Everything went right today. We got our Venezuelan visas, no problem. The ATM gave us some money. We even managed to catch one of the elusive autobuses and go for a ride.
There's a pleasant little plaza in the center of town with a Bushalte sign and several shaded benches, so we sat there and waited about half an hour. Most of the autobuses here do not have signs, but you can recognize them by the letters "AB" on their license plates. Several buses went by, but none of them stopped, even when I waved. Finally, we realized they were going around the corner and stopping across the street from the Cultimara Supermarket. There's no Bushalte sign there, so the logic escapes me, but apparently all the locals know that's the place to catch the bus. We walked over there and found two autobuses. One was already full, so we got on the other, which had four or five passengers in it. The driver knew about as much English as we know Papiamento. Luckily, one of the passengers was able to act as interpreter. The driver wanted to know where we were going. I said we weren't going anyplace in particular; we just wanted to ride around and see some of the island. The interpreter told us we couldn't do that; we had to have a destination, so I said, "Rincon." The interpreter told us the bus didn't go to Rincon; it went to Noord di Sali¤a. Immediately, I said we were going to Noord di Sali¤a. That satisfied the driver, and we took off.
The fare was six guilders round trip for the two of us, which was reasonable enough. We went out through the suburb of Antriol to Noord di Sali¤a, sometimes on dirt roads but usually on paved. The driver dropped the passengers right on their doorsteps. When there was only one passenger besides us, the driver headed in the direction of Lac Bay and the airport. We were quite close to the lagoon we'd paddled to yesterday and could see some of the buildings.
On the way back to Kralendijk, we went past the rice-processing plant. Also saw the laundromat I'd found a few days ago but never got around to taking the dirty clothes to. The driver dropped us off at the Police Station, where we'd left our bikes for security.
After lunch, we paddled over to Klein Bonaire (Little Bonaire), a flat, uninhabited island about a mile from the marina. Pulled our Royaks up on a shred of a beach and walked around. Found a fairly well-built fisherman's shelter. Saw a house in the distance that we would have liked to explore, but there were no roads or paths, and walking through the prickly bushes and cacti in sandals and swimsuits didn't appeal to us. Maybe we'll come back sometime with blue jeans, hiking boots, and long-sleeved shirts.
Paddled a little farther and found a better beach, so we went for a swim. Roy snorkeled. He told me the shelf went out maybe a hundred feet and then dropped down so deep he couldn't even begin to see the bottom.
The water here is wonderfully clear. There are lots of elkhorn corals, some poking above the surface of the water. Of course, there are lots of other types of coral, too.
We paddled some more and found an even better and larger beach. The sand was soft as silk. This beach was obviously used as a picnic area by divers; there were several shelters and a barbecue pit. Roy and I both snorkeled here. I was amazed by what I could see with the mask on. Hundreds of little fish swam innocently around me, as if I were a normal part of their environment. Two fish about a foot long swam by so close, I could almost touch them. A strange-looking fish that resembled a seahorse came right up to me to check me out. Of course, I could also see a great deal of coral of various kinds, and I could look right over the edge that Roy had told me about. He free dived down it about thirty feet but still couldn't see the bottom.
I was afraid I wouldn't be able to paddle back against the wind, but it turned out to be easier than I had expected. In fact, it was fun. What a neat day!
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