Driving on Bonaire

Being on Bonaire has put the fun back into driving.  We hired a pick up truck for a month so we could get about the island - most of the scuba diving is shore based and while plenty of people offered us lifts we wanted the freedom to dive whenever we wanted.

It took me a couple of days before I realised what was different - there are no traffic lights on Bonaire!  And only two roundabouts.  Traffic jams don't exist.  As for parking, I can just pull up at the side of the road anywhere there is space to fit the truck.  Its a far cry from driving in Enfield.

The main hazards to driving here, apart from it being almost mandatory to drive while using a mobile phone, are the wildlife.  Goats frequently bound across the road, donkeys step out in front of you and the lizards are everywhere.

Of course, the roads aren't up to UK standards.  The main roads in Kralendijk and Rincon (the one town and village) and along the coast, are tarmac and in pretty good shape.  Although these roads are generally narrow, there are fewer potholes than at home and it makes getting around the island fun.  There are plenty of dirt roads too, to get to the more remote parts of the coast and the many caves here.  These are fun to drive on, but you don't get much speed up!

We broke the truck too.  It had a faulty parking brake which locked one of the rear wheels when it got wet.  The first time it happened, I eventually freed it up by revving the engine until I could smell burning brakes, the second time we got stuck in the National Park for an hour until it eventually dried out.  We now have another truck while the hire company try (and fail) to fix the original.

EDIT: We just had one of those "adventures" that you're supposed to have while travelling.  Driving on the dirt roads was always going to be an error after the storm last night.  But we were keen to find the (locally) legendary Maiky Snack for a Bonairean lunch.  One wrong turn later onto one of the less well used dirt (now mud) roads and I got the truck well and truly stuck.  After much wheelspinning and trying to put bits of wood under the back wheels I gave up and set off to find help.  Fortunately, Maiky Snack was only five minutes of sloshing up the road and, despite being closed - "we weren't expecting any customers because of the bad weather" the owner came to my rescue, calling in a friend with a bigger pickup truck.  Back at the mud, the friend decided his truck would get stuck too, so went off to get shovels and a commercial jack.

We jacked up the truck and got rocks under all the tyres and some wooden planks to drive onto and, after an hour and a half of getting dirty we finally shifted the truck onto solid ground.  I think I'd better get it washed before I take it back to the rental shop!  The tyres have lost a lot of rubber, but they were pretty bald to start with.  We'll be going back to Maiky Snack tomorrow to buy lunch, and leave a very big tip :)