Bonaire is part of the ABC islands--Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao. Its main appeals are abundant bird life, pristine diving, and a well-protected reef. Snorkelers and divers can fin over gardens of elkhorn and staghorn coral, and through schools of parrotfish, angelfish, wrasses, and nurse sharks.

The Caribbean island is 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of Venezuela. Bonaire is part of the Netherlands Antilles, a federation including Saba, St. Eustatius, and the Dutch half of St.Martin. The tropical island is home to more than 170 species of birds--it's one of only four places in the world where flamingo colonies breed.

Actually, flamingos outnumber Bonaire's human population, whose history dates to A.D. 1000. The Caiquetios, part of the Arawak Indians, are believed to have sailed from what is now Venezuela. Petroglyphs and rock paintings created by the Caiquetios still line cave walls on the island. The Spanish interpretation of the name the Caiquetios gave their island was "Boynay."

In 1499 explorers Alonso de Ojeda and Amerigo Vespucci landed on Bonaire in Spain's name. Because of the island's dry climate, which did not foster agricultural development, the Spaniards moved the Caiquetios to the island of Hispaniola to work as slaves on plantations. In 1526, the governor of Bonaire, Curacao, and Aruba, began raising cattle on Bonaire, and brought some of the Caiquetios back to work on the ranches. The work force was supplemented with convicts from Spanish colonies in South America.

The Dutch took over Bonaire, Curacao, and Aruba in 1633, and Bonaire soon turned into a plantation of the Dutch West India Company. Convicts and slaves worked the salt pans. At Rincon, you can see where the workers lived in cramped stone houses. Antriol, which is now the capital Kralendijk, was another center for the settlers and slaves. Slaves suffered rough living conditions through the mid-1800s, until slavery was abolished in 1862.

The Netherlands lost control of Bonaire and Curacao to the British at the beginning of the 19th century. In 1816, Bonaire was returned to the Dutch, who built Fort Oranje and later a lighthouse nearby.

Throughout its history, Bonaire has depended on salt production as a major part of its economy. In 1837, four obelisks were erected near the Salt Lake to help ships find their way in to the dock to load up on the spice. In the mid-1800s, however, the salt industry declined, mainly because slavery was abolished, and the government sold the salt pans to a private company.

The entire region benefited from the discovery of oil in Venezuela, Aruba, and Curacao. With added revenues, Bonaire developed its roads and harbor. During World War II, hundreds of captured Dutch Nazis and Germans were held on Bonaire in wooden shacks. Following the war, the inhabitants of Bonaire pushed for more autonomy, and in 1954 Dutch Queen Juliana granted the island self-rule. It still is a Dutch protectorate. As tourism began to g row, the island converted the Nazi camps into the Hotel Zeebad, and the wooden shacks were turned into stone bungalows. The tourism industry was aided when the Flamingo Airport expanded in 1972.

In the early 1960s, Bonaire enacted legislation to protect its parks and other natural resources. Today the island protects sea turtle eggs and nests, and it bans spear fishing. It is also illegal to break coral, sell it, or take it for any reason from the sea. In 1980, Bonaire established the Bonaire Marine Park to further protect its fish and coral reefs. The attention to preservation allows Bonaire to reign as one of the most serene, intact nature retreats in the Caribbean.