@Sea Feature Article--Bonaire

Bonaire: In Tune with Nature

Mark Carroll

Bonaire is alive with colors and history. Waters gleam and wildlife abounds on this small boomerang-shaped island -- the eastern most of the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao, respectively).

In the capital town of Kralendijk, pastel-colored building fringe a pristine harbor. Dockside bars and restaurants serve patrons beneath the powerful glare of the sun as divers disappear beneath the green and turquoise water. Visitors are greeted with friendly words in Papiamentu -- the native language of these islands, but the locals seem well versed in English, Spanish, and Dutch. Frequent honking horns are honking "hellos" more than anything else.

Bonaire's thriving flamingo flocks usually provide the brightest colors around, but at sunset, the sky wins out.

Bonaire has long been at the forefront of environmental conservation. With an economy largely in tune with the island's natural resources, it is not surprising that Bonaireans take such good care of their island. Recognizing that brilliant white beaches and crystal blue waters are a beacon for divers from around the world, Bonaire has dedicated ALL of its coastal waters as a marine park. The taking of any life, coral or otherwise, from the water is strictly prohibited and heavily fined. In addition, there are coastal areas in which diving is banned altogether, allowing the natural environment to thrive with no outside pressure.

Bonaire's extreme conservation efforts show. Other than the windward beaches, where plastics wash in on the crashing waves, the island is immaculate (beach plastic is not a Bonaire problem, but a global problem).

On the saliñas of Solar Salt Works, massive piles of salt sit ready for shipping off the island.

On the hilly northern end of Bonaire is the Washington-Slagbaai National Park, a terrestrial preserve that cradles a healthy diversity of life. Green iguanas perch on rocks, soaking up the heat of the sun. The ubiquitous wild island goats dash across the dirt roads of the park and disappear into the cacti-covered hillsides. Over 100 species of birds fill the skies and the trees and thorny underbrush -- the most famous species that makes a home here is the magnificent pink flamingo.

Almost ready for collection, the drying salt the island's salt pans cracks in the heat.

Although at one point threatened, the flamingo is now doing quite well, thanks in no small part to Bonaire's conservation efforts. By setting aside sanctuaries for the skittish birds, the island successfully helped the stumbling population to rebound. The island is now home to one of the largest congregations of flamingos in this hemisphere -- reportedly over 10,000 during the peak of the breeding season.

The island's intense sun and arid weather make it an ideal location for salt production.

Seen from an alley between colorful streets, a local man stolls through downtown Kralendijk.

To accomplish this, large flat salt pans called saliñas are flooded with sea water which is then allowed to evaporate under the heat of the Caribbean sun. This leaves the ocean's bountiful salt filling the pans, ready to harvest. In the the interim, flamingos feed on the dense concentrations of organisms in the drying pans. The largest of the flamingo sanctuaries rests on the extensive saliñas of Solar Salt Works, the salt production company that dominates the entire southern tip of Bonaire.

Although these parks and sanctuaries ensure the protection of Bonaire's natural resources and economy into the foreseeable future, the island's past has a darker side...

The same salt pans that are helping to save the flamingos were once worked by slaves. In the 16th century, well before the advent of refrigeration, salt was the chief preservative for meats. As a result, the precious material was in great demand. Large stone obelisks were erected on the island's rocky shores to guide seafaring vessels to the saliñas where slaves would emerge from their waist-high stone quarters to load the ships salt.

The slaves were both African and Arawak, the native peoples of the islands, forced into slavery with the arrival of the Spanish at the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th centuries.

Remarkably well-preserved red cave drawings, dated to around 1000 A.D., lie hidden within the caves of Bonaire.

While the Africans were part of an established slave trade at the time, the Arawak had come from Venezuela 500 years before, and had established themselves on these islands. Fascinating and well-preserved Arawak cave drawings still mark the walls and ceilings of several of Bonaire's mysterious caves. These undecyphered symbols are a cryptic link to the island's pre-colonial history.