Bonaire is a Caribbean island which forms part of the ABC islands. Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao are three islands closely located which are all special municipality’s within the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the western most group of the long arc of Islands, known as the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea.
Bonaire lies 50 miles (80 km) north of the Venezuelan coast and 20 miles (32 km) east of Curaçao. The capital is Kralendijk.
The northern part is hilly, with a peak, Brandaris, 787 feet (240 metres) high, while the southern part is flat, with desert like vegetation.
We have cruised into Bonaire on numerous occasions. However they have recently introduced a US$75 per person visitor tax so less cruise ships are stopping at this delightful island. This is perhaps why the tax has been introduced as some Caribbean Islands dislike the influx of thousands of tourists who arrive by cruise ship and spend very little of the much needed foreign exchange, which boosts their economy. They are perhaps trying to encourage the single destination holiday maker who stays in their hotels, eats in their restaurants and gets a greater understanding of the eco-systems they are trying hard to protect. There is lots to do and see on Bonaire and our trips have included visiting Goto Lake. This used to be a well known area for large flamboyances of flamingo. However every time we have visited there have only been a couple and the main Flamboyance have now made Pink Brine Lake their home. Goto lake is still a charming, picturesque place to visit.
The island grows a lot of cactus. In the centre of Rincon The Cadushy Distillery can be found. It makes a unique Cactus liqueur which has won awards and has created another tourist destination.
During our tour we saw several wild donkeys. These were originally used for labour by the Spanish, who brought them over with them, in the 17th Century. As modern technology took over these animals were no longer required and left to roam wild. there is a Donkey Sanctuary on Bonaire which also attracts tourists.
We have thoroughly enjoyed touring around Bonaire and seeing its many varied sights.
On leaving the Island by Cruise ship you get a great view of the salt pans and the piles of extracted salt. Since the Dutch gained power in the 17th Century, salt has been an important export. The extraction declined at the end of slavery. Today it is once again in full production after the industry was revived by Cargill’s a Canadian company.
Our ship..The Sapphire Princess…cruised into the port on Penang Island. This is an island of Malaysia, (114 square miles/ 295 square kilometres) lying in the Strait of Malacca off the northwest coast of the Malaya peninsular, from which it is separated by a narrow strait whose smallest width is 2.5 miles (4 km). Penang Island is roughly oval in shape.
We were up early because we had a full day of exploring and sightseeing. Penang might be small, but it has a wealth of history and culture. It is known as the culinary capital of Malaysia.
We started our day in the UNESCO-listed George Town. It houses Hindu temples, Buddhist pagodas, faded Chinese shop fronts, and crumbling relics of Malaysia’s colonial past, while further afield, you’ll find dense jungle and white-sand beaches in Penang National Park, which is the smallest national park in the world.
Our tour included visiting: Wat Chayamangkalaram Temple, a Buddhist Temple. It is situated on Lorong Burma Road, opposite Dhammikarama Burmese Temple, it is the oldest Siamese temple in the state. The temple features one of the world’s longest reclining Buddha statues as well as several coloured statues and other mythical creatures. The Buddha measures 33 m (108 ft)from end to end. It was incredibly hot and humid in the temple and I have to admit to sitting down in the doorway, catching what ever breeze there was, while John wandered around.
Our next tour stop was the wonderful temple Kek Lok Si. Situated strategically on a sprawling hill, Kek Lok Si is often called the jewel in the crown of heritage temples in Malaysia, and has been identified as one of the largest and finest temple complexes in Southeast Asia. It is known not only for the beauty of its historic buildings, which attract thousands of tourists every year, but also for being a center for Chinese culture and Buddhist teaching. The scenic view of the hills outside the temple complements the temple’s beautifully designed rooflines which really enhance the facade of the Kek Lok Si Buddhist Monastery.
Our next stop was the Museum….an actual wedding was having their phot-shoot in the museum, what a wonderful occasion for the bride and groom…. Once again after a walk around the heat overtook me and I found myself sitting on a seat enjoying some intellectual conversation with my new found mate !!!!
Feeling a little overwhelmed by not just the heat but also the sheer size and majestic beauty of the temples our tour continues on to Entopia – the Butterfly Sanctuary . It began its journey with David Goh, a young teacher with an interest and passion for butterflies, setting out to establish a tropical butterfly farm as a tourist destination in Penang. In 1986, this self-taught entomologist, founded the tropical world’s first butterfly and insect sanctuary, known as the Penang Butterfly Farm. The sanctuary has more than 15,000 free-flying creatures amid more than 200 species of plants. Entopia doubles as a research and conservation center for butterflies, insects, and their habitats. Both John and I have a passion for butterflies so this was of great interest to us…a truly magnificent Sanctuary.
