Honeymoon - Bonaire & Curacao

For the last part of our honeymoon, we jumped on the plane to Bonaire and another to Curacao..

After Aruba, we hopped on a plane (and then another) to Bonaire.
Bonaire is a small little island with about 17,408 people living in it. It has one KFC (it's one of the largest landmarks on the map! We found that so funny!) It's the smallest of the ABC islands, but it's diver's paradise. 
Immediately, we arrived to a pink airport (can all airports be pink?!).
Bonaire is known for their flamingoes, of which its airport is named after. You'll find flamingo souvenirs in shops, and if you head down south, you'll find them in the water too.

We arrived to our B&B, named GOOOD Resort.
Lovely Bed & Breakfast run by a lovely woman. We arrived and immediately I saw our names.


Bon Bini! I love the Papiamento greeting. I instantly loved the B&B, as our names were written. So adorable! We took a tour around the B&B and it was lovely! 
The beautiful and colourful hammocks looked so comfy with the fluffy pillows and the soft blankets, we had to jump on!




Nathan especially enjoyed the hammock. I think we'll be investing in one in the future - look at that grin on his face! He totally loved it.





Our room was simple but lovely, and such a huge bed! Full of a seaside charm.





Such a quaint and different B&B, I fell in love with its seaside charm. It had a pool and a jacuzzi, and the B&B is on a hill so it overlooks Bonaire.




Bonaire, is in fact, a diver's paradise. Beautiful waters with some of the best diving in the world, we heard. You can head over to Klein Bonaire as well to do some snorkelling and some diving. 

However, we aren't qualified divers, and we hadn't bought snorkel gear before the trip (definitely a great investment - buy your own snorkelling gear and take it with you!!).
So we rented a scooter and went around the island. By the way, you literally have to rent something if you're planning on leaving your resort, or you have to take taxis everywhere. 
There isn't any public transport (bar a couple of bus stops - but no buses seen anywhere). Also, a great little app is maps.me! We used it on the rest of our trip - it's like Google Maps, but you must download the map for whatever country you're at or going to, and then once downloaded, you can use offline! No need to spend hundreds just trying to figure out where you are abroad on Google Maps.

As we went around the island, the first day we went around up north to see what there was. There were some lovely views, and a lot of wasteland. Bonaire is also a desert, so not much grows there. But as we rode along the coast, the shores were a radiant blue before the further contrast of navy blue collided with it. Such beautiful locations and a lovely ride around. Rocky terrains to climb over while the seas roar and crash onto the rocks. Bring your walking shoes! Nathan had to carry me halfway because I was wearing sandals and it was mega rocky!


My personal favourite was the 1,000 steps. The perfect picture spot, and you can climb the steps to go down to the beach. There aren't many white sand beaches in Bonaire that you can lounge around and relax in - but there is one amazing one! More on that after the 1,000 steps.



So beautiful right! Look at those stairs and that balcony looking over the beautiful shades of blue.

The next day, we made our way down to the south of the island, around it to go to Lac Bay. I had seen pictures of Lac Bay and had also been advised by the owner of the B&B and some tourists to go down there as well. 
As we rode around the country, we saw the salt mines and slave huts. 
Bonaire originally had slaves to commute the salt over to ships that had come to get salt. Thankfully the slavery has been abolished! But the huts remain for the history of the island.


We finally arrived at Lac Bay and we had two choices of where to sit and eat. We went for Jibe City as we had been recommended it. As you come in, you're greeted by palm trees, donkeys, and a walkway to beach chairs that are all on the beach. You may order from there or eat inside the restaurant. 

So Lac Bay probably had the most beautiful crystal clear waters I've ever seen! You have to walk about 500m waist high before you get to the actual current. It's windsurfers' paradise. You could literally see the types of fish swimming around right next to you so crystal clear as if I was stepping into their own big world.










We had delicious food as well! I had chicken on pitta bread and it was delicious! And Nathan had a burger. My stomach was well-pleased!



Also, conch piles on the other side of Lac Bay! But don't think you can take one home unfortunately.. They are passionate about keeping their conches on the island!



After a lovely day at Lac Bay we went back to our B&B to relax and get our stuff ready to jet off to Curacao the next morning. 2 days was plenty in Bonaire and we were ready to go to Curacao!

We arrived to Curacao and instantly noticed it was a lot bigger than Bonaire - a population of about 158,791. A lot more KFC's and definitely a Wendy's in there! We got a taxi to our hotel (they have a fixed rate of taxis in Curacao). 



We stayed in Saint Tropez Ocean Club because of what I had seen on TripAdvisor.. and it's safe to say we were both SO pleased! This was by far our favourite hotel during our whole stay. It felt so tropical and so modern and much more luxurious than anywhere else we stayed. Infinity pool and food next to the ocean. YES PLEASE!

Our suite was pretty amazing, I loved the decor! 








