The lazy tourist’s Guide to Shopping for Gifts on Bonaire
Lazy, eh? Don’t get me wrong. I love shopping but I don’t particularly love shopping for gifts on Bonaire nor do I want to spend my vacation doing so. Get me out of the gift shops and out/in/on/around the Caribbean SEA! But… someone is feeding the fish, someone’s getting my mail… I may even have left a child or two back home. They’re going to need something to ease my guilty mind and tanned body… So here we go with the lazy tourist’s guide to shopping for gifts on Bonaire.
Van Den Tweel Supermarket for easy gift shopping on Bonaire
Of course when on Bonaire I always make a trip or two to the grocery store to load up for the week (or the month…) Conveniently nowadays the grocery store IS the lazy tourist’s gift shop. The folks back home will never know.
I snapped the pictures in this post at Van Den Tweel supermarket located on Kaya Industria about a mile or so from my apartment at breezybonaire. Choose from mugs embossed with glossy Bonaire Scenery, liqueurs – TikiBon Brand, or beer – Bonaire Blond brand, made and bottled right here on Bonaire. Other options include postcards, calendars with colorful Bonaire art and photography, a pretty good variety of local sea salt of both the edible and the spa treatment variety. Scenic photographs ranging from postcard size to just barely fitting in your suitcase also make great gifts or better yet, souvenirs of your trip. For friends that have actually been to Bonaire before some grocery bags with Bonaire scenery will remind them of their own visits to the island.
Food products to bring back from Bonaire as gifts
You can also get more creative by touring around the supermarket and looking for Dutch or Bonairian food specialties to bring home. When I’m on Bonaire I usually come back to the US with at least 8 or 10 packs of stroopwafels (A type of waffle cookie filled with caramel often served heated up). Unfortunately those are becoming more common in the US and as such, slightly less interesting as a gift idea. Still they are inexpensive, pack easily in your suitcase and pretty much a delight to anyone receiving them. As an aside – if you buy them before getting on the plane, store them in the refrigerator until time to pack up and go home.
To be honest, although simple, easy and yes – lazy, these ideas appeal to me more than t-shirts or little trinkets. If this isn’t your cup of tea there are a large variety of gift shops on Kaya Grandi, the main road in downtown Kralendijk. You’ll find t-shirts, key chains and Bonaire mugs. Try to avoid downtown when a cruise ship is in port.
