Equinox LIVE!! 5.5.17 Dragon of the Seas goes to the ABCs

[DragonOfTheSeas]

We passed through a small shopping area on the way to the pontoon bridge.

 

 

One artist was using reclaimed wood for signs.

 

 

I did not get a very good picture. Because I saw a sign that said no pictures! :eek:

 

 

We looked across the inlet in Anna Bay and saw Fort Amsterdam. It is mostly a facade. The government uses the inside for offices.

 

 

This is the famous street [Handelskade] with the multi-color houses.

 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

When we got to the pontoon bridge it was open. You can see the pontoon boats here lined up along the side of the bay.

 

 

Notice there are 2 women that were on the bridge when it swung over.

 

 

 

 

We were not sure how long it would be open, so we waited. I wanted to walk across the bridge. After 20 minutes we walked down to the ferry.

 

The ferry is free and takes about 2 minutes to get to the other side. If the bridge is open walk down to the ferry.

 

 

 

This is a picture of the high bridge that cars use to span the harbor. [Queen Juliana Bridge]

 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

On the other side of the bridge you are in Punda. This is the commercial side of the city. You will see the most famous building, the Penha. It was built in 1708 as a merchant house.

 

 

 

 

This was the marker for the Fort Amsterdam. We were not able to go inside.

 

 

This statue is in front of the Governor's house and is called the Antilles Lady.

 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

If you turn right at the end of Handelskade onto Sha Caprileskade you will see the floating market.

 

Local vendors and those as far away as Venezuela tie up their boats and sell their products at the Floating Market. It is mostly produce, fish and hand crafts.

 

 

 

 

Here is one of the fish boats. The Venezuelan fishermen stay in hammocks on the boats until the sell all of their catch. The economy in Venezuela is very poor at this time.

 

 

As we headed back to the ship I stopped in this shop for some retail therapy. They had nice products and good prices.

 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

By then we were hot and tired of walking. LOL

 

Breedastraat Punda is the main street leading from the Pontoon Bridge.

 

 

 

We saw this along the bay.

 

 

 

 

 

I finally got to walk across the bridge. :D

 

 

 

 

One last look from the bridge.

 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Once we crossed the bridge we were back in Ortabanda--which means "other side." This is the residential side of the city. There is an anthropological museum and several historic buildings on this side of the bay. We will have to save those for another visit.

 

 

We saw a restaurant selling Iguana soup. This is a delicacy on Curacao and Bonaire and said to provide virility. :rolleyes:

 

 

On the way back to the ship I did a little more shopping a Rif Fort. I do more looking than buying and DH spends a lot of time sitting on benches by the shops. He is a good sport.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

I know that I am a day behind--but, I will catch up by tomorrow. :D

 

Welcome to Bonaire!! This is the least populated of the ABCs. They have a population of 19,000.

 

 

This is the port area. you can see how small it is.

 

 

I had a tour arranged with Vista Tours. [excellent] I will give you details later. Time to get ready for dinner.

Edited May 11, 2017 by DragonOfTheSeas

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Just outside of the port area I met my tour with Vista tours. I picked them because they have excellent TripAdvisor reviews. I can see why!

 

We quickly left the capital, Kralendijk. [i never learned how to pronounce it] The island is mostly coral and limestone. This is a typical view.

 

 

There are only a few true sandy beaches.

 

We headed to the south side of the island to the solar salt works.

 

These low lands are divided into rectangular container basins defined by mud berms.

 

 

The sea water is pumped in and the sun evaporates the water and concentrates the salt.

 

 

Then it is pumped into other basins that evaporate it further, etc. until they have 99.9% pure salt. This began when the Dutch colonized the island as salt for the herring industry.

 

 

Today they use heavy equipment and pumps to do the work. Until the late 1800's they used slaves.

 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Nearby was a grouping of slave's houses. Notice the yellow rock with the sign '"white slave." This should have said white slave house.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was an old plantation building.

 

On Bonaire rocks are plentiful. So, they use different painted rocks by the side of the road to mark things. i.e. yellow rocks are dive sites, blue rocks are bike paths and pink rocks are hiking paths, etc.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

This is how they get the salt on the ships. It is just poured in from a conveyor belt. Containers would cost more than the salt is worth.

 

 

There used to be four salt operations and ships would be told where to go by the colored obelisks. [only 1 left]

 

 

 

Bonaire is all about nature and we headed to north to see it.

[wallie5446]

Ok! Caught up wîth all the live threads!

We are doing this route in Nov, our third time on the Equinox. There are a few that were on the MG cruise going too.

 

Thanks for the great pics.

EW

Edited May 12, 2017 by wallie5446

[DragonOfTheSeas]

This is a Brazil wood tree. It is used to make red dye. Notice the huge termite nest on the tree.

