R. Doug Wicker's Blog, page 57

Southern Caribbean Cruising — ABC Islands; Bonaire, Back in Kralendijk

Fort Oranje (Fort Orange)

I‘m glad we were let off south of the cruise port, as it afforded us some sightseeing we’d missed during our earlier morning foot tour. That building above may appear rather pedestrian until you notice the cannon to the left. It is the south view of Fort Oranje (Fort Orange), which was built by the Dutch West India Company in 1639. Although I’m pretty sure the air conditioning came a bit later, as did the fresnal lens perched atop the structure to the left. Speaking ...

Southern Caribbean Cruising — ABC Islands; Bonaire, Sorobon Beach

We reached the southern tip of Bonaire, then looped around headed north along the eastern shore. Next stop: Sorobon Beach located on the shallow, protected waters of Lac Bay. From all the people here, this is obviously the place to go for beaching, snorkeling, wind surfing, and bird watching.

Sorobon Beach on Lac Bay, Bonaire

There are several wind surfing schools here, and wind surfers zipped to-and-fro among the many swimmers.

Wind Surfers and Beachgoers Sharing the Space

Yes, th...

Fun Photo Friday — Southern Caribbean; ABC Islands — Bonaire 1

This is the first of two Fun Photo Friday of Bonaire favorites. And here is today’s photo gallery/slide show:

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)

Southern Caribbean Cruising — ABC Islands; Bonaire, Touring South

After our foot patrol of Kralendijk Ursula and I struck up a conversation with a local, who recommended the young lady you see pictured above for a tour of the southern portion of Bonaire. According to the local, the south is much more interesting than the north. So we met up with our tour guide and shared her minibus with a New York family who had recently immigrated from Haiti. Our first stop, just north of these interesting rentals at the Courtyard by Marriott Bonaire Dive Resort:

Rent...

Southern Caribbean Cruising — ABC Islands; Bonaire

The “B” in the ABC Islands stands for Bonaire, and we’re going to look at this destination over the next two weeks. That’s because, unlike “A” (Aruba) we did a lot more than just shopping. We went on a brief foot tour of the capital city Kralendijk, followed by a minibus tour that would take us to the southern end of this Caribbean Netherlands island in the Leeward Antilles.

Historical Kralendijk Walking Tour map conveniently located at the port

Upon arrival Ursula and I picked up a pap...

Fun Photo Friday — Southern Caribbean; ABC Islands — Aruba

Royal Plaza Mall

Today’s Fun Photo Friday brings to a close the “A” in the ABC Islands. Next week we move on to “B”. That would be Bonaire, and we covered a lot on that visit so I’ll be running articles over a couple of weeks. Until then, here’s today’s photo gallery:

A fun reminder of where you’ve been is to photograph a local license plate Ursula sharing a bench with a friendly cow Blue on White SharQy’s Cantina

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)

...

Southern Caribbean Cruising — ABC Islands; Aruba shopping at Noble Jewelers

Noble Jewelers — Across from Royal Plaza Mall

The store I alluded to on Monday’s article was Noble Jewelers, which shares a building with Kay Fine Jewelry (yep, that Kay’s; like the one in your local mall). But before I begin, let me assure you that I was in no way compensated for this article, nor was it requested by the proprietors at Noble Jewelers. Indeed, this article will probably come as a surprise to them once I send word of it to them. Here is the gentleman who helped us on our quest...

Southern Caribbean Cruising — ABC Islands; Aruba

This Southern Caribbean series is not in my usual chronological order. It just made more sense to me to include the ABC Islands in a single grouping rather than interspersing these three islands of the Netherlands Antilles among other destinations. And to take it a step further, I’m presenting the ABCs in alphabetical order just for fun.

Oranjestad, Aruba — The “A” in the ABC Islands

Thus, today I present to you the “A” in the ABC Islands, Aruba, as I take you on a visual tour of its ca...

Fun Photo Friday — Southern Caribbean; Cartagena Favorites 2

Next week we travel to another Southern Caribbean destination from our February-March 2022 cruise adventure aboard Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Seas. So far, and not quite in order, I’ve shown you the Grenadines (Saint Vincent and Bequia), Panama (canal and Panama City), and Cartagena. Still to go are Dominica, Grenada, Port Limón in Costa Rica, and the ABCs — Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao. We didn’t visit the ABCs in order, so I’m inclined to just go with those three alphabetical order ...

Southern Caribbean Cruising — Cartagena

Cartagena Cathedral sundial

At the southeast corner of the Cartagena Cathedral is this rather impressive looking fellow:

Cartagena Cathedral

Lost yet? Don’t let this street sign mislead you, as I’m posting it out of sequence from our walk:

Calle of the Inquisition

From the cathedral we meandered through several streets with bright colors:

Cartagena, Columbia Cartagena, Columbia

Eventually we found ourselves in Plaza de la Aduana (Customs Plaza), and there to great us was none...