Well, here we are in Bonaire, another island we have never seen. Bonaire is 112 square miles and is 24 miles long. The terrain is mostly flat with a very dry climate. The landscape is cactus-covered for the most part, except for the salt marshes that house up to 15,000 flamingoes. It is the biggest flock in the Western Hemisphere. The trade in salt put this place on the map, and was harvested by slaves back in the 1500's. Donkeys were imported from Spain to transport the salt to the waiting ships. Once the salt industry mechanized, the donkeys were set free to roam the island. It is estimated that their numbers have doubled since then. They survive with little water, and will eat the cacti as well as people's gardens. Besides the donkeys, there are long-haired goats and many lizards.
The city of Kralendijk is the capital with a population of about 3000 people. The entire population of this island is 18,000 people. And from what we saw today, this is certainly not a commercialized tourist magnet like Aruba or Curacao. What Bonaire offers is a diver's paradise. The entire island is surrounded with Bonaire Marine Park, 700 acres of diving paradise. There is a saying here that describes it best: on what to do – dive, eat, dive, sleep, and dive. Most vacationers are so tired at the end of their day, that this is not a big party town. Spear-fishing or removal of the coral, even walking on coral is strictly forbidden. Also not permitted to take off of the island are sea fans, conch shells, or any form of sea life. Goatskin and tortoise shell items are not allowed in the US.
Dining is far less expensive here compared to Aruba or Curacao. Deep sea fishing is popular with catches of wahoo, marlin, tuna, swordfish, and sailfish. There are few white sand beaches, but there are 180 miles of bike roads. The waterfront is lined with a mix of small hotels, apartments, and bungalows.
Not in a hurry to go off of the ship, we took care of emailing chores by the Front Desk. It happened to be in the middle of the crew safety drill, which took one hour. In addition, some of the tender boats were being lowered and tested, we assume. So far on this trip, we have not had to use the ship's tenders.
There had been an announcement prior to getting clearance, that it was mandatory to carry our proof of vaccination cards in order to gain entrance to the island. This is the first time we had to produce these since we boarding December 19th. And these were looked at quite closely local authorities, because it was asked if we were boosted as well. Yes, we are.
There was no terminal here, as we simply walked through a gate and right into the town. Along the way, there was a scattering of the typical ship approved shops, which were not all opened. By the way, the Nieuw Statendam was the one and only ship here today. Nice for us. Unfortunately, none of our crew members were allowed off once again. We did find it odd that some of the entertainers were walking the town. Later on, we asked about that, and were told that the entertainers are not considered part of the crew, and had permission to leave. But unmasked? Guess that is their choice…….
Following the waterfront, we came across Wilhelmina Park where we found a city map and a copy of the Historical Kralendijk Walking Tour. There were only two copies left, leaving us to guess there have not been many cruise ships in port recently. This was the best map we have seen so far complete with pictures and descriptions of each and every historical site. As small as this capital city is, there was a detailed map of downtown and every possible store and café that was there. We would come back to this area after walking the shoreline path.
This was where some of the apartments, small hotels, and cottages were situated facing the water. No beaches here, but there was access to the turquoise waters via boat ramps. Some of the nicer cafes were in this area too. Looking closely in the gentle surf, we started to locate many colorful parrotfish nipping away at the algae in the rocks. This area was teeming with sea life, and even though this was a small boat marina, people were snorkeling and even scuba diving. Right off of this coastline is an island called Klein Bonaire, and it appeared that ship tours with catamarans and glass bottom boats were headed in that direction.
Many convenient benches were placed along this brick walkway, most of them in the hot sun. And it was hot today, despite a breeze blowing. Good thing for sunscreen. We made it all the way to the end, where a resort cut off further access. Just as well, it was a long hike back, but scenic. Following the walking map, we located the streets that led to the downtown section. The most historic buildings were located here. After taking photos, we headed back towards the ship passing through the Wilhelmina Park. Some souvenir tables were set up here, and a three piece jewelry set was purchased by us. Most of the small restaurants were closed, perhaps until dinnertime. Those pubs that were opened were full of ship guests. So it was back to the ship for lunch of custom-made salads and lots of ice cold Cokes.
All aboard was 5:30pm, where we watched from the comfort of our veranda, as the ship pulled away from the pier. Thank goodness, by moving, we picked up a breeze that cooled us off a bit. Now this is where things got interesting. Having read about the massive flamingo population, we looked in the direction of the salt flats. It was suggested in Fodor's Caribbean tour book, that if you had powerful binoculars, it was possible to see flamingoes in flight. Yes, we had the binoculars, and we did see the cloud of pink birds flying. Always pays to do some homework.
Dinnertime was in the dining room where we tried some new starters. Barb had a seafood cocktail and we ordered spicy veal meatballs. The snapper entrée went to Barb, a pasta dish for me, and a veal dish that was really wienerschnitzel. It went well with the extra marinara sauce I had.
Before our main meal began, we had a surprise visit from Mustafa, our hotel manager, along with his secretary. As they approached, we thought, oh no, what did we do? Joking as always, it turned out their visit was a friendly one, ending with the gift of a glass of red wine for each of us. Nice touch.
Thinking we might go to the show in the World Stage, we learned from Barb that many of the entertainment venues have been cut short or eliminated, due to the low passenger count. Tonight there had been a dance show at 8pm, but not repeated again. Barb had been interested in the only dance floor option, the BB King's Blues club, but they wrapped up before 10pm the previous evening. There's always the Casino………
Bill & Mary Ann
Saturday, January 8, 2022
Report #21 Kralendijk, Bonaire Friday-January 7, 2022 Partly cloudy & 80 degrees