Our final visit for the day was too Craft Batik, one of the pioneers of Batik factory’s on the island. The Batiks produced have became an icon of Malaysia. They produce an array of unique hand-drawn Batik and hand-blockprinted Batik as well as the combination of both, called hand-painted Batik. Motif of flora and fauna are the main subject that have been adopted in the design of hand-drawn Batik, while the hand-blockprinted Batik adopts mostly an abstract design. It was totally fascinating going around the different printing tables and watching how the different styles of printing, hand and block, was done. Then it was, of course, a visit to the shop…it would have been rude not to buy anything….so a couple of purchases were made to take home as gifts for family and friends.
Penang is certainly a very interesting place to visit. We could quite happily have spent a week there doing the things we did, at a slower pace, and seeing more of the sights. Whilst driving from place to place we caught sight of some gorgeous looking white sand beaches. A really beautiful state of Malaysia. …… Note to self …future holiday destination.
The waves were really crashing in during the night. They woke me a couple of times and I could not only hear their force but also felt as if I could feel it. Finally back to sleep and didn’t hear John get up and join the sun lounger saving brigade…oh! we are hypocritical!!! But sometimes if you can’t beat them you have to join them. I woke about 8.00 am, John was sitting up editing photos and uploading to our 2Jsworldofadventure Flickr account which you can find at https://www.flickr.com/photos/worldwildlife/
He once again took on the task of making coffee…unfortunately the plug socket which worked yesterday no longer wanted to do its duty…having tried all plug sockets we decided we would wait a bit and see if the electricity strengthened…after all during the night several, lights in the bedroom, which had never worked, decided to flash on and off several times….sure enough half an hour later the kettle started to boil…yeah coffee time…
We headed off to breakfast at 9.00 am and our friendly Floor Manager, told us he was The Food and Beverage Manager…the FBM …he has a great sense of humour…he added “ But I do everything else as well”, which actually he does. He also has a great memory and from day one he remembered we both have black coffee no sugar, no milk, fruit, pancakes and toast, no eggs or omelettes. Having finished with the breakfast ritual, we retired exhausted to the sun lounger, John had earlier reserved….even though some one had already nicked one of the parasols, we still managed to get some shade.
The waves weren’t quite as big as on previous days so quite a few from several hotels were in the sea…The waves were still too rough for us to venture in, so we had several pool swims instead and enjoyed watching others braver than ourselves.
Having had a doze we both looked out across the sand to the sea and said in unison “Mad dogs and Englishmen, go out in the midday sun” ….sure enough it was midday and a jogger who could of been English went past us on the sand..Really!! In this heat !!! …time for the cool solace of our room. We went down for lunch and occupied our usual table. The FBM came for a chat..
Having eaten, the chef came out of the kitchen to ask what we wanted for supper as he was about to go and buy fresh fish…after a brief discussion he said he’d get me some tuna….i love it straight from the sea….and John fancied jumbo prawns again…..That sorted we took up residency on our sun beds again. I was pleased when the 2 couples of Russians who had arrived yesterday decided to go into town….One of the men was loud and his tone was always brash…. it interrupted my peaceful ideal world. We had a swim and a long chat with a family who had been there for two weeks. They were Ukrainian, but the day before war broke out they had gone to Moldova to carry on to Romania for a holiday with their 2 children, they have been living in Moldova ever since. It was interesting talking to them and learning about their views.
We spent a little more time sunning and beach watching.
As the heat of the searing sun began to disappear we returned to our room and virtually packed our bags. Tomorrow Suminda will be collecting us for our transfer to the airport.
Our friendly FBM came to say goodbye as he was taking his daughter to Colombo. We gave a tip big enough to make him smile and thanked him for his kind service.
We went for supper at around 7.30. Our chosen meals were soon served….I am afraid my tuna became a bit insignificant and I turned into a green eyed monster when I saw Johns…
I am certain we would have called them lobsters!!! John was kind enough to give me a mouthful…yuuuummmmmy!! The elderly Indian and English couples who we had been chatting to for a couple of days ( the 2 men met at Oxford University probably 50/55 years ago and have been friends ever since) had ordered baked Red Snapper it looked devine and the chef carved and deboned it at the table. What a lovely meal. We thanked the chef profusely.
