We had a very slow start this morning, even though we intended to get up early to leave the boat by 8-830am. By the time we got to shore, tied Sweet N Low up, walked to where we thought the car rental place was it was blazen hot. I mean no breeze, sweat dripping in places you didn’t know sweated hot! I know you are feeling really sorry for us now, right? Along our walk, we did come across this really cool painting on the back of someone’s garage.
Cultural art on the back of a garage.
We got lost searching for a rental car place and walked for over a mile before we found a Budget. Unfortunately, they did not rent cars from this office but they were willing to drive us to the airport where they could accommodate us. An hour later we were on the road to the Washington Slagbaai National Park. Since it was late in the morning, we decided to stop in the town Rincon to have lunch since there are no places to eat in the park and our cooler was full of beer and light snacks. Eddy, our tour guide, suggested we try the Rose Inn. Time has come to a complete stand still in this local restaurant in the heart of Rincon. The Rose Inn has been a cozy, popular outdoor venue for ages and you can still order plenty of authentic local dishes under the trees. Wayne tried goat stew, I had chicken stew, and Matt had the fresh fish. It was pretty tasty and the beer was really cold. Even though it was a bit pricey, we will probably find our way back here.
As we were leaving Rincon, we spotted a strange site…what’s wrong with this picture?
Why is there a real phone inside the phone booth?
Just before you enter the park, you come across the windmill farm which is the home to 12 windmills that provide part of the power for the island. Makes for a pretty picture too.
Windmill farm.
We learned that if you buy your snorkel or dive permit ahead of time you get a discount off your $25 ticket to the park. (If you buy a $10 snorkel permit you get $10 off, if you buy a $25 dive permit you get to enter for free). Our park passes are good through 12/31/17. There are two driving paths you can take, one is 2.5 hours long and the other is 1.5 hours long. Both require a truck or high vehicle as the roads are rough. Since we had a late start and ate lunch in Rincon, we only had 3 hours in the park which was a bummer as there were several things we wanted to do. So, we had to make a change of plans. We would drive the long route today and come back tomorrow to do the short route, hike Brandaris, and snorkel. So, we headed off, bumping along in our pickem up truck, we stopped at Playa Chikitu which is the only park with sand dunes.
Playa Chikitu
The next stop, Suplado Blow Hole was one I had been looking forward to seeing as I love blow holes. Suplado means “spectacular” and it did not disappoint!
insert video blow hole
Malmok is an important historical and geological site where you can find evidence of past hurricanes and tsunamis. The ruins left behind are from the 19th century Malmok lighthouse which was built, but never lit.
Malmok lighthouse ruins.
Playa Benge had a rocky terrain so we moved on to Play Funchi. Wayne and I stayed in the truck as Matt just wanted to pop out to take a photo. As he was coming back we noticed a pack of iguanas, big and small coming toward the truck-a small invasion. It appeared they wanted the shade. As Matt hopped in, one large iguana lept on to the front passenger tire and dared us to move! He eventually jumped off but only after we moved the truck forward and back a few times.
Seriously, you want me to move?
The next stop, Wayaka Beach has three dive/snorkel sites (I, II, III). Since, we were planning on snorkeling here the next day, we just peeked and admired the pretty water! Until tomorrow.
Wayaka Snorkel Site II
The last stop, Boka and Salina Slagbaai is home to another flamingo sanctuary and they were out in full force! The boka, or bay used to be one of Bonaire’s two main ports. The name Slagbaai is Dutch for “Slaugher bay” as goats used to be slaughtered and salted next to the bay before being exported to Curacao. Luckily, the old port buildings are now used as picnic areas.
On the way out, which is an hour long bumpy ride, we saw a few jack asses that Matt tried to befriend, but they were not having anything of it.
Mr. Ass did not want to have anything to do with Matt, much to his dismay.
Stay tuned for our return trip to Washington Slagbaai National Park where we hike Brandaris and snorkely Wayaka II.
