The island of Bonaire has many things to see and do.  As it is quite safe, it is common for folks to walk, bike, ride scooters, and rent small pickup trucks to cruise around the island.  We did a fair amount of walking, as well as cruised the island in a cute little blue pickup truck.

Salt Flats and Slave Huts

One of the biggest sites to see on Bonaire is actually a series of sites. They consist of the White Slave Huts, the Red Slave Huts, and the salt flats. These are all located on the southern portion of the island, and are all just off of the main road. Essentially, there are different grades of salt, and the different grades of salt were located at different ports. When ships would come to Bonaire to pick up loads of salt, they would know which grade of salt was located at each dock based upon a color coding system. There were obelisks of different colors (and the slave huts were also painted the same color) to help the ships to see where to dock. So the white slave huts corresponded to a white obelisk, the red slave huts to a red obelisk, and so on. Bonaire still has salt flats, and still exports salt, and this is something that you should not miss on a visit to Bonaire. It’s simply incredible to see that much salt sitting in piles.

There are really no words to describe how I felt after seeing the slave huts. The peak of the roof of the huts is only about 5 feet tall, so a grown man is not able to stand upright inside. The doorway into the huts is barely tall enough to sit in, so a person would need to crouch down and essentially crawl into the hut to go in our out. That man can be this cruel to fellow-men, in something as simple as providing suitable housing, is disappointing and sad.

Wild Donkeys and Goats

All across the island donkeys and goats roam free. We saw donkeys on our way to the grocery store one day, and while eating lunch another day, as well as on the northern portion of the island. The donkeys that venture into Kralendijk are much less spooked around people than those that live in the less inhabited north. Ultimately, they are just really cool to see.

The island also features a donkey sanctuary that you can pay money to visit. We opted not to go to the sanctuary, considering that we had see tons of donkeys just roaming the island. So I can’t really speak to how much it costs, or whether it is worth the price of admission.

Towns–Shopping and Dining

Kralendijk is the largest of the towns on Bonaire and its capital city, with about 3,000 people. It is where most of the resorts, shopping, and restaurants are located. Many of the restaurants are quite good. I thought the shopping was mediocre, but then we didn’t have much time to spend shopping.

Rincon is the other town that we visited. We had lunch at a roadside stop, and had really delicious Chinese food. But really this town is not geared toward tourists. It appeared to be a much poorer town than Kralendijk. The houses all over the island, Rincon included, are so colorful. So in spite of the poverty, it is still an attractive little town.

1000 Steps

One popular attraction on Bonaire is known as 1000 Steps. Many (maybe all, I guess I don’t know for certain) are marked with stones painted bright yellow, and with the name of the dive site on it. 1000 Steps is one of these dive sites, but in addition to the diving, the stairway with only(!) 72 stone steps, and the beach and the breathtaking views are also quite popular. In photographs, it’s easy to mistake the beach for a white sand beach, but in reality the entire beach is made up of pieces of dead, fossilized coral. And while visiting this particular beach, I also learned that the entire island was previously a coral reef when sea levels were once much higher. Fascinating.

Windward Side of the Island

The east side of the island is the windward side of the island, and takes quite a beating from the wind and waves. There isn’t any particular place where you need to stop to see the waves crashing, in fact you could even see them from the plane when we flew out, but getting out of the vehicle and climbing over the rocks and coral to watch the surf come in is spectacular.

A picture simply doesn’t do this area justice, so I took a little bit of video.

Flamingos

Bonaire also has flamingos! I know this is pretty nerdy, but I really do love flamingos, and have always secretly wanted a plastic flamingo to put in my yard. Think I can talk my husband into letting me get one?! Anyway, on Bonaire, the flamingos are found in lakes found on the north part of the island, and there are quite a few. We stopped along the roadside to watch them for a bit and to take some photos. We stayed in our little pickup truck, so I really don’t know whether they get spooked by people. Best practice, just stay back from them and let them be, since they are wild animals.

Klein Bonaire and Windsurfing

Klein Bonaire is an uninhabited mini island off of Bonaire. The resort that we stayed at, Captain Don’s Habitat, as well as many of the other resorts, face Klein Bonaire. It is common to see windsurfers, picnickers, and others enjoying the sandy beaches of Klein Bonaire during the daytime. Bonaire itself doesn’t have much in the way of sandy beaches, so I think this is a part of the reason why Klein Bonaire is so popular. But I was sad to see how much sea garbage washes up onto Klein Bonaire; and if there were people out picking up the trash, I sure didn’t see them. We never ventured over to Klein Bonaire, but did dive near it for a couple of our dive boat trips.

In addition to windsurfing around Klein Bonaire, we saw many people out windsurfing around much of the island. Because of the nearly constant trade winds, Bonaire is a major destination for windsurfers. And they are beautiful to watch, if you’re not the adventurous type who wants to try it.

Hiking and Biking

The island has trails for hiking and biking crisscrossing the island so if biking or hiking are your speed, this is something that you can spend quite a lot of time doing. We did a little hiking around in the north portion of the island, but stayed on the little trail. We were able to see cacti that were easily 20 feet tall, birds, pieces of coral, and all kinds of lizards. And even if you’re not in terribly good shape (I’m not), the paths are pretty easy walking and worth a little jaunt.

Scuba Diving and Snorkeling

The biggest attraction on Bonaire is the scuba diving and snorkeling. Read Part Three of my series for my thoughts on the diving. And if you’re interested in some general type of information about the island, you can read Part One.