Snack Tour

Bonaire has little shack-type construction bars and restaurants in each of the Barrios.  They serve local food and beer at lower prices than the tourist places.  We have been on several, actually many, snack tours to experience the local culture, food and neighborhoods.   We have a tour guide that knows all the best spots and she drives the van while we all eat and drink at each snack bar.  It is a really good time!

Our tour guide tells us all about the owners and highlights the best "eats" at each snacky.  The food you see on their menus includes goat, fish, chicken and iguana stews, funchi (fried polenta), whole fried fish, beans, rice and soup. Each place has a business permit but I don't think the health department does much inspection.

On the back porch of one of the snacks, they were drying goat. Goat pieces are hanging from a rope and drying in the open air. They will reconstitute the goat when making stews and soups for added flavor.  

Food is prepared in outdoor, rustic kitchens and rudimentary indoor kitchens.  This used to be quite shocking to me.  Now, we embrace the cooking preparation and local food like it was a delicacy.  We seek out these small community snack places to eat and drink.
 

Many local snacks grow their own vegetables.  This is a squash plant growing in the back of one of the snacks. They use iguana eggs in some of their soups and stews and those are found in the mundi (the Papiamentu word for open, wild land on the island). They also raise goats and chickens used in their dishes.  Goats mostly run free on the island so it a matter of catching a goat for slaughter.  No guns on the island so it is not like an American hunting event.

Here's our selfie (really not a selfie but a photo taken by a fellow snack tour attendee) for the day.  By this point Rick and I have had many beers.