Food and Drinks in Caribbean

Us humans being humans, we need to find a purpose to everything. So the millions of cacti growing on Bonaire had to be put to good use. The yatu cactus is used to make fences and the kadushy is delicious in a soup. But a few years ago, a Dutch couple decided to push things a little further by trying to make cactus-aromatised alcohol. Thus was born the Cadushy Distillery of Bonaire. The tiny distillery now makes several different liqueurs and even vodka, rum and whiskey, but the most exotic one remains the bright green cactus liqueur. When you stop by the distillery in Rincon, you are instantly welcomed with a shot of the liqueur and offered a quick tour of the distillery, including samplings of all the products that are made on site. If the ladies from the welcoming committee feel generous in their portions and if you top this with a drink at the bar, you might come out of this visit a little tipsy, especially after a long day at the nearby national park.

You can't say Cuba without rum - it is that simple. The place is famous for its mojitos which can be had for about $1.5 to $4 (convertible pesos which is equal to USD) anywhere tourists are likely to show up. This might not sound like a lot, but it is an hefty amount for Cubans. So, instead they head to a government owned street bar which charges in moneda nacional (MN). Here locals skoal down rum (straight, warm and without ice) for as little as MN 2.5 (about 10 cents USD) for a huge shot. They might not sell the sophisticated mojitos, but you can mix your rum with a tuKola (local coke). It is a great place to meet the friendly Cubans and talk about politics, baseball and British football - probably all at the same time.

The ever escaping animal so shy it's quite hard to snap a good picture of might be fleeing for a good reason: for fear of ending up at the dinner table. The iguana meat is incredibly tasty and makes a great stew. But let's just say this creature is more bone than flesh and having a whole meal of iguana is a task that requires patience, time and a certain dexterity.
The most famous place on the island to have iguana is at Jaanchies, in Westpunt.

Take a shark filet, put some batter around it, deep fry it and put it in fried bread (the bake). Then go to a self-service salad bar with lots of vegetables, sauces and other condiments and you end up with a delicious sandwich that is too big to eat and you spend a few minutes wondering how to get started.
People come to Maracas Bay especially to eat a Bake 'n' Shark, and there are several stands selling them. Richard is the self-acclaimed original and first stand and definitely the most popular one. If you don't want to eat shark, you could go for the alternative option: Bake 'n' Kingfish or, for vegetarians, Bake 'n' Veggie, but that is kind of missing the point. Afterwards, you can digest on the large pretty beach of Maracas Bay.