Kayaking Amongst the Mangroves...

For our final adventure in Bonaire, we met Hans early in the morning of our last day, for a 2-hour kayaking and snorkeling tour amongst the mangroves, whose roots you can see above. Mangroves are trees and shrubs that live in salt or brackish environments, but need fresh water to survive. They are important nurseries for many reef fish. We saw oysters and small crabs along the water’s edge. When we reached a passage through to the ocean, we got out and snorkeled. The water was murky, but we saw a huge porcupinefish and a school of snappers as well as some purple soft coral. Hans picked up an upside-down jellyfish that looked just like a plant. Afterwards, we rushed back to our apartment to finish packing, grab some lunch and head to the airport.

Caving in Bonaire...

Silly me! When Jimmy said he’d signed us up to go caving, I figured it would be like other caves that we’d visited with a set of stairs into the mouth of the cave. Imagine my surprise when our guide Hans led us to a hole in the ground and told us to start climbing down a ladder. Of course, the girls weren’t scared, but he had to assure me that the ladder was secure before I braved it.
There was another couple along plus the guide. We had to scramble down a steep hill (no pavement or lights in this cave) to reach the bottom. I’m glad I made the climb, because it was a very interesting. Besides stalactites (we learned a new hint--tits hang down) and stalagmites, there was evidence that the cave was once underwater as we saw the reverse fossils of coral. We also saw several bats, which are now on Ashlynn’s favorite animal list (tied in 4th place with snow leopards).

Getting Wet Underground...

When Hans brought us to the entry to the second cave (which he called the wet cave because of an underwater cavern) and set up a rope, I didn’t get a good feeling. Although he claimed it was an easy climb down, I decided that if you needed a rope, it wasn’t easy enough for me. I sat amongst the lizards and cacti for the hour that the braves ones were inside the cave.
After rock climbing down, they passed through a cavern to reach the underground lake where they took off their shoes and put on their snorkels. They had to be careful not to touch the bottom or muck would be kicked up and destroy the visibility. The water was very blue and clear; they saw one fish, which Hans said is actually rare to spot. They turned off their lights and felt shrimp nibbling on their legs.

Night Diving...

It was very nice that some of our neighbors at Belmar invited Jimmy to join them for night dives after discovering that I was grounded. He felt so comfortable after diving two nights in a row on the house reef that he decided to take the girls out. Technically, night diving is reserved for advanced divers. However, the conditions here are so perfect for beginners, that he figured the risk was very low. These photos were taken on the first night when he brought them out together just around the dock to get comfortable with the strange underwater world at night. The following night, he took them out one-at-a-time for a 20-minute dive on the house reef. Ashlynn was a bit freaked by the large tarpon that followed them, but loved the bio-luminescent fish.

An Unwelcome Guest...

All of Bonaire’s coast is a protected national marine park, so spear fishing is strictly prohibited. However, there is one exception: it is legal to kill the Pacific Lionfish. As beautiful as they are, this poisonous fish is not native to the Caribbean, but is an invasive predator that is killing many fish that are needed to keep the reef ecosystem in balance. There’s a theory that the lionfish might have escaped from a Florida aquarium during a hurricane in 1992. First spotted in Bonaire in October 2009, we were asked to report the location of each lionfish we saw. Click here to see a short video clip of two lionfish the girls saw.

An Unusual Easter Egg Hunt...

The girls were thrilled when they found out that there was to be an Easter egg hunt at Belmar on the Monday after Easter. Of course, this wasn’t a typical egg hunt as it was an underwater hunt for egg-shaped pieces of coral that had been painted orange and numbered. They were even more thrilled when all three of them found eggs; their prizes were a fish identification card, a small drypack and a tank banger (to get your dive buddy’s attention).

A Variety of Eels...

There were several varieties of eels in Bonaire. Not surprisingly, we mostly saw them in crevices in the coral, but occasionally saw them swimming. Check out the cool brain coral above.

Big Fish, Little Fish...

There was a huge variety of fish that traveled in schools, including the smallmouth grunt shown here, from tiny goby to beautiful blue tangs. The largest fish we managed to photograph was the barracuda above. We missed the large tarpon that showed up for the night dives.

Look at Her Go...

After the one hour windsurfing lesson, Ashlynn and Jimmy had another hour to try their new skills. Click here to see them in action. When Veronica and I returned from snorkeling, Veronica gave it a quick try as well.

Windsurfing Lesson...

After an Easter brunch at a Dutch oceanfront cafe at Lac Bay and a visit to the Donkey Sanctuary, we returned to Lac Bay so Ashlynn and Jimmy could take a windsurfing lesson. Jimmy had windsurfed years ago in Florida, but this was Ashlynn’s first time. The sheltered bay with knee deep water and gentle winds, make Lac Bay one of the best places in the world to learn this sport. It also made it a difficult place to snorkel. Veronica and I had been told it was a long walk out to the coral dam which separates the bay from the ocean, but hadn’t expected it to take nearly 30 minutes. The snorkeling wasn’t very good as it was still very shallow at the dam, but we had the excitement of seeing a lionfish, porcupinefish and a giant parrotfish.

Driving through the Donkey Sanctuary...

We really had no idea what to expect when we drove through the Donkey Sanctuary, but we were completely surprised when the truck was surrounded by hungry donkeys trying to get a bite. Us girls sat in the back of the truck and couldn’t give the food away fast enough. Jimmy had a difficult time driving as there was often a donkey’s head in one of his windows. Definitely a wacky way to spend an hour and a place we’d recommend for all visitors to Bonaire.

Donkeys on Bonaire...

