Caribbean Compass Yachting Magazine May 2016

P. PACKER
LEARNING
OUR ABCS
DESTINATIONS
Part One: Bonaire
by Priscilla Packer
MAY 2016 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 26
Downwind All the Way!
My husband, Hugh, and I arrived in Bonaire early one morning in August, after a
glorious downwind sail from Martinique punctuated by beautiful starry nights.
It is the time of year when the greatest numbers of shooting stars appear, and
since it was a new moon, the stars were even more visible. It was like a fireworks
display up there, and some were incredibly bright, burning right across the sky and
leaving a long trail of light-dust: “Wow,” was what went through my mind, as I
watched, awestruck.
Although we did not catch any fish on this trip, just a lot of algae, we did help the
seagulls with their fishing: we noticed a lot of them circling around us for long periods
of time and realized it was because, as our 43-foot aluminium sloop, Anemos,
plunged through the surf, we were flushing out lots of flying fish that flew like dozens
of silver arrows, skimming across the waves. The birds would then dive-bomb them
like crazy, trying to catch their dinner.
Discovering Bonaire
Bonaire is part of a group of islands known as the ABC islands, for Aruba, Bonaire
and Curaçao.
When you approach Bonaire from the south, it appears very flat. The southern end
of the island is mostly occupied by mangrove, inland lakes and salt flats. As we got
closer and the light improved, we could make out huge white dunes of sea salt.
The island is shaped roughly like a boomerang, the convex bit facing the swell to
the east, the concave bit facing west offering calm waters and sheltering a smaller
and even flatter island, Klein Bonaire, in its middle. The latter is uninhabited and
surrounded by coral reefs, a haven for seabirds. Since the whole of Bonaire and Klein
Bonaire were made into a marine reserve in 1979, the waters here are incredibly rich
and clear. This is why Bonaire is a Mecca for divers and snorkelers, with a majority
of dive sites accessible directly from the beach. We checked this out almost immediately,
as jumping from the boat tied to a mooring buoy just off the town quay, we
discovered a real-life aquarium!
First Impressions
Having left the dinghy at Karel’s Bar and Restaurant, we got our first look at the
town of Kralendijk: neat and colourful (lots of bright yellow and orange) with some
low Caribbean-style buildings with peaked roofs and dormers each side extending
over shady verandas, but also some Dutch-style ones, tall with upright facades ending
in decorative gables.
We were struck by the number of banks, jewellers and estate agents. In the town
centre there were several smart little shopping malls selling expensive clothes, sunglasses,
perfumes and knick-knacks: once we realized this was a cruise ship destination
we understood better this outlay of luxury.
At the Customs office, the smart uniformed officers there were pleasant and chatty,
and the procedure quick and simple. One of the officers, having established that
I was French, was happy to try out his few words in the language. He told me the
origin of the island’s name: it comes from the French “bon air”!
Because of the ban on underwater fishing, you are asked to hand in any spear gun
you may have on board.
Afterwards we set off to roam around town. We got a map and lots of leaflets at the
tourist office (also a good place to arrange a car rental), bought some UV-protecting
shirts for snorkelling at a Scuba Supplies shop and met a helpful guy called Don in
one of the many dive shops around here. To go diving or snorkelling in Bonaire, you
must purchase a “dive-tag” (US$15 for snorkelling, $25 for diving); this gives you
access to all of the beaches and dive sites as well as the National Park. You must
follow the rules issued by the Marine Park authority.
Above: Hugh in front of mural depicting Captain Don, a local hero
Below, left: Salt dunes and marshes
Below, right: Priscilla at Oranje Pan, one of four landmarks
erected for the salt-collecting ships
Snorkelling and Diving
This island has become a divers’ paradise in good part due to Captain Don, a legendary
figure here. Don Stewart arrived in Bonaire from California in 1962, on a
70-foot schooner called Valerie Queen. He decided to stay and he took over management
of the only hotel at the time. He was a keen diver and having discovered the
beauty of Bonaire’s waters, he set up the first diving operation here. He was also a
pioneer in reef and coral protection and many Bonairians feel it is largely thanks to
his initial efforts that the island became so popular with divers. Bonaire attracts up
to 25,000 divers a year and the Marine Park is recognized worldwide as a model.
One day we took the dinghy across the channel to Klein Bonaire, tied up to a buoy
— the Marine Park authority sets up diving buoys at all the sites — and jumped in. The
site was spectacular, with a narrow sandy
ledge bordered by coral, then a steep cliff
falling off into the blue yonder — le Grand
Bleu — the variety of coral shapes and
colours, the multitude of fish, so beautiful
in stripes and spots and dots of all the
colours of the rainbow. One I find particularly
pretty is called the parrotfish: they
have a big beak-like mouth that must be
very hard as they lunge at the coral and
seem to bite off bits of it. I read somewhere
that they can actually digest the stuff then
reject what’s left in the form of fine grains,
thus contributing to the formation of sand.
They all mill around, opening and closing
their mouths rhythmically, as if they are
talking non-stop to each other.
On another occasion, we went to a couple
of dive sites with Anemos, having
established that those buoys could take
boats up to 45 feet. The first one was on
the southeast side of the islet so was
exposed to the waves that kept rocking
the boat, but the dive was great fun. We
then moved on to a slightly quieter spot
for another snorkel, followed by lunch and
a siesta: tough life!
Salt Marshes, Birds and Mangrove
We rented a car for a couple of days and
drove past the airport towards the southwestern
end of Bonaire, the kingdom of
salt marshes and flamingoes. The first things you see are the enormous salt dunes,
glimmering white in the sunshine. The very flat landscape reminded me of the
Camargue in southern France, the water a shimmering pink colour. There are a lot of
birds here, not only flamingoes, but herons, ibis, pelicans, something that looks like
a plover and all sorts of other marsh birds I admired but could not identify.
We learnt about how the slaves not only collected the salt in the unforgiving sun,
but also loaded it into big baskets that women carried on their heads to fill the hulls
of small wooden boats that would then be rowed out to the big ship waiting at
anchor. The salt was mostly taken back to Holland, as the Dutch were great consumers
of it to prepare salted herring, a national delicacy. We saw the very low concrete
huts that were built in rows, used by the slaves to get out of the sun and also as a
place to store tools and personal belongings.
At regular intervals along the southeast coast of Bonaire, you come across tall obelisk
shapes: there were four of them, in four different colours, white, red, blue, and
orange (the colours of the Dutch flag, plus orange as the national colour), which were
used by the ships as landmarks to know where to anchor for the next salt load.
—Continued on next page