Bonaire 2024 (page 8 of 9)

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Day 8: Feb 17, 2024

Exploration day! We can't dive 24 hours before flying so this is our day to finally check out the island. We got breakfast at Buddy's first (it's included in the price, so it would silly to skip it) and then headed out.

First we stopped at MultiShop because it was recommended as a "locally made gift shop" and it was near Buddy's. We saw some things we liked but didn't buy anything - we could be back before the 2 PM close time. We then headed out to do a Northern Island Car Tour, based on a driving tour Mike had downloaded. It was very good. We made all the stops recommended, including the 1000 Steps shore dive location. It is really only 77 steps but we were REALLY glad we didn't attempt this in full gear! It was a bit treacherous going down normally, let alone strapped into 80 lbs of gear! We saw the closed gates of Bopec and right next to it saw some flamingos not far from the road. It was near the Goto Lake, where we saw a few more but none as close as this. Once we got to Rincon, we made a stop at the Cudushy Distillery. We had a couple samples (they make their liqueur from the inner peel of the cactus on the island) and bought a couple bottles of cactus beer to try. We also bought a liquour and tequila that will hopefully make it home with us. We made a few more stops along the way including seeing some of the east shore wild waves & wind, as well as wild donkeys. We've seen road signs warning to watch out for wild donkeys and seen their little manure piles, but had yet to actually see any. One stop along the east shore solved that - they were just hanging around. This was also where we saw a sign advertising a future drag strip! Near the end, we drove to the top of a large hill Seru Lagu that looks out at the entire island. It was a great stop to rest and relax and look out at everything.

We then headed back into town for a bit of shopping. We were hoping for locally made items but we couldn't find much, just typical cruise ship shops, other than one local glass artist. We headed back to Multi Shop near Buddy's to pick up a couple things (a turtle for Greta's collection and a seahorse necklace made from beach glass) and dropped off a couple things at the room. Then we headed out back to downtown for a couple other things we'd seen at shops that we wanted but because they had a later closing time than the place near Buddy's, we left it for later. We picked up a tarpon bottle opener and then went to a glass shop again where we got a flamingo. We were torn between the flamingo an a seahorse, but decided on the flamingo as Bonaire is one of the few places in the world to see wild flamingos, where as we (hopefully) will see a seahorse again in the future. Plus, the melded glass seahorse figure was very delicate looking and we worried about getting it home, whereas the flamingo was a much more solid looking piece (we hope). Then we were off for our South Tour.

We went past the Salt Pier again and got pictures of the salt piers, the pink salt lakes (AMAZING), as well as other things further south, including slave huts from the West Indies Trade years. The wind was incredible again today - far on shore we were getting salt spray, and scoured by blowing sand. The kitesurfers were amazing to watch - some would fly up into the air doing spins & other moves. We started seeing some flamingos further south than we'd seen the prior day, but now we had the "good" camera and Mike got some excellent pictures. We went around the southern corner of the island, stopped for a bit at Sorbonne to watch the windsurfers - they also were amazing at what they could do - even spinning in the air and turning around again. After that, we had the choice to go through the donkey sanctuary (which was highly recommended) or the mangroves. We chose the mangroves as we'd already seen some donkeys, it was getting late (things tend to close early here) and we wanted to see what the mangroves offered. At first, it wasn't much - no standing water, and the mangroves seemed far away. But then OH - A FLAMINGO! And then another one! And then a group of four! And there were donkeys ahead too! It was a good end to the drive - flamingos, donkeys and some grarled looked trees & scrub bushes. We ended up driving right up through a street we'd ended up on a few days earlier by accident and were able to make it all the way back to Buddy's with no issues or need for directions.

All week, whenever we've been shore diving and today when exploring the island, we've brought water and ice bricks (made from other water bottles that are frozen) in a little collapsible cooler we got as a give-away in Aruba, many years ago. It still works great!

We got back to our room, put away our stuff and got everything packed - tomorrow will start early (leave at 5 am from Buddy's). Mike went to check us out of our room and they took care of all that and sent him back with two hearty sack-breakfasts! Since we were leaving earlier than breakfast started, they wanted to make sure we were well fed! Then we headed back to town for one last meal. We parked the car and walked along the shore again looking for a place to eat. Most places seemed too full or too fancy for what we felt like that night. We opted for a quieter spot called Pedro's further down the street. We had a couple drinks but the food took a LONG time. What was coming out of the kitchen looked really good but it as for the few other people who'd gotten there ahead of us. Eventually we did get our food and an apology for the lateness (it is island time, of course) but it was very good. Mike had a salmon sandwich and fries, and Greta had catch-of-the-day (mahi mahi) and fries. Then back to Buddy's for the last time. We checked in our car, and then headed back to the room to wind down before our travel day.

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