Culture
Heritage and Scenic Drive
It seemed
as if the captain was having a difficult time getting the ship in position this
morning. The television said that we were experiencing gale force winds and
that was probably why the thrusters were working so hard.
We actually
docked at noon and our tour was scheduled for 12:30. We were in a line up for
disembarkation and it took almost 10 minutes to get onto the dock. But we found
our tour quickly and we were ready to go on time. The bus was a 20 passenger
with excellent AC for which we were very thankful. Our guides name was Ephraim
and we were all shocked and questioning when he introduced himself and told us
he was 30 years old. He looked as if he might be 15 but could be not a day
older. He was a very small person and he even wore braces.
We got away
on time and Ephraim described all of the buildings we passed and told us about
the economy and the history and the culture of the island of Bonaire . They had
severe damage in 2007 because of hurricane Ivan. The capital city of Kralendijk
is not large and the main street is only
a mile long. The entire population of this island is only 17,000
There are
no skyscrapers because there is a law that no building can be taller than
government head quarters.
We learned
that there is a basic minimum income tax of 35%. This tax pays for education,
health care and retirement. Children even go to University in the Netherlands
or anywhere else they wish for no cost to their parents. So it may seem high
but not when you consider what it covers.
Bonaire has
been called the Arizona by the sea because of its climate and the abundance of
cacti. It is unimaginable, the number of cactus. They were everywhere. They
even make living fences out of them. I got a picture of Ken standing in front
of one that is at least 20 feet tall.
Flamingo
nest here and we were hoping to see a few thousand of them and instead we saw
three, bummer!:-(
They have a
problem with wild donkeys not that different from the problem we have with
deer. They run into the road at night and can cause accidents. As a partial
solution they have a donkey sanctuary.
If you have a donkey roam on to your property you can call them and they will
come and get the donkey, bring it to the sanctuary, and pay you 25 dollars.
They tag them with bright yellow florescence tags so they can be seen at night.
One of the
main claims to fame is the creation of salt. It is a process that uses sea water
and the power of the sun. The change from sea water to salt takes about 9
months. During this time the flat lakes of seawater turn a wonderful pink color
because of the life that develops there. It is quite a site to see a pink lake
and mountains of sparkling white salt.
Our tour
also took us to Rincon Valley. We saw the slave huts and I was shocked at how
small they were. They were no more than 8x8 and 5 or 6 slaves had to sleep in
these. There was no furniture and it was not tall enough to stand up in. The
little huts were made of cement and coral. The male slaves spent their weeks
here and their weekends elsewhere with the female slaves.
We also
visited Cadushy Cactus where they make liqueurs and spirits out of cactus. They
had samples for us and it actually tasted quite nice. There was a video showing
the process of making it. Of course there was an opportunity to purchase but
since we can’t get it home we did not buy.
Our next
stop was the Magazina di Rei Culture Park. This was built between 1810 and
1824. It is the second oldest building on the island and it was used to store
provisions for slaves and farming tools. There was a small display and an
opportunity to purchase souvenirs and drinks.
We returned
to the dock area and roamed the shops for a few minutes. Ken got the flag pin
for his hat.
Then we
boarded the Emerald Princess. It was almost four o’clock and we had not had
lunch so it was definitely time to eat and get a good drink.
We saw so
much and did so much in just the three hours.
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