Bonaire Salt

Looks like a snow covered mountain but it isn't.  It's Bonaire salt piled up waiting for transport. I think this is the only product that Bonaire produces.

The Spanish landed on the island in 1499 and were attracted to the local salt. Since they didn't find gold, salt was the next best thing.

Cargill has a salt production facility on the south end of the island.  Sea water is brought into salt flats. Saltwater is moved from flat to flat  until it is a dry bed. This shows one of the last beds that has been scraped up into piles. It only takes two to three months from the time seawaters enters the salt flats until the salt crystals are ready for harvest.

The salt is loaded onto shipping transports and shipped to customers in the Caribbean, North America, Europe and Africa.

Bonaire is famous for salt crystals, or " sun gems", that are long, dense and heavy.

There is a dive site here called "Salt Pier", naturally.  It's an easy walk-in dive and snorkel locale.  Cargill likes to keep divers away from the pier and the boat....but...what happens underwater stays underwater. I have seen the pictures to prove it.

This is the south end of the island that Cargill leases from the government for salt production.  You can see the various colored salt flats.