Donkeys were first introduced to Bonaire in the 17th century when Spaniards brought them over to provide the only means of transportation between the interior of the island and the salt flats. Wild donkeys can still be spotted around the island, but often suffer from dehydration.
Today, over 400 donkeys are cared for at the Donkey Sanctuary, which provides food, water and medical care. They castrate the male donkeys, but still have babies to care as they adopt wild orphans.

Unusual Local Art...

I’d read about Yenny’s “Museum” on Frommer’s website, but even if I hadn’t, we would have stopped to check out the site with its unusual decorations from the outside. Once you step into the yard, you’re greeted by life-size rag dolls in various island dress.
We were especially impressed with the flamingoes, who were rescued as orphans and walked around freely. We opted not to buy any of the art, but dropped a few dollars in the donation can as we definitely enjoyed this short diversion from reality.

Our Favorite Spot in Bonaire...

We chose to pay for a larger apartment at Belmar to ensure that we’d have a 2nd storey balcony. After seeing the view, we knew we’d made the right decision. Not only did we eat all of our meals on the balcony, but we spent a lot of time out there reading, talking and admiring the view.
We also enjoyed watching the sun set, which was usually around 6:40 pm. Never did see the green flash, but enjoyed the light show nonetheless.

Beauty of Shore Diving...

Most dive sites around the world have to be reached by boat, which means living by someone else’s schedule. The simplicity of diving in Bonaire is that there are over 50 shore dive sites, easily identifiable by yellow stones alongside the road with an excellent ranking system for ease of entry, depth and current. Jimmy loved the convenience of parking the truck, grabbing the gear and walking into the ocean whenever the mood struck. This photo clearly shows where the reef starts as the water turns from light to dark blue. Many sites also had a buoy to use as a guideline.

After hanging at the resort for a few days hoping that my ears would clear, I donned a snorkel vest (an adult version of swim armbands) and snorkeled along the shore while the family dove. Remarkably, I was able to see many of the same kinds of fish, just not the same volume or the diversity of corals (at this particularly rocky site, I saw an eel in just a foot of water).

Underwater Creatures...

We were lucky that a colleague of Jimmy’s loaned us an underwater camera. Unfortunately, the quality’s not great, but I’ll post the best shots to show some of the variety of creatures we saw. This fish was Jimmy’s favorite: spotted trunkfish.

The coolest thing I saw on my one dive was a sea turtle. Ashlynn and I both missed seeing Veronica’s thrilling swim with a sea turtle on the day that Ashlynn forgot her booties and was stuck snorkeling with me. Unfortunately, Ashlynn had the camera, so there’s no photographic proof. This was one of the strangest fish we saw: trumpetfish.

First Family Dive...

I was bummed not to be able to go diving with the girls. Rather than take them out alone right away, Jimmy and the girls teamed up with Lisa, Joe and 13-year-old Chris from Boston to dive the house reef at Buddy Dive, where they saw a small sunken boat. Ashlynn liked playing in the pool with their youngest, 5-year-old Allie. We struck up a quick friendship and enjoyed dinner out together and several happy hours on the sea wall at Belmar. Us girls are already planning a visit this summer.
That afternoon, Jimmy and the girls drove near the salt flats to do their first dive with a shore entry rather than a dock. They really loved seeing the many schools of fish at the Aquarius dive site.

Exploring After Getting Ear Squeeze...

While the girls were busy becoming certified divers, Jimmy was taking me to the medical center. Unfortunately, I had a lot of problems with my ears during my first (and only) dive. I was eventually able to get to depth and had a great time, but knew something was wrong after returning to dry land and my ears continued to pop erratically and I had pain in my jaw. The doctor said there was blood in my ear canals, which is known as “ear squeeze.” He prescribed a nose spray and flu medicine to clear my sinuses, but unfortunately they remained popping throughout my trip and kept me grounded from diving. Jimmy and I spent some of the time the girls were in class exploring the southern part of the island. Here you see large piles of salt at the solar salt works; most of this salt will be shipped to the US for salting winter roads or for use in water softeners.

Bonaire is not a typical tropical island; the palm trees were imported. The natural terrain is dry and rugged covered with giant candle cactus (locally known as Kadushi). By the beautiful Lac Bay, we came across some unusually huge piles of Queen Conch shells (seen here behind the guys playing dominoes). As many of 500 conchs were taken out of this bay per month until they were protected in 1991; the piles are left to bear witness of the volume of past collections.

Girl’s First Ocean Dives...

As all good divers do, a buddy check is mandatory before all dives. The girls were in charge of assembling and checking their own gear.
We were thrilled to learn that the girls would be having private lessons for their two-day PADI Open Water course. Here they are entering the water by the steps off the diving dock at our resort; later they would do giant strides off the dock. Their instructor Job, from outside of Utrecht, has lived in Bonaire for three years. He did a great job stressing the importance of safety and knowing the practical skills while making sure the girls had fun by going out to the reef on each of the four dives. They saw several sea turtles and eels as well as a lionfish. As expected, they were naturals under the water and easily earned their certifications as PADI Junior Open Water Divers.

Fun in the Caribbean Sun...

Bonaire is not known for luxury, so we were thrilled with how nice unit #12 at Belmar Apartments was (middle balcony above). Despite a long day travelling, the girls didn’t waste any time getting into their swimsuits and jumping off the dock into the crystal clear water in front of the resort. Jimmy and I jumped into the pick-up truck that came with our apartment and went to the grocery store, which sold a strange mix of Dutch and American products, but relatively few fresh items. Veronica was so happy that they sold kosher dill pickles that she tried to sneak 10 jars into the cart on a later shopping trip. We gave in and bought 5! By the end of the trip, her eyes had changed from denim blue to green. Not sure if it was all that Caribbean sun or all those pickles.