garyandpearl

The first stop after two days at sea was the island of Bonaire. It is part of the Dutch ABC (Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao) islands about 15 miles north of Venezuela. Since this was our first time here, we decided to rent a golf cart from Bonaire Cruisers and spent a few hours exploring the island. I highly recommend this excursion! https://www.bonairecruisers.com

Bonaire is known not only for being one of the best places in the world to scuba dive, but also for its salt mining. In years gone by, donkeys were an integral part of transporting the salt, but now they roam freely on the island.

A friendly feral donkey

More updated salt mining methods

Pink salty water

The climate is arid yet beautiful

Many cacti dot the landscape

I wouldn’t recommend climbing over this fence!

We drove by a Flamingo preserve,

and found many reptiles basking in the sun.

I thought of my friend, Rhonda, when I saw this one since teal is her favorite color. 🙂

Having a midday snooze

The roads and ditches are filled with pieces of coral.

Overall, we had a lovely day and managed to make it back before the golf cart shop closed for the day. I only lost my hat in traffic once, but Gary did a quick U-turn and rescued it from being crushed. It was back to the ship for more food and relaxation!