Um, yes, I would definitely like a bathroom like that in the future please. Stone bathrooms are totally the best. Side note, I'm totally going to do a blog post on my favourite interior designs shortly! After being graced with the show, Fixer Upper, oh my word I just want Joanna Gaines to renovate my house! #JoannaCanYouMakeAPinkOffice?

Anyways, the next morning we had the hotel breakfast, and they were definitely generous with their portions! Again, both Bonaire and Curacao have everything imported so were quite expensive - but they were definitely both cheaper than Aruba! We had breakfast by the water and geared up for a day at the pool!







We had breakfast by the water and then geared up for some fun in the sun.














I could not get over this infinity pool. Can you say B-E-A-utiful?!

Most of our time was actually spent by the pool (because we were totally going to enjoy that for pretty much every chance we could get before having to come home!), but we also did make our way into town. 

Now, this is a cute and funny story. 

The city is painted in candy colours all around. One of the locals told us the story of how this all came to be through a 19th century Governor. It is a common belief amongst locals in Curacao that in the early 19th century Governor-General Albert Kikkert suffered from migraine headaches… headaches that he said came from the bright reflections of the bright sun on the white buildings of Willemstad. So, in the 1800s, he issued a law that they must be painted any colour but white.. and he was in charge of the paint store! So whatever colour they did get, he would've had to approve!
So, that is the story of all the beautifully-coloured houses and buildings in Curacao, how hilarious is that?! I love it. 





Walking around, we were greeted by the local market with beautiful and colourful souvenirs. You can also venture in to the shops and find your normal high-street shops and Curacao's own. 
We also noticed that some were big on their faith - we loved the verse printed on one of the nation's juice company's truck. How awesome is our God!





Those were the buildings that the governor said specifically gave him a headache! So funny! 
And finally, on one of our last days on the island we went to the Dolphin Academy & Sea Aquarium. I have been dreaming of swimming with dolphins ever since I was 7 and saw them at Sea World. Nathan's sister, Sarah and her husband Niall finally fulfilled that dream for me by buying us the experience as our wedding gift! Thanks you guys! 

Now, this was on another level. I can't describe how much I loved it! It was like Disneyland but in the sea. Dolphins just brought me so much joy, they are such smart animals! We learned so much about them! You must never swim at them, but always just swim with your feet and not too many motions with your arms so not to scare them. So many other tips and tricks. Swimming with dolphins was truly one of my favourite life experiences, such beautiful animals!
I also have it on video if you want to watch some of the highlights of our honeymoon! You can find it here.









There was also a dolphin show and it was so awesome!



We also went around the Sea Aquarium to see all the different creatures. Look at this smiling fish!


and this huge fish!



The lobster kinda totally creeped me out a bit though. 


And flamingoes! But these were very feisty.



After our most wonderful trip to the Sea Aquarium, Mambo Beach was nearby so we decided to take a stroll. This is also another great place to stay! Super lively and the beach here was wonderful!
Lovely restaurants, fro-yo, ice cream, and lots of stuff to be found on the Mambo Beach Boulevard.





And these beach beds were totally the best?!



And then we headed on back to our hotel, to get a good night's rest before having to say goodbye to our wonderful adventures in the ABC islands for now, and back to London we went.

We had such an amazing time out there! 
I now can't wait for more travels. 
PS, getting to travel with your husband is totally the best! #marriedlifeisthebestlife

Stay tuned, I'll be doing more blog posts soon. 

Love you all,
Nataly 
xx

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.





























5 comments:

Arthur

Super! I'm just delighted with your photos. I have a small transport company and now I have slightly upgraded the management by using an application that helps GPS track uboro software transport vehicles. Now with the management and logistics of transportation, there are fewer problems, and maybe I and my girl, we will go Bali soon. I think we need a rest, sun, and motivation. And thank you for sharing your excellent mood)

Elizabeth Kautz

All these photos scream about the fact you're in paradise! I think this is a perfect place for honeymoon and for simple vacation. The only fact I'm thinking about documents for this trip. What about their translation and localization ? Was it difficult to receive a visa for you?

Anonymous

Honeymoon on a beautiful place provide you a wonderful time spending. India is full of lovely and beautiful destination that you can visit https://www.imanali.in/manali-honeymoon-package-chennai during your honeymoon. Visiting and exploring of the beautiful destination provide you a wonderful time spending with your partner. You can make your honeymoon special with your partner with this place.

Nepal Tourism

Bonaire's is paradise for the divers. Its main attractions lie beneath the water whereas Curacao offers plenty of fun in the sun. http://nepaltourism.org/honeymoon-tour-packages/ Both are quite opposite to each other but allows memorable experience.

Kullu Manali Tour

Curacao is the place to admire the Dutch Colonial Architecture which offers an irresistible charm to the visitors. Bonnaire is the right destination to explore underwater adventures.

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