TRIP TO BONAIRE AND CURACAO—NOT A CRUISE: Guest Post by Sara Kras

Grote Knip Beach, Curacao

With many thanks to my friend and fellow children's book writer Sara Kras, who is one of the most adventurous intrepid tourists I know! She has been to a number of islands in the Caribbean--Barbados, Bahamas, Grand Cayman, Bonaire and Curacao, but says "I still have a few more to check out." .Here is her report on her recent trip to the islands of Bonaire and Curacao.

Bonaire and Curacao are part of the Dutch Caribbean and are located about fifty miles from South America.  These islands are usually visited by cruise ships where thousands of cruisers disembark for the day to shop for cheap Chinese trinkets or go on crazy excursions promoted by the cruise ship, such as hiking through the desert terrain, or riding a Segway through the salt flats. 

            View of a cruise ship from one of the wild coast snorkeling sites on Bonaire

My opinion is that the only reason anyone would want to be on these islands would be to swim, snorkel, or dive in the warm, turquoise waters.  Anything else would be a complete waste of time.  And so that’s what I did, pretty much all day, every day.

The water in Bonaire and Curacao is the clearest water in the world because much of the sea floor is covered in coral.  For this reason, water shoes are needed to navigate entry into the gorgeous water. 

Renting a car or truck is a must.  Before arriving I arranged one for Bonaire with a highly rated but informal company.  It was so informal that returning the car was as easy as driving to the airport, parking in short term parking, putting the keys in the visor, and leaving it, no inspections or paperwork.

Our rental on Curacao was a bit more formal but not by much.  We were picked up by shuttle at the airport and taken to a large house where the minimal paperwork for the car rental took place.

Because snacks at the resorts could be pretty expensive, we shopped at a local Dutch grocery store found on both islands called Van Den Tweel.  It was fun to browse through the large selection of different types of cheeses and meats and to try unusual Dutch sweets and drinks.

Bonaire

Each island had different characteristics.  Bonaire’s population was much smaller--only 25,000 residents.  The island was unique in that you could drive the main road which circled the island and stop to snorkel at many different wild coastlines. 

 

Coin box at the Bonaire airport to help the Donkey Sanctuary

Donkey Mural at Bonaire Airport

Along the Bonaire main road, you might see wild donkeys.  Tourists know about them and bring food to feed them through their car windows.  To care for these wild donkeys, a donkey sanctuary has been established.  Tourists can visit the sanctuary and meet the donkeys. While in line at the airport, a box with a message in English and Dutch asks for coins to help the donkey sanctuary.

We also booked a snorkeling trip with a Dutch company called Seacow Bonaire.  They took us across the pass to Klein Bonaire also known as Little Bonaire.  The water off of this small uninhabited island was filled with healthy coral, large colorful fish, sea turtles, and barracuda. 

Slave huts on Bonaire

Near the salt pans of Bonaire are several small slave huts.  These were used to house slaves who worked on the salt pans during the mid-nineteenth century.

Bonaire is the more rustic of the two islands.  We stayed for three nights and then flew in a small prop plane with a local airline called Divi Divi to Curacao.  The flight took approximately twenty-five minutes.

Curacao

Because Curacao has a higher population (150,000), it was much more developed than Bonaire.  More resorts, more restaurants, better paved roads, and more beach facilities.  

 

Tugboat Beach viewed from our lounge chairs

The first thing I did once we got to our beach resort was to swim in the warm Caribbean Sea.  The next day, we meandered to a snorkeling and diving site called Tugboat Beach located on the southern tip.  It got its name because a tugboat had sunk many years ago close to the shore. 

The beach had lounge chairs under shaded netting.  There was even a place to rent an underwater propeller, which we did.  This device buzzed me around in the water without having to move my legs.  The water was crystal clear. Brightly colored fish were seen on the way to and at the Tugboat site.

At lunchtime, we headed over to Mambo Beach.  We ordered grouper and received a piece of fish each about one inch thick and six inches long.  It was amazing.

Grote Knip Beach, Curacao

The next morning, we drove to Grote Knip Beach located on the northern section of the island.  We were able to park right next to the entrance and walked down to the relatively uncrowded beautiful stretch of sand.  I swam out to the coral area where there were lots of fish.  After my swim, it began to rain heavily, so I got back in the water to wait out the storm.

 

Colorful Willemstad, a UNESCO Heritage Site

We left around lunchtime.  We were shocked to see that the parking lot had become a complete madhouse with buses and cars trying to find places to park. Happy to leave, we headed back to the middle of the island to Willemstad to see the colorful buildings and floating bridge which make up the UNESCO Heritage Site.

