2023-04-21 13:37:31
So quite the “Samur” does not want to fit into the Caribbean scenery. The boat, made of teak and mahogany, rocks sedately on the waves. One would rather place it in Asia. In fact, this junk, with its many hand-carved details, was built in Thailand more than 40 years ago as a floating home for a wealthy globetrotter. How does this boat get to Bonaire, at the other end of the world, 17,000 kilometers as the crow flies and even more nautical miles away from Thailand? That can no longer be explained properly.
Urs Schultheiss, 23, is only half the boat’s age, but passes for a sea dog. Which is due to the vita of the suntanned young man with the blond curls. He was born in Gran Canaria. He was four months old when his parents – Swiss people plagued by wanderlust – took him on a catamaran to the Caribbean.
The trio finally landed on Bonaire, fell in love with the coral island off the coast of Venezuela and stayed. And the “Samur”? Urs’ father found it more or less by accident, as his son says with a broad grin on his face: “After a boozy evening, he signed the purchase contract.”
Was there rum punch involved? The cocktail is omnipresent on the island paradise and is also served in abundance on the trip with the “Samur”. But only on the return trip, after all, you don’t want to see the colorful schools of fish hiding between the corals off Bonaire’s coast twice.
A beach with no name
The crossing from the main town of Kralendijk, with its red, yellow or purple-painted Dutch colonial houses to the offshore island of Klein-Bonaire, takes half an hour.
There are neither souvenir sellers nor enterprising beach lounger rental companies. Not even a bar can be found on the uninhabited islet.
In Washington Slagbaai National Park there are also such almost kitschy beautiful Caribbean views
Source: dpa-tmn
Instead, there are plenty of iguanas, which quickly disappear into the undergrowth in view of the throng of sunbathers who are approaching the no-name beach by water taxi. The “beach with no name” is considered by some to be one of the most beautiful beaches in the Caribbean.
This reputation is well deserved: the powder-sweet sand is so white that it hurts your eyes to look at it in the bright midday sun, the sea, shimmering in all shades of blue, is so crystal clear that you can spot the hordes of sea creatures even while wading through the water.
When the diving paradise was in danger
The sea around Bonaire is one of the best diving spots in the Caribbean. It is particularly beautiful on the small offshore Bonaire, which is only six square kilometers in size. The idyll with its wonderful underwater world has been successfully protected against all attempts at appropriation.
Just before the turn of the millennium, there were plans to build a luxurious hotel resort on the island: there should be posh suites with sea views and fine cuisine – and all the garbage and sewage problems that such a remote location brings with it. The waves of indignation on Bonaire were correspondingly high. The critics received support from the marine researcher Hans Hass. The Austrian diving pioneer described the plans as a disgrace for the island.
Testimony to a dark past: former slave huts on the seashore
Source: dpa-tmn
It is committed to environmentally friendly tourism. However, this does not prevent the mass of divers who start their adventure from the beach these days from driving to the entry point in a rented SUV.
In any case: Whether it was the open letter from Hans Hass or the investors who got cold feet, the gem with the offshore coral reef was spared from development and became part of the Bonaire National Marine Park.
Snorkeling with current
You don’t need scuba gear to encounter sea turtles, parrotfish or angelfish here. Snorkels and diving goggles are enough. Urs’ crew, the “Samur Buddies”, simply throws us overboard at one point and collects everyone again an hour later at No-Name-Beach. The rest is done by the current, which carries us over hard and fan corals.
Curious damselfish come within arm’s length. Snappers and grunts dig for food on the sandy bottom. Clouds of tiny little fish offspring suddenly appear out of nowhere.
Built in Thailand, today on the way in the Caribbean: With the wooden boat “Samur” we go to Little Bonaire
Source: dpa-tmn
Urs knows the diving grounds like the back of his hand. When he’s not at the helm of the junk with the rust-red sails, which is supported by a six-cylinder engine when it’s calm, he goes diving himself, preferably at the “1000 Steps” diving spot.
Other Caribbean islands may have more extensive beaches. “But where can you find such an Elysian underwater world?” asks Urs. Purely rhetorically, of course. For him the answer is clear.
