Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Wild flamingos!



We walked off the ship again once the rain seemed to stop. It wasn't sunny but at least it wasn't wet. We enjoyed talking to the vendors we've gotten to know at the end of the dock selling snorkel trips, and island tours. We had rented a bizarre little vehicle here a few years ago, with two wheels in front, one in back and a cloth top, and the man who rented it to us was there renting scooters. He told us that he had seen some of the islands wild flamingos right outside of town just the day before. When he showed us where they were on a map, we decided it was within walking distance (much like cruise friend Suzan's husband G, my G thinks anything less than 6 miles is within walking distance). So we walked.

Luckily the rain held off. Fortunately, because it was so hot, the sun did too, or we would have roasted in the mugginess. Bonaire is a DRY island, semi-arid with lots of cactus. Why does it seem to rain almost every time we're here?

Finally, we saw the promised flamingos, six or seven of them, feeding in a swamp just outside of town. We were initially afraid they'd be spooked if we got too close to the edge of the swamp, but they seemed unconcerned. So as we moved around the waist deep grass around the swamp (No snakes, God, please may there be no snakes. Or spiders. Or crocodiles. (That one I was fairly confident about.)) we took a hundred zoomed-in photos, hoping one of them might turn out well.