The cruise ships dock their boats close to this area of the island, so the shops are full of junkie items from China.  Even the old eighteenth century buildings have been invaded by these vendors. 

To connect the two land areas which make up Wilemstad, an amazing floating bridge was built in the nineteenth century across the water.  We walked across the bridge to eat on the historical side of town.  While near the water, we saw the floating bridge shut down by sounding an alarm bell and then it swung to one side of the waterway to allow huge tankers from Curacao’s deep water port to enter the open sea.

We have been to a few Caribbean Islands. Each has their own unique environment and culture.  Because of the clarity of the water and the historic areas, these two islands have become my favorites.

 

DRY TORTUGAS NATIONAL PARK, FLORIDA, Guest Post by Caroline Hatton at The Intrepid Tourist

 

Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida

My friend Caroline Hatton, a frequent contributor to this blog, rode a boat on a day trip to the Dry Tortugas National Park in Florida, in May 2011. She took all the photos in this post except for the one above. Credit: U.S. National Park Service..

In May 2011, my husband and I and a couple of friends decided to visit Dry Tortugas National Park during a week-long vacation in Florida. The remote location, almost 70 miles (~113 km) west of Key West, the southernmost point in the continental United States, made it especially attractive. Most of the park is open water full of marine life. Seven small coral reef islands welcome numerous, diverse birds. One of them is the home of 19^th-century Fort Jefferson.

The only two ways to get to the park: by seaplane ($$$) or boat ($$).

Of the only two ways to get there, by seaplane or boat, we chose the less expensive option and lined up to board the Yankee Freedom Ferry, a high-speed catamaran. The boat left on time—but turned around to pick up passengers who showed up late, and departed again with an hour delay! Had the return trip also been delayed by an hour, we would have had 4½ hours on the island, as described. Unfortunately, later that day, the boat left the island at the regular time, truncating our visit by a whole hour! (I suppose that if the boat had returned late, it could have wrecked some passengers’ evening plans and required the staff to work overtime.)

First glimpse of Fort Jefferson as the boat arrives at Dry Tortugas National Park.

On the 2½-hour boat ride out, I sat glued to a window to scan the ocean for interesting sights, but gave up after an hour of nothing but flat water under clear skies. No land, no life form, no dead wood adrift, not even a lost Styrofoam cup. Other passengers played cards, one read a book, many slept. Since then, I’ve never gone anywhere without paper and pencil in case I get an idea for a new children’s story (or travel blog post) to write.

Guided tours of the fort start here at 11 a.m. daily.

On the guided tour included in the trip price, a Ranger shared a ton of interesting information from the past to the present. The islands were a safe place for ships, so the fort was built to defend this strategic harbor and gateway to the Gulf of Mexico. We heard how many decades and millions of bricks it took to build the fort. In the 19^th century, even before the fort was completed, it had become obsolete, because new and improved cannons were capable of breaching the brick walls. Yet it was inhabited for almost a hundred years. Soldiers, prisoners, and even women and children endured tropical heat and diseases, with rain as the only source of potable water. In the 21^st century, Cuban refugees, upon arrival by small boat to this United States location closest to Cuba, already knew the names of the Rangers on duty.

Got 14 doorways in this shot!

The trip price included complimentary snorkeling gear. But getting in any kind of water is not my idea of fun, so I skipped it.

Window view, Dry Tortugas.

What I liked best was hunting for photos to take, in and around the fort, including aligned doorways receding away, the outdoors through window openings framed with stone, abstract paintings on aging bricks by Mother Nature and Father Time, birds, and stunningly gorgeous sea watercolors.

This serious-looking tropical seabird is a Brown Noddy (Anous stolidus).

Lunch was included in the trip price. I stood last in the lunch line. When I reached the sandwich “buffet,” the only food left was one piece of bread and two slices of cheese. It was enough for me, but I didn’t like wasting 45 minutes waiting in line for it. Since then, I’ve never gone anywhere without a snack in my pocket! In current Covid times, online info indicates that lunch consists of pre-packaged sandwiches.

The view from Fort Jefferson.

Of the theoretical 4½ hours on the island, one was spent picking up the passengers who had initially missed the boat and I spent 45 minutes in the lunch line, leaving less than 3 hours to visit the place. Even 4½ hours may not have been enough for me to linger to my satisfaction. Had I known this in advance, I would have skipped this expensive outing and visited the Hemingway Home and Museum in Key West instead.

That said, on the 2½-hour boat ride back, my traveling companions had a blast tasting various cocktails while I took candid photos of the silly faces they made because of “brain freeze.” As everywhere we travel together, we had a memorable day of friendship and fun no matter what happened—or didn’t.

 

All text and photos, copyright Caroline Arnold.   www.theintrepidtourist.blogspot.com