March 18th-Bonaire

In 1499 a group of explorers sighted Bonaire on one of their voyages. They found natives living in Stone Age conditions on the island. The Dutch arrived in 1634 to claim control of the island. The Dutch returned in 1816 and established plantations for the growth of dyewood, cochenille, and aloe. In 1863, the economy collapsed with the abolition of slavery. In the 1950’s Bonaire was discovered as an international tourist destination and the first hotel on the island was opened in 1951. It is now known as the diver’s paradise.

We got to sleep in today since we weren’t getting to Bonaire until 11:00am, so we got up at 8:30am. I went to the gym to work off the “desert bar” last night. The water is amazing here…..it is so light green in areas and so clear. The island is really built up, more than I expected it to be. It is only 112 square miles but looks bigger than that.

We got off the ship when we docked and walked around the shops. The water is so clear that we saw lots of colorful fish from the shore. We had an ice-cream cone……yes…..I even had Mike take a picture of me with it to prove that I had one! We made our way back to the ship for lunch and then we had arranged an afternoon tour of the island. We boarded our tour bus about 3:15pm and had a great tour guide. She told us all about the history of the island and what it was like for her and her family to grow up there. They go to school at the age of 3 and they go through High School (which there is only one of on the whole island), then most of the kids go to school in Holland.

The island is full of caves and tunnels that were made from volcanic rocks. The caves have Indian writing in them and some run from one village to another. We saw lots of Flamingos and Donkeys! When the Spanish people came to the island many, many years ago they brought Donkeys, Horses, Pigs and Goats. The horses didn’t make it but the rest did. In fact the Donkeys run wild and they are never to be killed or hurt. The Dutch people have control of the island and it is a law. They protect the Donkeys more than the people I think! If a car accidently hits a Donkey then they send an ambulance for the Donkey not the person. There are cactus and aloe plants everywhere. They use cactus to build their fences too.
There is an incredible amount of open space here to build.

We got back to the ship about 6:15pm and the ship sailed at 7:00pm.
We got ready for dinner and then we went up to the sun deck to catch the “Movie Under the Stars” again……it was, “The Boys are Back” with Clive Owen. It wasn’t that good but it is fun to do outdoor movie night. Seems like all the shows inside are comedians (if you know Mike he doesn’t like them) or some song and dance show that is corny!

So, now I am writing my blog and downloading my pictures from the day while Mike is trying to win some money in the Casino!

Tomorrow we arrive in Aruba.

Mike and Cathy