Updates from a 2017 SPC Bonaire Study Abroad student:

Bon Dia! I still cannot believe we have one more week on this beautiful island. Today’s adventure has been the most hilarious, inspiring, and fear-facing one yet! My roommates and I (Alondra, Jessica, and Molli) felt extremely mature and accomplished today when we walked a quarter mile to the nearest supermarket to do our weekly grocery shopping. It is amazing and a blessing to be a part of this little family that we formed. After our morning grocery hunt, we began getting ready to go caving!

The guide who was leading us and helping us throughout the two caves was amazing and EXTREMELY patient. I have always feared going up and down tall ladders, so today I faced my fear head on. It was scary at first, but looking around and seeing all the beautiful stalactite, stalagmite, and stalagnate washed all the fear away. Our guide taught us the difference between each one and how for stalactites it takes 30 years to grow one inch! The dry cave that we first visited was like a sauna, but the history behind it and the wonders it held was worth the heat. He told us about how Count Dracula visited this cave once many years ago and then proceeded to show us what locals named Dracula’s Cathedral. According to the legend, the bats living within the Cathedral are the Count’s guards waiting for his return. We were lucky enough to spot a couple little bats inside both caves.

Afterwards, we went to the wet cave where the water was refreshing! We swam through a channel that was connected to an underwater cavern that contained the secret to how so much water was inside the cave. The secret happened to be a halo cline, which is an area where the saltwater meets with the freshwater. It was such an amazing experience and exiting the wet cave was very interesting. To safely enter and exit the cave, we needed to go down using a small hand ladder and let our guide help us with our footing. We all had a bunch of laughs and giggles going down and up! In addition, we also had our second night dive today where for one moment we shut off our lights to see the bioluminescent dinoflagellates and watch the water light up to the movement of our fingers. There were many huge tarpons surrounding us and we were able to find an adult Hawksbill sea turtle sleeping in the reef! This trip has been amazing and to anyone who is thinking about studying abroad, it’s worth it! I feel blessed to be able to be a part of a wonderful little family and learn so many new things every day.

Click here to read updates from another SPC Bonaire Study Abroad student!