This island has a totally different vibe than Aruba and you can feel it the moment you walk off the ship.  Just like every other port, there is a small group of shops right after getting off the ship. We had to walk a couple of blocks to get our rental car.  The buildings are well maintained and it feels newer, buildings were cleaner and neater.  

Our rental car was a small truck with an extended cab. They gave us a cooler with our rental (which she said we asked for, but we actually got it for free).  It included ice bricks, which was pretty cool. The truck was super clean and ran really well.  Bonaire is a beautiful island.  The color of the water is unreal.  

As we drove south I was exclaiming over the beauty all around us. We stopped so I could take some pictures of the water and I was also amazed by all the coral.  It looks like manufactured pieces because they are so cylindrical.  

We drove by the salt plant.  The water looks pink from all the minerals. The machines were actually dumping salt to create more salt mounds.  It was really neat to see. Along the edges of the salt pools, there is a lot of foam and the wind makes it look like soap bubbles you would have in the bathtub.  

We stopped briefly at the ruins of a house and also saw a big trough of salt pieces.  

The slave houses were unreal.  They worked with the salt. I can’t believe that people slept in there.  There was not really enough room to stand up and in order to get in and out, you needed to crawl.  The plaque said that they also kept their personal belongings inside. We saw two different sets of houses.  One set was white and the other was yellow.  They all had a beautiful view of the ocean. 

As we drove we were on the lookout for flamingos.  We saw so many throughout the day. We also saw a bunch of donkeys as well. Some of them were wandering next to the road and if you stopped they would come over to the car window. Once they saw you didn’t have any food, they would wander off.  There were also a ton of goats everywhere.  I didn’t think to take any pictures of them.  

The flamingos were everywhere. In the distance, we could see huge clumps of them in a sea of pink.  It was so cool.  It was difficult to take any pictures because they were pretty far away in the water.  

We stopped at the artesanal bakery and I got an iced coffee. It was made with oat milk and the coffee was delicious. We had lunch at a food truck that served lion fish burgers.  I was so excited because I have wanted to try lion fish for a long time.  If you don’t know, they are an invasive species and are destroying native plants and fish, so people hunt them.  They are doing a good job of it in Bonaire, but it’s a bit of a losing battle.  My sandwich was so good. They put spinach and tomato and shredded cheese.  I think she put something on the fish itself. It was white and flaky and very mild flavored. We also tried some local guava juice which was also very tasty.  The view from our lunch spot was so pretty. 

After lunch we drove up to the top of a hill for the scenic views. There was a cross up there and even though I read the description of why it was there, I didn’t retain the information. 

As we were driving to see the flamingos, we went through this town and there was The Cadushy Distillery.  My husband heard the food truck guy say you could get a bunch of free samples and a tour, so we stopped.  They first gave us a sample of the cactus and lime liquor.  It was very good.  It is called the Cadushy of Bonaire. They have liquors made for each Dutch island in the Caribbean. 

They showed us how they harvest the cactus and distill it to make the liquor on a small scale, then they took us into the large warehouse and explained that they also make five different spirits as well: Tequila, Spiced Rum, Vodka, Whiskey, and Gin.  Then you can go over and try anything you want.  I tried all but one of the liquors and the Whiskey.  It was smoky.  Two of the liquors tasted like cough syrup to me, but my husband was a fan of the orange and guava flavors.  We got small bottles ($15) of the cactus and orange. The bottles are really cool, but there is hardly any liquid in it.  They are more like the tiny bottles you buy in a liquor store. 

I should mention that a lot of the roads on Bonaire are only one lane.  If you meet someone, you each have to drive off the side of the road.  Sometimes it was like playing chicken.  I’m glad I was not driving.  

We headed to the area that had more flamingos and on the way, we saw two Crested Caracara birds.  I think the one I have a picture of was a juvenile.  It kept screeching and we saw another fly over to it and then away.  We think the other one was mom.

We saw so many flamingos. They were right near us too!  One was even walking down the road.  My husband was so happy.  He really wanted to get good pictures of flamingos and we had so many by the end of the afternoon. 

On the way back to the ship, we stopped at a beach to try out our new snorkel equipment.  I’m a big baby in the water.  I was excited to try the equipment though and didn’t wait for my husband to figure out the area for me.  Instead I started swimming around and bashed my foot on the coral in about two minutes.  I was happy that my equipment worked well for me and I even saw a few fish, but I was so flustered after hitting my foot that I called it a day. My husband got some good video on his go pro.  He said he even saw a parrot fish.

We brought the car back and stopped at the souvenir store right near the ship.  The T-shirts cost $28.  I was not happy, especially after getting such a good deal on a nice quality T-shirt in Aruba ($12).  The store was closing for the day and we didn’t have time to walk into town, so I had to make do.  

I would definitely go  back to Bonaire.  I would love to try to snorkel in a better area and explore some of their other beaches.  I just felt very relaxed on this island.  I would say it’s the most beautiful Caribbean island that I have visited so far.