When I saw the flight deal for Bonaire hit my inbox I had never heard of Bonaire before but I’m known to be curious of places that I rarely here about and since at the the time it was the cheapest flight ever for that destination, I grabbed it. Flying out of JFK has become a normal thing for me now but this was an early morning flight (6:30am departure) so I needed to be there early. The best option I had was to take the last Amtrak train leaving DC at 10pm getting me to NY around 2am. The train ride went smoothly and thankfully it wasn’t crowded and I had the whole row of seats to myself. 

     We arrived in NY ontime and I headed to the metro to catch the E express train that I always take to JFK. Well come to find out there were no express trains running at the time and many were operating on a delay. I ended up spending more time than I wanted to waiting and had the option to take either the A train and get off at Howard Beach and get shuttles to the airport due to construction or I could wait on the local E train which would take me directly to Sutphin which pratically puts me right at the AirTran (I opted for the latter). NY spoiled me with the E express train because the E local train took forever due to it stopping at every stop and with it being now past 3am in NY I saw some interesting things on the metro (as I’m sure anyone familiar with NY can imagine).

     I arrived at the airport finally a little after 4am and thankfully there was no line in Terminal 5 (flying with Jetblue). This was going to be my first flight with Jetblue. Once at the gate I waited for the agents to arrive and asked if I could be moved from my middle seat. Upon looking up the manifest they told me I had the entire row to myself and suggested I just move once onboard. The flight wasn’t full (maybe 3/4) and even across from me there was an entire empty row of seats. I opted for the window seat and we departed ontime. I was awake long enough to get a drink but was asleep by the time snack came around. You have to apparently pay for earbuds on Jetblue as well so watching a movie was out (even though I brought some with me it was so far down in my bag I didn’t bother). I was in and out of sleep the entire time until we landed.

     The weather in Bonaire is expected to be nice all week long with highs in the mid 80’s and lows in the upper 70’s. Upon entering the small airport there is a tourist tax of $75 that everyone must pay. Going through passport control was very quick and efficient and they didn’t ask any questions. I have a rental car for my stay here (as it was recommended) so I hopped across the street to Avis to pick up my car. I’m glad that I previously secured a reservation as I saw two people come in hoping to get a vehicle but being told they had none left that they were all reserved. I did my paperwork and got the keys to my car. Rincon the area in which I’m staying is about a good 25 minute drive from the airport and the oldest town/city in Bonaire. 

     Off I went and the drive was fairly easy only a few turns but then you just take the main road all the way down. Thankfully I arrived with no issues but I had about an hour to kill before I checked into my Airbnb. There was a restaurant next door “Kos Bon So” that I had already looked up so I decided to eat there. I was told that stew is very popular here in Bonaire so I ordered a beef stew with rice and peas. As I was waiting suddenly I glanced outside and it was raining. After a few minutes it passed and I got my food. The food was good and came with a small bit of coleslaw and the beef was nice and tender; all in all I’d give it a 7/10. By the time I finished eating it was time to check-in.

     Honestly while checking in I was happy because the Airbnb looked even better than the photos as I was able to see the layout a bit better being here. It’s very quaint, clean and cozy so I was satisfied. I initially was supposed to do my Landsailing activity today in Kralendijk but the tour operator reached out to me before I departed NY and asked if we could reschedule so I will now do that activity Thursday. That freed up my day as that was the only activity I had planned so I opted to just grab food and go ahead and visit the Cadushy Distillery today. After looking it up it was only a 6 minute walk from my Airbnb so I walked over there. I heard roosters and passed a couple of stray dogs, a neighborhood supermarket and a gas station. 

     Once at the Distillery it wasn’t crowded and I was met by Tanya who asked if I’d ever had cactus liqueur in which I replied, “No.” She served up a few different flavors of the cactus liqueur they produce and then took me on a small tour to show and explain how everything is made (the process is very interesting and very detailed). I got a chance to see where they do their small batches and where they do their big batches. Not only do they produce cactus liqeuer but they have their own line of spirits as well. Back at the bar I ended up taste testing everything and after chatting with Tanya found out that she’s from Fairfax, VA. She said before that she lived in Arlington and even worked at the Pentagon. She moved to Bonaire on a whim she said 4 months after she visited and she was a diving instructor for 4 years up until covid and then she began working at the distillery part-time. Another fun fact about her is that she’s behind the website in which I used as a resource for activities in Bonaire. Her website is infobonaire.com which is one of the few English websites for the area. Ultimately it was great to put a face with the name. 

     At the bar while I was continuously tasting, I met a mother/daughter duo where the mother was from Ohio and the daughter currently lives in DC. We chatted for awhile about some of the craziness that’s going on back home but then we decided to break away from it. I had planned on getting a cocktail initially but after taste testing everything there all I wanted was some water (lol). I bought 2 small bottles of the cactus liqueur as souvenirs. They were getting ready to close for the day but I will definitely walk back around another day to try a cocktail or two. On my walk back I stopped in the grocery store to grab a few things and headed inside my Airbnb for the rest of the day. It has been a long travel night/day and by now I was ready for a nap. I laid down and fell asleep to Judge Judy and woke up (had to be around 9-10pm) and went back to sleep then waking/getting up around 11pm. 

     I ate the rest of my food from earlier and began crafting this write-up. Tomorrow I am doing a Discover Scuba Diving course because Bonaire if you didn’t know is a diving paradise. If you’re interested in diving or want to become certified this is the place to do it at. Diving isn’t something I was ever interested in honestly but if I’m here and they’re known for it, it almost seems as though I’d be doing a diservice to myself to not try it so we will see how it goes. I will say I’m excited to see what I get into while here.