If you’re anything like me, you crave at least a modicum of solitude while traveling, a temporary reprieve from the masses and their selfie sticks. When we took the Carnival Sunshine cruise to the southern Caribbean last fall we knew ahead of time we’d require one of the three ports to be a DIY exploratory day. For us, that day of adventure away from the cruising crowds would be had on Bonaire.
Bonaire, a Dutch island waaaay down near Venezuela, is super easy to explore with a delightful little port and a Hertz rental car office a very short stroll away (a flat 10 minute walk into the compound of a sweet hotel called Divi Flamingo Beach Resort, which has a Hertz office). With wheels you can call your own for the day, you and your family can drive the entire island in a day at port in Bonaire — from the capital (and port town) of Kralendijk to the Flamingo Sanctuary south of the Cargill Salt Works and then all the way up to Washington Slagbaai National Park in the northern tip of Bonaire — and see wild flamingos in numerous places on the island, have wild goats run alongside your vehicle, get up close and personal with donkeys on the beach and huge lizards on the rocks, get into the warm crystal clear sea, and gaze out upon the foamy pink water.
My oldest daughter got the chance to see flamingos, her favorite animal, in the wild for the first time ever and my youngest kid saw goats and their kids running wild along, in front of and all around our car which brought her so much joy. This DIY day of adventure on Bonaire during our Carnival Sunshine cruise was one of the best vacation days we’ve ever enjoyed.
I cannot recommend both the Carnival Sunshine AND the a DIY day of adventure on the island of Bonaire enough for your next family vacation.
Here are scenes from our DIY Bonaire holiday!