Home again.

For our last morning in Bonaire, we settled on a mountain bike ride along the wild east coast instead of hiking.  The waves there are huge with turbulent, swirling waters all along a very rocky coast.  Our ultimate goal was to find Indian inscriptions, but instead, we found ourselves off trail and riding over coral and rock toward a lighthouse set beside decrepit ruins we assumed to be the lighthouse keepers house from years long past. We saw only a couple of local fishermen on this ride. Not one tourist. So peaceful. 

After we loaded the bikes back up in our truck, we went to find lunch, checkout and head to the airport. We arrived back in Denver late on Saturday, just in time to welcome snow on Sunday. Pictures from our morning ride are below.

Looking back on our week on the island...we are glad we got certified to scuba dive, but we feel that it took two days off of our vacation. The last night at dinner, we both said we felt like we wanted two more days on Bonaire. Of course, we are both partial to 2+ week vacations. And who wants a vacation to end!?  But scuba definitely sucked up some of our exploration time. We would have done additional hiking, biking and windsurfing with two more days. And probably would've headed back over on a kayak to Klein Bonaire with those curious French Angelfish. All in all, a great week on a beautiful breezy island. 

Most visitors to Bonaire go to dive. A lot. The reefs and sea life are incredible, the water is clear and calm, so I don't blame them. But they spend the majority of their time underwater, getting ready to be underwater or coming back from being underwater. I want to say to those people...EXPLORE BONAIRE ABOVE WATER!  Drive into Rincon and have lunch with locals, hike or drive in the national park or along the deserted east coast, visit the donkeys - basically leave the resort side of the island and explore the rest of it. It's beautiful. The people are trying to hold onto their culture in the face of Dutch control, and with more and more Dutch expats, it's challenging, but they are doing it. They are welcoming, warm and genuine. Experience island life above the water. 

Inside the house

Some of the islands 300ish wild donkeys. Many are in the sanctuary, but they estimate 300 wild with 200 of those sterilized. 

Still an awesome island.

Our last night in Bonaire. Very sad. We rarely come back to a place but this is our second trip here. The island has changed in ten years.  More population, more Dutch folks, more retirees. But also cleaner, fewer animals in need, definitely donkeys, and way less garbage. A few mountain bike trails dot the island as well. The reef is healthier than ever, sea creatures big and small are flourishing. It's nice to see. But we could do without the cruise ships docking. Yes, even on an island this small. But I'm sure it's great for business in town. Good and bad, give and take. 

On our last full day we started off with a bit of caving. First visiting a dry (hot) cave, then onto one we could snorkel in. The picture is from the first cave, maybe I'll put some cave snorkeling ones up after our disposable underwater cameras get developed. 

Next, we had lunch at Posada Para Mira, set atop a hill in Rincon. Wonderful breezes and goat stew for Tom. Captured these kids on the way, perched on an electrical box. 

We drove up a nice big hill and took an island selfie. This is the flat part of the island behind us. 

We ended with a bit of snorkeling and beach time and then a fabulous meal at Sebastians (http://www.sebastiansrestaurantbonaire.com). 

Tomorrow morning EARLY we will head back into the park on the mountainous end of the island to hike Branderis, Bonaires highest peak, before heading back to the states.  

Bonaire, you still do not disappoint. 

Our friend the donkey.

We had an awesomely busy day, fit in kayaking, snorkeling and another visit to our favorite bonaire place, the donkey sanctuary. 

First, we rented a two person kayak and paddled across to Klein Bonaire, a small uninhabited island off the coast of Bonaire. It has fantastic snorkeling off a white sand beach. We headed out over the shelf drop off and found two VERY curious French Angelfish. They were literally inches from me for minutes on end. So cool, as they're my favorite fish in the ocean. 

We ended our day with a flourescent night snorkel, equipped with blue lights and filters on our goggles. Things glow out there at night. The most cool, eels!  Bright neon yellow, who knew?

But what happened in between those two activities was the real treat. Tom got bit by a donkey. Yep, an ass, right...on...the....thumb. He had too small of a carrot with an over-enthusiastic donkey. Hehe. We think he actually might lose the fingernail, or at least get a good bruise out of it. Below, find the before picture, then the after picture of him holding a bloody paper towel to his chest while scolding the offender.

Ahhh...onto caving tomorrow!

Not diving on Bonaire. Yes, it's possible.

Donkey sanctuary, snorkeling and mountain biking. That's what we've been up to the past two days here on Bonaire. Only two more left, and more things left than we have time to do, unfortunately.  Windsurfing may not make the cut this time, there are just not enough days in a week!

Of course we visited the donkey sanctuary (http://www.donkeysanctuary.org/). They've done tons of rescue work, we see way fewer wild donkeys than we did ten years ago when we visited. We biked through the sanctuary this time. A great experience, donkeys are such gentle creatures. Take carrots if you visit, it's too much fun. 

Next we switched back to snorkeling from diving and hit the 1000 Steps site. Tons of fish and coral in about 20 feet of water. We definitely like the freedom of snorkeling versus diving. Looking at fish from above will be just for us most of the time. 

Next up, mountain biking in Washington Slaagbai Natl Park (http://www.washingtonparkbonaire.org/). We conquered a 21 mile route on dirt and gravel park roads with some serious hills and views. We will be back to hike there later this week. It was one hell of a hot ride...but satisfying. 

Tomorrow we hitch a ride to a small island across the harbor for a drift snorkel and who knows what else, the beauty of vacation. 

Break from Mtn biking the natl park, at a blowhole. 

Biking through the sanctuary. 

Tom at Benge Beach

Lighthouse on Bonaire

PADI Associates degree.

Well, we did it.  We are certified scuba divers!  We were aiming for "open water diver" (bachelors degree), but settled for "scuba diver" (associates degree). Unfortunately, Tom has bad congestion/sinus infection and his ears would not tolerate anything further than 30ish feet (I made it to 47 feet), but we were able to check enough off to get certified.  His ears actually got so bad after diving today that he has a doc appt in the AM tomorrow. Let's hope the self-proclaimed specialty scuba doc has something that'll work for him. 

Now, onto the rest of our vacation. We visited Cadushy Distillery today. They make alcohol from the kadushi cactus, that grows on bonaire. They also make cactus vodka and a rum and whiskey. The whiskey is actually infused with tobacco leaves. Cool!  So, we bought some bottles to bring home. Yum!  We also snapped some photos of the flamingos on Lake Gottamer, a smelly, briny lake that flamingoes love. 

Tomorrow some donkey love. No, not that kind of love. Donkey Sanctuary love. Bonaire style. 

The very informal distillery "tour". Just us and a Dutch couple. 

Tom enjoying his whiskey

Flamingo in flight

39 feet.

That's how far we got in scuba class today!  It was much harder and much easier than I thought it would be. The mask flood was harder than in the pool. The buoyancy was much harder than the pool. But the swimming and getting down to 39 feet was easier than I thought it'd be.  All of a sudden you're at 40 feet and you didn't even know it. 

I'm pretty sure we won't be those divers that go on dive vacations or that talk about it like it's the best thing since sliced bread. But it's fun. It has too many rules for Tom, for sure. Haha. Tomorrow we have two more open water dives before we are certified. I'm not sure what exercises are in store for us, but it'll be an adventure. Hands down.