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.