A small island with a desert landscape. The ultimate place for divers and snorkelers who want to immerse themselves in that vibrant world under the sea.
The beauty of Bonaire is that the coral reef is a national park. Yellow stones along the roads are indicators that there is a diving and snorkeling spot. Bear in mind that you need to get a Stinapa tag to use the national parks. You can apply for one online and you need to be able to show your tag when requested.
About 1km off the coast of Kralendijk there is a small deserted island called Klein Bonaire. The most perfect No Name Beach is found here. There are no facilities available so bring snacks and lots of water along. You can get a return ticket from Kralendijk for a water taxi for 20 dollars per person.
As you probably know by now is that every trip we take at some point needs to have horses involved, no exception on Bonaire.
Swimming with horses, another bucket list goal to tick off. And needless to say an absolutely amazing experience for these equestrian girls. To go swimming with horses you can contact one of the ranches on the island to book a tour.
The beautiful candy coloured houses makes you feel like walking around in a tropical fairytale land.
Kralendijk is so small that you can walk up and down within 30 minutes and see most of the city. It has everything you need from cute shops, lovely restaurants and good Italian coffee and ice-cream.
According to Jasmine the best part of travelling to the Dutch Caribbean is that you can find all your favourite food and drinks on the islands. Which means we had dinner twice at the local snackbar ordering fries and kroketten.
These pink salt flats are amazing feeding areas for our magical friends. Bonaire’s landscape is mostly flat but despite the desolation the island is rich with bird life, including the iconic pink flamingo and many colourful parrots.
On the edge of Washington Slagbaai National Park you can find this large salt water lagoon. It attracts flocks of Flamingos especially during nesting season.
You can’t get too close to these shy feathered pink friends. Once they are interrupted, they will not return to the same spot for months.
Boka Slagbaai is the host for many activities such as bird watching, snorkeling and cliff jumping. The picture above is taken on the cliff jumping spot where we took the walk of shame back to the picnic area.
The amazing national Slagbaai Park is a protected area where you can find many ecological wonders. This spot is where sea turtles come to lay their eggs. On our next visit we hopefully can watch a nest hatch and help baby turtles to get to the sea in safety.
Along the coast you will see the legacy of a vile chapter in Bonaire’s past. These stone huts were built as residencies for the slaves who worked at the salt mines. The slaves homes were in Rincon so every Friday afternoon they would take a 7 hour hike to the other end of the island to spend a day at home, returning on Sunday back to work at the mines.
Right before departure back to Amsterdam, the landing gear of our plane got stuck on the runway after being pulled back to far. After spending the night at Flamingo Airport we were transferred to a luxury resort on Curacao because there was simply nothing else available…
It’s a hard knock life for us.