38th anniversary means travel in Bonaire

Today marked our 38th wedding anniversary.  

What better way to celebrate than to visit a new place - Bonaire. Bonaire is the easternmost of the three islands including Aruba and Curacao that are known as the ABC islands. It has a distinctive Dutch feel

 

They claim to feature at least seven distinct colors of water here, and based on what we saw, that's absolutely true.  The water was stunning.

Our adventure today was an open-air tour of the southern part of the island.

The trip was every bit as bouncy as you might think but still comfortable and fun.  Our guide and partner in the company was born and raised in Bonaire. She did a terrific job narrating what we saw.

As we toured, she pointed out several homes. Many, like the one here, are built from shipping containers.  It is an interesting use, or reuse, of resources.

The central part of Bonaire is covered in several varieties of cacti.  In another interesting architectural move, they use them to form natural fences.

We took a drive through a protected mangrove area.  Mangrove trees are unique in that their roots come back up from underground and stick up above the surface.  While we are familiar with them, as they are all over in Central Florida, they certainly aren't as abundant as they are here in Bonaire.  Because of their hearty root structure, mangroves are very good at protecting fragile coastal areas during storms.  They have realized this in Bonaire and that's why they actively protect them.  We saw black and white mangroves - similar to what we have at home, as well as red mangroves.  The red variety has unusual roots that not only stick up above the ground but form arches, further protecting the surrounding land.

As we drove, we came upon several of Bonaire's wild donkeys.

Some were really young and were still nursing.

In Bonaire, they believe that the donkey is marked with the cross of Jesus.  If you look at their backs, you can see the vertical part of the cross extending down the animal's back.  The crossing line is harder to see, but if you look near the front shoulders, you can see it.

The donkeys run wild in Bonaire and have been a bit of a problem, causing traffic accidents as they don't really care whether a vehicle is coming at them.  They move only when they want to.

Bonaire is also famous for its flamingos. Flamingos use Bonaire as a stop during migrations as well as just spending a lot of time here.  The flamingo is Bonaire's official national bird.  Near their protected habitat, there are some folks that feed them daily and provide notice to drivers.

Juvenile flamingos that have not consumed much shrimp are more white in color.

Our only stop on the tour was Lac Bay.

As we approached the beach, there was some interesting foam that was blowing around the shore.

As it turns out, the wind hits the shore in such a way that it makes the fine salt spray into a foam that gathers at the shoreline and blows onto the shore.  Salt is a big industry in Bonaire and they still evaporate seawater to capture and then export the salt.

We got the opportunity to swim and snorkel at Lac Bay.  The water was warm and exceptionally clear.

 It was quite shallow with a large area of seagrass. That plays a large part in the clarity of the water.

Arlona spotted some conch.  It was pretty cool seeing them in the wild.  After posing for photos, she carefully replaced them in the seagrass.

Speaking of conch, it is now illegal to capture conch in Bonaire.  It used to be a food staple but is now protected.  At Lac Bay, there are piles of conch shells from days past.

As I mentioned, the water here is stunning.

We drove further south to Sorobon beach.  It was stunning, but we could only catch a glimpse as the truck rolled by as we didn't stop for photos.

After we returned to the ship we took a quick shower and grabbed lunch before venturing into town.  As we walked along the boardwalk near the ship, we saw a few iguanas, enjoying the sun.

We also noticed a bunch of crabs scurrying along the rocks.

Finally, we spotted the most amazing iridescent fish - blue, yellow, green, pink, orange, red - all on the same fish.  I wish the photos from above the water turned out better.  They were beautiful.

We posed for the obligatory tourist photo.

And admired the incredible water.

Bonaire is so infatuated with flamingos that they are inlaid on the city sidewalks.

We set sail around 4pm.  Bonaire is the last port for this cruise.  Now we have two sea days before our return to Ft. Lauderdale and the drive home.

We played trivia again, missing out by one point.  We enjoyed a nice dinner where our waiter presented us with the cake at the top of the post.  All in all, we had a wonderful day together, exploring a new place and enjoying each other.

Tomorrow, at sea and the start of year 39.  It will also be a chic night, so we'll have fun with that as well.