 

 

 

We saw lots of nature along the way, but Goto Lake is my favorite area.

 

 

 

 

I can't get enough of this area. The picture do not do the lake justice.

 

 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Bonaire is very arid. It rains mostly from November to the beginning of January. So, cactus is everywhere.

 

 

The flamingos are famous. We saw lots of these in the lake and at the salt flats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We saw this baby donkey and its mother. I had to take a pic.

 

[SCGirl3211]

Love your photos. Will be on the ABC Islands in March.

 

 

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[MixerDave]

Bonaire is very arid. It rains mostly from November to the beginning of January. So, cactus is everywhere.

 

 

The flamingos are famous. We saw lots of these in the lake and at the salt flats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We saw this baby donkey and its mother. I had to take a pic.

 

 

We have a lot of flamingos here in Florida, but most are plastic stuck in people's lawns:D

[jemttill]

Aww...there were real ones at Hialeah Race Track in Miami!

 

 

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[Lorey2007]

Thanks for the great review and fabulous pictures.

Have you had a chance to go to any of the evening shows in the main theater? This is our first cruise with Celebrity our last 3 cruises were with NCL and their theaters had the worst seating of any of our cruises. The seats were so uncomfortable, small & crammed together I'm hoping Celebrity's are better. If you went what did you think?

[DragonOfTheSeas]

We have a lot of flamingos here in Florida, but most are plastic stuck in people's lawns:D

 

Ha Ha Ha. :D

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Thanks for the great review and fabulous pictures.

Have you had a chance to go to any of the evening shows in the main theater? This is our first cruise with Celebrity our last 3 cruises were with NCL and their theaters had the worst seating of any of our cruises. The seats were so uncomfortable, small & crammed together I'm hoping Celebrity's are better. If you went what did you think?

 

The Equinox theater is very comfortable. The seats are cushy. DH is 6'3" and finds he has plenty of space.

 

We have only gone to one show this cruise. One reason is that we have late dinner seating and the shows for that are at 7 pm. That is usually when we are getting ready for dinner and/or have a pre-dinner drink.

 

Also, we were on this ship 2+ months ago and the production shows are the same. [although the headliners are all different]

 

Our 2 dinner couples have been to all of the shows/entertainers and have said how talented they were. The Las Vegas Tenors were very popular. Also, the female singer yesterday made one of the women cry. [story about her father]

[Stella777]

About the Cactus....I watch Swamp People where they hunt alligator and harvest cactus for sale in their spare time when not hunting alligator. The cactus is sold for landscaping purposes. It was interesting how they uprooted and wrapped the cactus to prevent damage to it.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Stella--there is another silent disco tonight at 10. It is being held in the Solarium. I guess they will remove all of the loungers. It will be a much bigger space than the Quasar lounge it was in last time.

 

We plan to attend. I will let you know how it is.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Before I leave the topic of Bonaire I want to mention the last time we were here. We took a Catamaran excursion with Woodwind. They do snorkel tours. [and I think dives]

 

We did 2 drift snorkels around Klein Bonaire. [the small island off the coast] This is where the best coral is. You can see the island through the life preserver. There are no facilities of any kind on the island.

 

They are an incredible company. They provided the top of a wet suit to keep you from getting sunburned. They had masks in glasses prescriptions. I was able to see perfectly through the mask. There were 3 crew members and a photographer that swam with the 25 or so participants. The owner had a group of 3 participants that were total non swimmers. She guided them along.

 

It is a lot harder work than it sounds to just drift in the ocean with the current. There are still small swell. I was exhausted--but, happy when the day was over. Woodwind is consistently listed as the top tour on Bonaire and I agree.

 

We did not do this again because I wanted to see what was on land. . . . but the true beauty of Bonaire is in the sea. [Where else would you find diver crossing signs] LOL

 

 

 

pic from the photographer on our trip:

 

 

 

You can take a water taxi to Klein Bonaire and snorkel on your own. [$20 RT]

[DELTABLUE]

A little late but signing on! Dragon...thoroughly enjoying cruising along with you and seeing all you are experiencing. The underwater pic above is breathtaking! Will be following along for the rest of your trip.;)

[villauk]

Enjoying your review immensely :). We've on Equinox next year to the ABCs. Would you say Bonaire is the best place for snorkelling out of the 3 islands? Even though I'm not confident in the water, so unlikely to participate, the rest of our group love the water and it would be great for them to explore the sea life ;).

[Stella777]

Stella--there is another silent disco tonight at 10. It is being held in the Solarium. I guess they will remove all of the loungers. It will be a much bigger space than the Quasar lounge it was in last time.

 

We plan to attend. I will let you know how it is.

 

OK, I will be looking forward to your take on the disco. I was going through my videos on my kindle this morning and forgot that I had videoed the silent disco when I was on the Anthem. I'll have to show it to you once we cruise together again.