With the FBM on leave it meant the Manager had to stay late. Some guests arrived around 7.30 ish accompanied by, we can only presume, the owner. Suddenly everything was singing and dancing…the water-feature wall was switched on, the shallow end of the pool it seems is a jacuzzi, all frothy and foaming..wow… I asked the manager why in 4 days of staying we hadn’t experienced this…no answer..I said perhaps we just weren’t VIP enough…he looked embarrassed and said “ no, no, not at all”…..but that’s what it felt like….the hotel had been full at the weekend and even then it wasn’t shown off at its full potential, but when the owners friends arrive that’s a different story…what a shame……when we got back to our room the bathroom leak which had been fixed was no longer fixed and a steady drip began to soak through the 4 towels we piled up …
Having said that…the FBM and the Chef were superb and the waiter lads were very professional, it’s just a shame that some of the facilities are hidden and only aired for the very most important guests. However we retired to bed happy with our great meal and our last few sun drenched days.
I started planning our holiday to Sri Lanka in November 2023…… after lots of research I came up with the following…. I then phoned and googled for best flight price … it really is amazing the difference in prices. I must say that the direct flight on Sri Lanka Airways is only a little more expensive than the indirect which tend to go through Qatar or Dubai and have the most anti-social connections for people of our age who really don’t want to be waiting for hours for the next plane or boarding at 2-3 o’clock in the ‘wee’ hours….so direct flight it was….
Rosie Price at DialAFlight – UK tel no. 0161-841-8179 – rosie.price@dialaflight.co.uk gave me the best price by several hundred pounds. She is a wonderfully friendly lady with a very appealing persona. We got chatting and she asked if she could do anything else to help us…. my usual response was ‘its ok we will do it ourselves’ …. after all how difficult can it be, we do DIY Safari in Africa bi-annually so this I felt sure would be no different. BUT … Rosie made me laugh and said ‘go on give me your itinerary and I’ll give you a price’…. so I thought no harm in this and I sent her the below with the prices on. Two days later she got back to me with a price £500 less than I could do it myself.. WOW, WOW… a no brainer …we have booked through Rosie at DialAFlight. Ok! it didn’t include evening meals and when we came to book one or two of the hotels they had no longer got vacancies so I selected alternative ones…but all through Rosie and we have the security of being booked through a company, which is great as we are newbies to Sri Lanka. Thanks Rosie …rosie.price@dialaflight.co.uk. UK tel no. 0161-841-8179
DAY
DATE
PLACE/ACTIVITY/HOTEL
COST £
RUNNING COST
1
4/2/24
Heathrow Sri Lanka Airways
1694
2
5/2/24
Arrive Colombo midday – driver 25 days. Stay 3 night stay at Ayuowan Guest House B&B with supper although may source cheaper when there. Visit sights of Colombo with driver,
1022
2716
3
6/2/24
123 + 120
2959
4
7/2/24
5
8/2/24
Transfer to Wilpattu 3.5 hrs Stay at Cloud 9 B&B Full day safari in Wilpattu
139.00
3267
6
9/2/24
169.00
7
10/2/24
Transfer to Anuradhapur 2.5 hrs. Visit Sacred City on the way and old capital. Stay at Hotel 4 U Saliya Garden B&B
27.00
3294
8
11/2/24
Transfer to Sigiriya 1.5 hrs Visit Sigiriya Rock & Polonnaruwa on way. Stay at The Nature Park Villa deluxe double 2 nights with supper added A full day Safari in Minneriya Natioal Park
56.00 + 28.00
3378
9
12/2/24
213
3591
10
13/2/24
Transfer to Kandy 3 hrs via Dambulla cave Stay at Elegant Hotel Deluxe Double B&B 2 nights Visit Temple of the Tooth & evening cultural show or Night food walk – source when there.
154
3745
11
14/2/24
12
15/2/24
Kandy to Ella via train train tickets Stay at Hotel Eminence Shire Ella View the Demodara Nine Arch Bridge by car.
42.00 29.00
3816
13
16/2/24
Transfer to Yala 2.5 hrs stay at Grand Tamrind Lake Hotel for 4 nights with supper added Full day safari in Yala block 1 Full Day Safari in Yala block 4&5 Full day safari in Udwalawe
244.00 + 104
4647
14
17/2/24
15
18/2/24
123
16
19/2/24
131 229
17
20/2/24
Transfer to Marissa 2hrs stay at Sea World Boutique Deluxe Double with Sea view B & B optional supper included for 4 nights Whale watching Visit Ahangama to view stilt fishing
199 128
5138
18
21/2/24
164
19
22/2/24
20
23/2/24
21
24/2/24
Transfer to Hikkaduwa 2.5 hrs via Turtle Hatchery at Kosgoda Stay at Sapphires Seas Beach Front Hotel for 4 nights Superior double sea view ground B&B Visit and explore Galle
2 J's World of Adventure 