Best of Mike #156

Like many Caribbean islands.... Bonaire has a history that is both long and colorful.

It is believed that the Caiquetios (a branch of the Arawak Indians).... sailed from Venezuela to inhabit the island 1000 years ago.

The name Bonaire is thought to have originally come from the Ciaquetio work "Bonjay" a name that meant low country.

The early Spanish and Dutch modified it's spelling to Bojnaj and then Bonaire.

You may hear that the name is French and means "good air".... but the French influence while present at various times, throughout the history of Bonaire, was never strong enough to account for the name.

After the arrival of the Europeans, homes on the island were often built using the colors that you see here.

Part of the colorful Caribbean culture, your thinking.... perhaps, but also rooted in the very practical.

The mustard yellow was made from the clay in the earth. The orange, for the roof tiles, from dyewood pigments. And, the white is a whitewash made from limestone.

In addition to being colors that could be made from local ingredients.... that combination of colors was used to honor the Netherlands' Royal House of Orange.