Jerry and I got up early and went to one of the viewing decks on the front of the ship to watch as we came into port.
We didn't plan any excursions on Bonaire so we disembarked and made our way to see what we should do. The shopping area is within walking distance so we ventured out there only to find taxi drivers selling tours. We listened to one guy and took his offer. We took the North Tour which encompassed, Thousand Steps, Goto Lake, Rincon, and Seru Largoe.
It was a two-hour tour and our driver was fantastic. He stopped and showed us wildlife, pigs, flamingos, yellow orioles, donkeys and goats. He even put on a show with some kind of blue tailed lizard at one of our stops. He had sweet bread he fed to the lizard at one point he had some of the sweet bread in his lips and the lizard ate some. He definitely has a way with nature. We had an enjoyable tour and would do it again with him.
Bonaire is an arid island also but they do get a little more rain than Aruba, an average of 20 inches per year. Things did seem to be a little more green here.
This island is known for the diving. I hear that the some of the most beautiful reefs in the world are here.
At Thousand Steps we stopped and if you wanted you could go down the steps to the beach which was made up of coral. The water is beautiful there. Near the Thousand Steps is the Dutch radio station. The antennas were there up on the hill.
As we left Thousand Steps Jerry and I saw a pair of parakeets which the sign we had just read said the bird watching was great. Neither of us got the "shot" though!
There was an American radio station not far from where we had started which broadcasts all the way to Cuba and is religious in nature.
While we were at Goto Lake we saw the flamingos, lots of flamingos. It was pretty cool watching them on the lake as they were eating the brine shrimp. Our guide told us they come to Bonaire for the food and then fly to Venezuela for the water.
Our guide told us the hotels and condos are small rather than high rise type because if something happens and they go out of business not as many people are left without a job. It also is pleasing to the eye as you come into port because it looks like a friendly easy-going island as opposed to a bustling island.
There quite a few of large homes which are uninhabited most of the time because the owners are retirees from other countries and a lot of the time will build a home here and then sell to someone else.
At home we use barbed wire fence to keep things out or in whatever the case may be but here they use cacti for a fence.
We saw what is referred to as the "tourist tree" or "indian tree". The bark of the tree was quite thin and peeling and was red in color so it did look much like the tourists who never get any sun and then come here on vacation. I have had plenty of those vacations in the Caribbean! I have done better this time around as I started out with my sun block so as long as I do that I can usually keep it under control.
See our pictures here of the island of Bonaire.
Sign our guest book here