Bonaire, ABC islands, Caribbean

After Grenada, we went to Bonaire. This is one of the ABC islands. The ABC islands (Leeward Antilles, Netherland Antilles – old name) comprise Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao and are the 3 westernmost islands of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean. Bonaire is a special municipality (public body) of the Netherlands. 

The ABC islands have very different terrain and vegetation from the rest of the Caribbean islands. They are much flatter and drier with lots of cactus. Also there are many Europeans, mostly Dutch. The islands use US$ and the vehicles are left hand drive. The language is Dutch and Papiamento. This is a Creole language with mixtures of Portuguese and Dutch. Bon bini means welcome in Papiamento. Dushi means everything is good.

Bonaire is a very flat island, mostly coral, with caves, lots of tall cactus, wild donkeys and goats, salt in the south. Very famous for diving. They export salt, but import it for their own use. An eco-island with wind farms. Radio station can broadcast to America. 

We arrived at Kralendijk. The town is very small, no high rise, and not much of interest to tourists. There are some colourful buildings and it is all very clean. 

The water in the harbour is beautifully clear and blue -

I booked a tour. Firstly we went to the north side of the island. We stopped at a lake by the edge of town to see the flamingos, but there weren’t many at all.

Went past the water and oil storage places and out to the Washington Slagbaii national park. The road is very narrow but is a one way system. The vegetation was mostly cactus. Each diving area is marked by a yellow stone, this one has an amusing divers crossing sign.

An osprey holding a fish flew over the van. Stopped at 1000 Steps, about 67 steps down to the coral beach, where we saw Green Sea turtles. 

I noticed an osprey on the rock above the cave in the centre of the photo, and managed to zoom in and saw it was standing on a cactus

Through Karpata which has been voted one of the best dive sites in the world for several years. Diving is possible 365 days a year on Bonaire and many of the beaches claim to be amongst the best dive sites. 

In addition to diving, caving is also possible. There are an estimated 400 caves on Bonaire and these are recognized as important features by the locals. They are formed of Quaternary Limestone. Limestone terraces from fossil coral reefs were formed on top of the basement volcanic rocks. The Caribbean Speleological Society was founded on Bonaire and has an interesting website. Unfortunately I didn't get to see any caves. 

Onto Salina Goto, Goto Lake, where we turned inland and followed the lake. Again very few flamingos. 

Then to Rincon, once inhabited by the Arawak Indians. Went to Cadushy Distillery and sampled the cactus liqueur. Saw a calabash tree. 

The roads are cactus lined. There are lots of wild donkeys on the island, originally brought over by the Spanish for manual labour in the salt fields, but then abandoned when modern technology took over. As they roam free, they cause traffic accidents. A Dutch couple set up a donkey sanctuary, but I got the impression the locals aren't happy about this. Our driver said no donkeys are owned, but this one has a rope collar.

We went back to Kralendijk and then to the south part of the island to see the salt flats. These have a distinctive pink colour, due to algae and bacteria. Brine shrimp thrive on the algae and bacteria and these are eaten by the flamingos, giving them their pink plumage. The salt facility is owned by American Cargill and the salt is transported to the pier for export.

There were very few flamingos but saw a small group of pelicans. We went on to see the old slave houses. These were constructed in 1850 for the slaves working in the salt pans. See more here.

On the way back to town, we passed a food truck selling lionfish burgers. Lionfish were first spotted off the coast of Bonaire back in 2009. Since then they are continuously tracked and monitored to control this expanding invasive species. Bonaire wants to create demand for the fish - on your plate. Once the venomous spines are cut off, lionfish are safe to handle and - more important - to eat. And in Curacao, a studio is making jewellery out of lionfish.

Bonaire's airport is called Flamingo International Airport, and the postal service is called Flamingo Express.

Map of the ABC islands and the coast of Venezuela -

Grenada, Caribbean

Grenada was our next port of call after St Vincent. I really liked Grenada and had a good tour there. Again we couldn’t go ashore independently though could take a gov’t tour. Grenada is known for nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves, also cocoa. 

The cruise terminal is at the town of St George's, the capital of Grenada. 