Feral donkeys and flamingo colony
If you drive on land to the southern tip of Bonaire to the Willemstoren – the last of what was once three lighthouses on the island – you will see other animal inhabitants of Bonaire. 800 feral donkey tigers wander between salt lakes, mangroves and cacti as high as houses. Many of them are trusting because they naturally smell food in humans.
The population of flamingos is even larger. The sky turns pink when the hundreds of elegant fliers head off to search for food in Venezuela, which can be seen on the horizon when the weather is good. So important is the colony, home to thousands of animals, that even the island’s tiny airport has been painted pink.
Whether real or as a model: flamingos are omnipresent
Source: dpa-tmn
Washington-Slagbaai National Park is located in the north-west, so to speak at the other end of the island. In the rocky landscape with its cactus and acacia forests, the lagoons and freshwater pools, nature lovers will come across the wind-bent fofoti trees and aloe vera, which is said to drive away evil spirits and whose juice soothes the worst sunburn.
Around 190 bird species are at home here – parrots, herons, boobies and frigate birds with their bright red throat pouches.
The wounds of the past
As peaceful as the island with its 20,000 or so cheerful residents may appear today, the wounds of 300 years of slavery are still visible.
Here, on the easternmost island of the Netherlands Antilles, slaves brought from Africa had to fish salt from knee-deep pools. It was then shipped to Europe.
These salt mounds are located in the south of the island where Bonaire’s salt industry is centered
Source: dpa-tmn
“The slaves had to toil in the salt lake for up to 16 hours a day. Many became blind because of the glaring light,” says taxi driver Sidney, whose ancestors fished crystals out of the salty broth themselves.
The shimmering white salt pyramids still stretch into the steel-blue sky, only that machines and conveyor belts have been doing the work for a long time. The tiny huts look immensely picturesque with the roaring surf on the doorstep. But when slaves had to seek shelter from storms there, life was more like hell.
The garbage of the seas
Unlike its more populous neighbors Aruba and Curacao, which are now largely autonomous as “overseas countries”, Bonaire, as a former colony, is still closely linked to the Netherlands and has “special municipality” status.
King Willem Alexander’s Caribbean subjects seem quite happy to be part of the Netherlands. “It’s better for us than on other Caribbean islands,” says Uta, who has settled on the island.
Where even a container ship looks picturesque: View of Kralendijk, the main town of Bonaire
Source: dpa-tmn
Together with friends, she regularly drives to the east coast, where the sea lashes against the island with great force. Where, according to legend, the mermaid Mamparia Cutu is up to mischief, a kind of Loreley of the Caribbean, they collect the rubbish that was thrown away at boozy parties or landed in the sea in other ways and was washed up here: plastic bottles and bags, Remnants of car tires, tiny scraps of plastic.
“It has become much more in recent years,” says the environmentalist, who wants to raise awareness of coastal and reef protection. After all, future generations should also be able to enjoy sharks, rays, sweetlips and damselfish.
tips and information
Getting there: There are flights to Bonaire, for example, with KLM from Frankfurt or Munich via Amsterdam and Aruba. The flight time including the stopovers is around 14.5 hours. Costs: from 700 euros for a return flight. There are also flights to Bonaire from some US airports.
Entry: Vacationers need a passport, provisional passport or children’s travel pass, which must be valid for six months, writes the Federal Foreign Office in its travel advice for the Caribbean parts of the Netherlands.
Best travel time: Bonaire is a year-round destination because of its tropical-arid climate. Precipitation occurs mainly from October to January. The air temperatures are 28 to 33 degrees all year round, the water is always a pleasant 26 to 29 degrees.
Accommodations: Hotels are mainly in the main town of Kralendijk and on the coastal road to the south. You have to calculate from 80 euros per person per night and person. There are also holiday apartments and bed and breakfast hostels.
Money: Currency is the US dollar.
Information: Tourism Corporation Bonaire, Kaya Grandi 2, Kralendijk, Bonaire (tel: 0599 717 8322; web: www.bonaireisland.com)
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