Bonaire Donkey Sanctuary and Lac Bay

We did quite a bit of scuba diving while we were in Bonaire. My husband took all of the video and pictures of our dives with his GoPro. I will have to figure out a way to get them into a post about our dives on another day.

On one of our non-dive days in Bonaire, we went to the Donkey Sanctuary. The sanctuary was established in 1993 to care for sick, wounded, and orphaned donkeys. There are now about 700 donkeys in the sanctuary. Fees for visiting the sanctuary and shopping in the visitor's center help fund the donkeys care.

Donkeys have been living in Bonaire for hundreds of years. They were originally brought over by the Spaniards in the 17th century. We saw many wild donkeys while we were driving around the island and had to dodge a few while on the roads.

The donkeys know that vehicles are a source of food so they stick as close as possible to your car as you drive through.

Boogs said it should be noted that "objects in mirror are closer than they appear" was a very true saying on this drive. Some of the donkeys trotted beside the truck for quite a ways.

In the middle of the sanctuary, there is an observation tower. You just have to be brave enough to leave your car and climb the stairs.

Boogs and I took off running for the stairs as soon as the truck stopped. My husband waited a minute and was surrounded by the time he left the vehicle.

 The donkeys waited patiently by the truck the entire time we were in the observation tower.

 We cautiously climbed back in the car. Luckily, the donkeys were not aggressive.

As we were leaving the tour road, we noticed this couple beginning their tour on a scooter.

They were very brave. The donkeys quickly surrounded them and easily kept pace.

There are also areas for iguanas on the property. The iguanas were very shy and did not want to pose for a picture. I snuck up on this guy and snapped a pic before he quickly ran off.

 There is also a small turtle sanctuary on the property.

We left the Donkey Sanctuary and then decided to drive to Lac Bay at Sorobon Beach. On the way we stopped and looked at the preserved slave huts near Salt Lake. It is so sad to know people were enslaved and forced to live in these tiny huts and forced to work on the salt flats.

The historical marker said that 4 to 6 people lived in these huts. So sad.

 We continued on to Lac Bay and had to stop and take a picture of this sailboat. This picture does not do it justice. There were so many different shades of blue and turquoise in the water. It was beautiful.

We arrived at Lac Bay a little after lunch time. Lac Bay is known for windsurfing. You can take lessons and rent the boards and sails for windsurfing. The bay was extraordinary. As far out as the horizon in this picture, the water was only about 3.5 feet deep. That little dot person on the right side of this picture was Boogs out in the water.

The buoys in the picture protected several areas of sea grass. Other than those areas, the bottom was smooth white sand. It was amazing.

We did not bring the GoPro on this day so the only pictures are from my phone in a protective case. I wish I could have captured the beauty of this bay. Boogs spent about four hours playing in the water.

 We all walked out to a floating dock. In the picture below, the little white building on the distant shore is where we started walking. The water never even got up to my waist.

It is very windy in the bay. That and the shallow water is why it is such a good windsurfing spot. Boogs and Daddy said this was their happy place.

 Boogs decided to jump off the dock when I tried to take a picture of him with daddy.

 There he goes.

We had such a relaxing afternoon. I spent part of it sitting in the sun on a beach lounger reading a book. We had a yummy dinner from the snack bar and enjoyed the quiet day.

It was fun to watch the windsurfers zooming across the water. I decided not to try windsurfing. I do not have very good balance. Boogs was happy just playing in the water. He thought windsurfing looked like a lot of work.

This was our last day on Bonaire before we headed home the next day. We had a wonderful trip. As soon as I can get the diving pictures off the GoPro, I will post about our diving days.

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