eels, and many others. We were even lucky enough
to see an octopus! The current was very calm at Carabas and the visibility was
excellent. We highly recommend a stop at this reef, and be sure to grab a bite
to eat at the on site Chibi Chibi restaurant, the food and service is excellent!
Our second
favorite snorkel site was South Pier. Here we saw things that we thought we
would never see while snorkeling. Sponges in a rainbow of colors encrusted the
colossal pilings of the pier and numerous coral species left no spot
uninhabited. To see such a variety of sponges and corals was out of this world,
before Bonaire I would have said you must dive to see such wonders. While we
were investigating South Pier we encountered scores of tropical fish. One of the
most memorable encounters was with a group of reef squid; they were the coolest
little creatures! Watching them morph into different colors right before our
eyes was amazing! We also had a close encounter with a huge barracuda; it must
have been at least four foot long…awesome. Among the other species we happened
upon were peacock flounders, sea cucumbers, lizardfish, scorpionfish, blue tang,
angelfish, parrotfish, sergeant majors, wrasse, pompano, grouper, snapper,
goatfish, squirrelfish, trumpetfish, trunkfish, spotted drum, rock beauties,
fairy basslet, grunts, bearded fireworms, and innumerable others. It was an
identification book come to life!
We also wanted to say a few words about some of the great places
available for dining while on Bonaire. While vacationing we were able to sample
a few of the great restaurants such as Chibi Chibi, Rum Runners, City Café,
Cocos Tex Mex, Donna and Giorgio’s, and It Rains Fishes. We enjoyed each
establishment and never had a bad meal the entire trip. Chibi Chibi, located at
our hotel Divi Flamingo, was outstanding! Everything from the burgers to Chibi
poppers and Indonesian chicken sate was delicious. Pick especially liked the
tuna sandwich and the key lime pie. City Café is another great place, not only
do they have great food and great atmosphere, but they also have an internet
café where you can check your email and go on-line. We paid $10.00 for two
hours. Cocos Tex Mex will forever have a warm place in our hearts, you see our
hotel cable did not get a CBS feed and we were doomed to miss the final episode
of Survivor, that is until we spotted the TV at Cocos! We decided to give it a
try. The waitress was totally cool and let us go up and surf through the
channels hoping to find CBS, and luck be with us there it was! We finished our
dinner, great nachos by the way, and then asked if we could move closer to the
TV which sat up on a platform. She very generously allowed us to get closer so
we could hear the program, and she even let us take our chairs up so we could
sit in comfort and drink Pina Coladas while watching Survivor…you can’t ask for
more then that! Our favorite restaurant on the island was Donna and Giorgio’s.
The food is superb, we ate there twice and loved it both times! The spaghetti
pomodoro and bistecca arrabiato are to die for…check it out if you like Italian
food!
