Scuba Diver Ocean Planet Issue 06/2016 | Page 38

EAT, SLEEP, DIVE, REPEAT

There are also hiking trails,
but this is best before the
searing noon sun is at its zenith.
Either the 90-minute Lagadishi
Loop, past ancient stone walls,
a blowhole and the beautiful
coastline; or the two-hour
Kasikunda Trail, which leads up
a challenging path to the top of
a hill for panoramic views. You
should see parrots, beautiful
pink flamingos, skitty parakeets
and iguanas.

SOUTHERN SALT FLATS
AND FLAMINGOS

© 123RF/Kjersti Jorgensen

Historically, salt as a commodity
was the root of struggles
between European factions
in this part of the world. The
eventual Dutch takeover of
Bonaire, close to four centuries
ago, served to underscore salt’s
value. Salt production slowed
with slavery abolition in 1863,
but in the 1960s, a US company
designed new solar salt works,
revitalising the industry. The

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hand. Their only tools were
simple wooden rakes. At night,
they slept in the stone huts
at the edge of the salt pans.
Today, at Cabaje, the people of
Bonaire have restored a dozen
of these structures as a solemn
reminder of the island’s dark
days of slavery. These cramped
quarters, built in the mid 1800s,
are waist-high, with small doors
and no windows.

SLAVE HUTS

Harvesting sea salt proved to
be a long and tedious process.
Lacking enough manpower,
the Dutch imported African
slaves, many from the Congo
and Angola, to work on the
salt pans. They spent their days
wading through the slushy
brine, sifting salt crystals by

© 123RF/Patricia Hofmeester

© Wikipedia Commons/Jerrye and Roy Klotz MD

flat shoreline allows the sea
to fill shallow pools, known as
salinas. As the salt water sits,
the sun and wind evaporate the
water, leaving the salt behind
to crystallise. Expect to see
strange pink lakes and huge,
snow-white salt cones against
bright blue skies.
Bonaire is one of the few
breeding grounds in the world
for flamingos. More than 10,000
flamingos live on the island,
some in the north and many of
them in Pekelmeer, a 55-hectare
sanctuary created by the
current owner and operator of
the solar salt facility. Flamingos
are not naturally pink but
grayish-white. However, they
change colour from feeding in
the salt pans. Here you will see
a series of pools; some brown,
some green, others coral red
depending on their levels of
algae and bacteria. The rosier
colours reflect higher levels of
saline. Shellfish, which live at
the bottom of the ponds, eat
the salt-loving bacteria that
produce the same red cartonoid
pigment found in tomatoes and
red peppers. Flamingos, in turn,
eat the shellfish, resulting in
their familiar pink hue.