Bonaire is quite difficult to find on many maps, mainly because it's so small. It's one of several Caribbean islands which have long been part of the Dutch West Indies along with Curacao, Aruba and St. Maarten, all within the Lesser Antilles.
We arrived about 9:30 in the morning, a very civilised time, as most people had finished breakfast by then. So there was quite a big crowd on the outer decks to watch the harbour pilot climb aboard and take us safely in to the small concrete jetty, which was considerably shorter than even Black Watch's moderate length.
I assumed that ships the size of Britannia wouldn't be able to moor to such a small jetty as this, but we were told later by our guide that in fact they can.
Our first views of the port, and adjacent moorings for smaller boats, gave the impression of incredibly clean waters and a well regulated system for visiting craft. We later discovered that small visiting craft can't drop anchor anywhere around the coast because doing so damages the coral, so they're only allowed to moor to designated bouys, hence the neat lines.
As we gently moved into contact with the jetty, the harbour pilot boat set about taking something like a dozen long lines from Black Watch to onshore bollards, in addition to the lines going to the jetty itself.
Excitement over, we reported to the Neptune Lounge to be grouped together for the various trips. Some were going to sea ......
Others like us, staying in the port of Kralendjk, reported to the waiting tuk-tuks.
Within a few yards we stopped again because she'd spotted a fairly large iguana, right by the harbour road. Apparently they eat iguanas here, so it didn't seem to be a good place for it to hang out.
A bit further on we stopped again to avoid running over a lizard. Although they seem fairly numerous on Bonaire, our guide was very keen to minimise our impact on the island and its wildlife. This one was quite large.......
A bit further on still, another stop by a beach revealed a lovely turtle swimming past, reasonably close to the shore. My first view I think of a wild turtle.
After we'd left the tuk-tuk, this pair of birds strolled right up to me.
Then, being quite hot, the bar on a jetty looked rather inviting. Jim and Christine seemed to have had the same idea and accused us of following them around, but I think we were there first. So it was rum punches all round.
Eight rum punches later (between us) the coastguard arrived by boat and we thought we were about to be arrested for being drunk and disorderly.
But fortunately not. They were there because someone had caused significant damage to a hire boat by essentially sinking it. The owner was understandably distressed as his livelihood was possibly a write-off.
And that was our short time on Bonaire. Back to the ship for a sunset departure and another lovely dinner.
No comments:
Post a Comment