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Bonaire is part of the ABC islands--Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao.
Its main appeals are abundant bird life, pristine diving,
and a well-protected reef. Snorkelers and divers can fin over
gardens of elkhorn and staghorn coral, and through schools
of parrotfish, angelfish, wrasses, and nurse sharks.
The Caribbean island is 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of
Venezuela. Bonaire is part of the Netherlands Antilles, a
federation including Saba, St. Eustatius, and the Dutch half
of St.Martin. The tropical island is home to more than 170
species of birds--it's one of only four places in the world
where flamingo colonies breed.
Actually, flamingos outnumber Bonaire's human population,
whose history dates to A.D. 1000. The Caiquetios, part of
the Arawak Indians, are believed to have sailed from what
is now Venezuela. Petroglyphs and rock paintings created by
the Caiquetios still line cave walls on the island. The Spanish
interpretation of the name the Caiquetios gave their island
was "Boynay."
In 1499 explorers Alonso de Ojeda and Amerigo Vespucci landed
on Bonaire in Spain's name. Because of the island's dry climate,
which did not foster agricultural development, the Spaniards
moved the Caiquetios to the island of Hispaniola to work as
slaves on plantations. In 1526, the governor of Bonaire, Curacao,
and Aruba, began raising cattle on Bonaire, and brought some
of the Caiquetios back to work on the ranches. The work force
was supplemented with convicts from Spanish colonies in South
America.
The Dutch took over Bonaire, Curacao, and Aruba in 1633,
and Bonaire soon turned into a plantation of the Dutch West
India Company. Convicts and slaves worked the salt pans. At
Rincon, you can see where the workers lived in cramped stone
houses. Antriol, which is now the capital Kralendijk, was
another center for the settlers and slaves. Slaves suffered
rough living conditions through the mid-1800s, until slavery
was abolished in 1862.
The Netherlands lost control of Bonaire and Curacao to the
British at the beginning of the 19th century. In 1816, Bonaire
was returned to the Dutch, who built Fort Oranje and later
a lighthouse nearby.
Throughout its history, Bonaire has depended on salt production
as a major part of its economy. In 1837, four obelisks were
erected near the Salt Lake to help ships find their way in
to the dock to load up on the spice. In the mid-1800s, however,
the salt industry declined, mainly because slavery was abolished,
and the government sold the salt pans to a private company.
The entire region benefited from the discovery of oil in
Venezuela, Aruba, and Curacao. With added revenues, Bonaire
developed its roads and harbor. During World War II, hundreds
of captured Dutch Nazis and Germans were held on Bonaire in
wooden shacks. Following the war, the inhabitants of Bonaire
pushed for more autonomy, and in 1954 Dutch Queen Juliana
granted the island self-rule. It still is a Dutch protectorate.
As tourism began to grow, the island converted the Nazi camps
into the Hotel Zeebad, and the wooden shacks were turned into
stone bungalows. The tourism industry was aided when the Flamingo
Airport expanded in 1972.
In the early 1960s, Bonaire enacted legislation to protect
its parks and other natural resources. Today the island protects
sea turtle eggs and nests, and it bans spearfishing. It is
also illegal to break coral, sell it, or take it for any reason
from the sea. In 1980, Bonaire established the Bonaire Marine
Park to further protect its fish and coral reefs. The attention
to preservation allows Bonaire to reign as one of the most
serene, intact nature retreats in the Caribbean.
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