Landhuis karpata

Landhuis Karpata is the ruin of a plantation house on the coastal road in the northwest of Bonaire, about thirty minutes' drive from Kralendijk and just above the dive site of the same name.

The estate grew aloe, burned charcoal and processed salt, and the low stone buildings and the walled yard are still standing, roofless and open. There is no museum and nobody to explain it: you walk around a ruin on a hillside with the sea below and read what you can from the walls. The old aloe boiling pits are still visible in the yard.

The drive there is half the reason to go — this stretch of coast road is the best on the island. Late afternoon light suits the yellow stone. Free, no facilities, no shade to speak of. Twenty minutes at the house, and pair it with Karpata, Gotomeer or the park entrance further on.