Monday, January 17, 2011

Bonaire Bits - ABC's

Bonaire consists of the Caribbean island of Bonaire with the uninhabited islet of Klein Bonaire nestled in its western crescent. Together with Aruba and Curaçao it forms a group referred to as the ABC islands of the Leeward Antilles, the southern island chain of the Lesser Antilles. From the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles on 10 October 2010, the BES islands Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius were given the status of public body (often referred to as "special municipality") within the Netherlands, while the islands of Curaçao and Sint Maarten are independent states within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. At present, although part of the Netherlands, it remains an overseas territory of the European Union.

The ABC islands: Aruba is a flat island, exposed to the ocean currents. Bonaire and Curaçao are surrounded by reefs, and so are much more sheltered from the weather. Both Bonaire and Curaçao's reefs form popular tourist destinations. Bonaire is known for being a "Diving Paradise", with ecotourism playing a large part in its economy. The islands have a huge variety of wildlife, famously including flamingoes and 4 species of sea turtle.


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