Let the adventure begin!
We have stopped at our first port, which is a small island 50 miles off
the coast of Venezuela. It is part of
what was the Dutch Antilles, and is now, along with Sint Eustatius and Saba
islands, special municipalities of the Netherlands.
This is an arid tropical island in the Caribbean known for
its reefs, crystal clear waters and is rated as one of the world’s top spots
for snorkeling and scuba diving. It is
the driest island in the Caribbean and is strewn with cactus and prickly
pear. There are no trees and it is
flat. Why are there no trees? In the 1700s, trees were cut down for the
pigment inside to make paint. There is
very little vegetation that does not have thorns as the wild goats and donkeys
have eaten everything else.
My excursion today was to the mangrove sanctuary. This was an early start at 8:30 am. After disembarking, we were treated to a huge
rain downpour. Our guide assured us we
would not get wet as it was not going to rain on the other side of the
island. He was correct! We travelled through town, and out into the
“suburbs” and saw commercial buildings and low-slung homes that were painted in
ever vivid color imaginable. We turned
off the main road onto a muddy, rutted slippery road. We passed an estuary and saw birds of all
kinds, flamingos, a few goats crossing the road, and some donkeys.
Upon arriving at the staging area for the mangrove excursion,
we were instructed to take off our shoes and roll up our pants as we had to
wade out to where the “boat” was. This
boat was a huge row boat with an electric motor. Eight of us plus the guide got into the boat
and off we went. The day was pleasantly
cool and not too humid. The sun played
peek-a-boo for while.
It is amazing all the trivia I pick up on these tours. I can now tell you all about mangroves. How much detail would you like? I take copious notes and don’t want to miss a
thing in case I ever go on Jeopardy.
There are 70 species of mangroves and they only grow between 30°N or
30°S of the equator, in temperatures greater than 28°C and in salt water. The ones here are the black, red and white
species.
The black trees grow in salt water in the high tide
area. They suck up salt water and
deposit it out on the leaves where the fresh water is taken back in and the
salt dries up. It looks like a tree and
has black bark, and has air roots, which are above water, so it can breathe. The white trees try to stay dry and
assimilate water the same way as the black variety. The red trees are always in the water and are
the most important of the three varieties.
They have yellow flowers (why don’t they call it the yellow tree?) that
filter out the salt from the water so it uses fresh water to survive. There are lots of roots in the water. The reds offer protection for the coral reefs
that surround the island by filtering out sediment washed into the water from
rain, they protect the shoreline, and act as a nursery for baby fish as the mom
hides the eggs between the dense roots and larger fish can’t get to them.
One other interesting fact about trees: there are no year rings in the tree trunks to
indicate the age of the tree because the trees grow year round. Aren’t you impressed? Now you can quiz your friends and look like a
genius
.
The guide that drove us back to the ship had a most unusual
purse. It was made out of goat
hide! That’s right, the entire skin with
the hair attached. It was stunning. She said that no part of a goat is wasted,
but the handmade purse was quite expensive.
I wish I had gotten a picture of it.
I returned to the ship for lunch
and a swim. I had lunch, but never did
swim. I was enjoying a conversation with
a guest entertainer, a nice young man from England. We talked about kids, life and politics. I get to meet some very interesting people
and learn about life that is different from our pampered one.
Michael’s Turn:
No trees for me; just sand and sea!
I escorted an excursion aboard an authentic, hand made Siamese junk called
Samur. An interesting boat, it was
originally build for a U.S. CIA agent who moved it to the Mediterranean and
lived aboard for ten years. Through a
succession of owners it found its way to Bonaire and is now in charter service. We set sail across the strait to the
uninhabited island of Klein Bonaire, one of the largest uninhabited islands in
the entire Caribbean. Upon our arrival,
we traveled via a zodiac to a pristine white sandy beach (poor Beverly, is she
ever destined to see a tropical beach?) and proceeded to snorkel along the
outside edge of Ebo’s Reef. There were
lots of fish and interesting formations to see.
Perhaps the most interesting, and
certainly the most important form of sea life in the area is the Parrot Fish, those
cute little beaky things that come in about a million colors. They are critical for the environment. It turns out they eat the algae on the coral,
and at the same time chip away (with those beaks) at the outermost layer of the
coral itself. After all this is digested
and properly dealt with, just one of those little Parrot Fish, maybe just 15
inches long, will poop out one ton of sand per year which eventually turns into
that pristine while sandy beach! Anyway,
after an hour or so of this we headed back to the Samur for a rum punch and the
ride back to the Quest.
***
Beverly is back: I must tell you about our dinner. We have a specialty restaurant that does tapas,
small sample size portions. We have
dined here before and was not impressed.
They use some really exotic stuff and combinations, and pair it with
different kinds of wines. Tonight, was
outstanding, and yours truly, who likes peasant food, even raved about it. The grilled octopus ceviche was the hit of
the night with all of us (we dined with Fred and Janet). The lobster corn dog came in second. Here is the menu. Mary Lynn, I am getting some recipes for you
to try. It’s a good thing my skirt has
elastic.
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