The 125 year old Sendall Tunnel is by the port entrance and links the port to the carenage or inner harbour. We drove through the small town of St George’s with its very steep hills. Went up the hills out of town, views over the famous Grand Anse beach. First stop was Fort Frederick, which is next to Fort Matthew. Nothing to see of the fort, just good views over the town and harbour.

The carenage is the harbour in the foreground, with the hospital and Fort George on the hilltop -

Looking over the prison to the town and our ship -

We went across the island to the east side. As we headed down to La Sagesse  there was a huge new development built by the Chinese, orange buildings, a low income housing project from China Aid.

At the coast there are luxury hotel developments. 

Unfortunately I didn't get any photos as we drove along the scenic coast road except for this photo of a stall selling tuna

We then headed inland and up into Grand Etang National Park and to the Grand Etang lake, which is a crater lake in an extinct volcano. The volcano was responsible for the formation of Grenada and hasn’t erupted for 1-2 million years. The lake is 530 m (1740’) above sea level) and is 20’ deep. Our driver fed the fish with biscuits. On the way in we saw a mongoose – they were brought it to eat the rats in the sugar plantations. They are only small. It was definitely cooler up in the park compared to elsewhere.

Then up to a view point where I had a Carib beer. It was much cooler up here. We were lucky and saw the Mona monkeys, the only monkey on the island.

The mona monkey (Cercopithecus mona)  is an Old World monkey that lives in western Africa between Ghana and Cameroon. The mona monkey can also be found on the island of Grenada as it was transported to the island aboard slave ships headed to the New World during the 18th century. 

Next stop was the Annandale waterfall. On the way we saw a Rainbow Eucalyptus, which is native to Phillipines and Indonesia. See a Brut video. As far as I know, this is the only one on Grenada -

 

From here we went back to St George's

View of St George's from the ship. The bus station (bottom left) looks like a double storey car park.

Flag of Grenada -

St Vincent & the Grenadines, Caribbean

In January 2022 I went on a Caribbean cruise. We went to the eastern Caribbean and many of the ports we visited were new to me. We flew to Barbados to join the ship. On they way from the airport to the port, I managed to get a photo of the empty plinth that used to hold the statue of Nelson. On 30 November 2021 Barbados became a republic, which meant the British Queen was no longer head of state and it was no longer a British colony. However a year earlier, the statue of Lord Nelson was removed from National Heroes Square as he was not a local hero. The statue was moved to the Barbados Museum and Historical Society. See my blog on the statue.

The first island we stopped at was St Vincent. This is the main island of the country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles. The islands were under British colonial status until gaining independence in 1979.

The island is volcanic and very hilly and heavily forested. The capital is Kingstown, which is the main port.

Kingstown from the ship -

Blue sea at the port -

Due to Covid restrictions we were only allowed to get off using a ship's tour. And the one I chose was rather disappointing as we didn't see a great deal of the island. We drove through the town. The Assumption Catholic cathedral with its striking architecture which is a combination of styles (Moorish, Romanesque, Byzantine, Venetian and Flemish) and the police station -

Our first stop was up at Fort Charlotte. There were good views but not much to see of the fort.

Looking at the Grenadines (and rain cloud). Some of the better known Grenadines are Bequia, Mustique and Young Island. Bequia is the big island in the foreground -

We then went to the botanic gardens. These are located above Kingstown and are the oldest botanic garden in the Western Hemisphere, established 1765. A third-generation clone of a breadfruit tree came from an original plant brought from Tahiti in 1793 by Captain William Bligh (of Bounty fame). The Botanic Garden's Scottish curator Alexander Anderson took great care of these plants. Breadfruit is one of the most useful food plant in the West Indies. The gardens are a popular venue for weddings. Mahogany tree -

Pride of Barbados -

Cannonball tree

Some of the parrots called out hello as we were there. It was impossible to get a good photo of them through the netting. 

From here we drove to a beach place for a rum punch. We managed to see a small part of the hilly island. We went past the old airport at Arnos Vale which is now used as a road, and saw the new airport which is further out of town. 

Flag St Vincent and Grenadines