Heading to the North side of the island we passed several homes that took advantage of the abundance of cactus that grew on the island.  They have two main types of cactus and they are used for very different reasons.  The towering Kadushi Cactus is more like a multi-trunk tree with thousands of needles and is now being harvested for the Cadushy Distillery. The other cactus is the Yatu Cactus which is also tall, sometimes as much as 30 feet, but has fewer needles, and is often used to make fences.  This picture below shows the towering Kadushi Cactus to the right and the Yatu cactus used to make fences.

There are over 80 designated dive spots on Bonaire and Klein Bonaire with almost 80% being snorkel/dive spots.  One of the most famous is the 1,000 step dive spot where you have to hike down many steps to the beach.  Not sure why it is called 1,000 steps when there are only about 72 steps – maybe because it feels like 1,000 steps when you have all your gear and tank on your back when you hike back up to your car?  But either way it is truly beautiful.  We will have to come back here to snorkel for sure.

View from the top of 1,000 steps.

Wayne enjoying the view.

Welcoming committee at the beginning of 1,000 steps.

Eddy drove by 4 caves and told us that Flow gives tours when he is on island.  He is currently showing Bill Gates around so he is unavailable until later in June.  So, we will have to catch up with him later to do this tour.

We turned inland and explored Lagun Goto Go omeer that borders the Washington Slagbaai National Park.  In fact you can see the park across from the lagoon including the tallest mountain Brandaris which is 241 meters tall (or 748′).  Local farmers build stick fences (think beaver dams) to keep the donkeys out and away from the Flamingos (evidently they like to chase them).

We quickly arrived in the town of Rincon which is the oldest settlement on Bonaire and the cradle of the island’s cultural heritage.  This 16th century village also possess great national treasures, the only distillery on island, and hosts countless festivals and activities.    As we entered Rincon, we were greeted by a welcome sign to the island’s only distillery.  Eddy asked if we were interested in stopping and we quickly answered yes.  The Cadushy Distillery makes rum, vodka, whiskey, liqueurs, and the world’s only cactus tequila.  Everything is created at this local distillery including bottling and labeling.  They currently produce between 15-20,000 bottles of liquor a year, which is very impressive for this small operation.  They cannot export their liquor outside of Bonaire, but some of their products are sold online in Europe.  The distillery is a small space around a beautiful courtyard with many places to sit and relax.  Many birds, lizards and small creatures can be found in this area.  They also had this really unique tree called Calbas Tree which has fruit that grows right on the trunk and branches of the tree.

Yeah, another rum factory!

Pretty little yellow bellied bird sang to us for a while.

Picture perfect opportunity.

Calabash Tree growing fruit on its trunk.

The six liqueurs are created based on the Dutch Antilles islands.  Each flavor represents that particular islands history.  Read here for details.  They make two types of rum. One that is distilled for 2.5 years and one that is distilled for 5 years.   We were told that the owner started putting aside a few bottles for a private collection to age them longer than 2.5 years.  When his wife did inventory a few years later she decided that his private collection was too big and put several of the bottles up for sale.  Now, they sell a few bottles a year to keep the private collection down to a what she thinks is a “reasonable quantity”.  After the brief tour, we headed to the tasting bar where they gave us samples of each of the rums, the vodka, whiskey and Cadushy Bonaire liqueur.  As I stepped away to talk to our tour mates, Selena and Maria, Matt and Wayne continued talking to our tour guide and before I knew it they were buying a $50 bottle of 2.5 year rum.  I have to admit it was tasty and will be a nice addition to our island rum collection.

Distillery in the background and all of their liquors.

The last stop on our northern tour was the Seru Largu (Santa Barbara Republiek). Seru Largu means “large hill” and from the top, you can see the capital city of Kralendijk and the little island of Klein Bonaire. There is a monument at the site which reads in the Papiamentu language as “Kristu Ayera Awe Semper” which means “Christ, Yesterday, Today and Forever”.  Many locals drive to the bottom of the hill and use this area for exercise.  It was a little scary to me as the roads had no sidewalks and no clear place for pedestrians, but evidently it did not matter.  It was a true sight to see and one that we will certainly come back to soon.

This is a heavenly place.

At the close of our tour, I had made arrangements with Selena and Maria to do a short video for me.  I had asked them to speak to my dad and tell him to come visit me on this wonderful Dutch island.  Of course, they had to do it in Dutch!  I only understood about 10% so they could have told him to sod off, but I am sure they didn’t!  There is something to be said for being on a Dutch island when you are part Dutch. I had always wanted to go to Holland and being here makes it even more intriguing.  But for now, I will lap up all the Dutch treats, traditions, food, and language I can on the Dutch Antilles islands.