The Caribbean is a wonderful place…

This is sunset from the tiny beach on the south side of Kralendijk (how to pronounce), the capital city of Bonaire. Yes, the sunsets really do look like that.

I’ve visited many times, and still find it fascinating. It’s a desert island that’s managed to preserve its reefs in good shape–and the fact that it’s a desert island means that the water around the island is supernaturally clear. Because it’s in the tropics, it’s also warm and just about perfect.

But for as many times as I’ve been there, I still have a few questions–I suppose I’ll always have questions, but let’s start with these. Can you SearchResearch the answers?

1. “Slagbaai” is the name of a large park on Bonaire. What does the name Slagbaai” mean?

2. Bonaire is now a desert island, but it used to be covered in a forest that was dominated by a particular kind of tree. What kind of tree was so dominant? Why was it heavily logged?

3. Can you find an early / historic period image of Bonaire? (The earliest image wins!)

4. I saw flamingos on Bonaire. Growing up, I saw lots of National Geographic specials on TV that told me they lived in Africa! Are flamingos native to the area, or were they imported? Have they always been on Bonaire?

Flamingos on the solar salt ponds on the south part of the island.

Be sure to let us know, in the comments below, what you’ve found. AND, of course, let us know how you did it. Anything you can teach us to improve our SearchResearch skills will be happily accepted!