Through the Lenses of My SunSmiles Shades
There are places in the world you don’t just visit—you experience them. Bonaire is one of those places. It's not loud or flashy. No mega-resorts, no tourist traps. Instead, Bonaire whispers. It breathes. It sings softly in the breeze that dances over coral and salt.
But nowhere does the island speak more clearly than at its salt flats in the south.
The first time I stood there, I was wearing my SunSmiles sunglasses—the kind with wooden arms and polarized lenses. They don’t just block the glare. They reveal the soul of a place.
And what I saw? Pure magic.
A surreal world in pink and white
The salt flats shimmer in wild, unexpected colors. The water turns flamingo-pink—thanks to tiny algae and brine shrimp. With the polarization of my SunSmiles lenses, the color deepened into something almost otherworldly.
Then there’s the contrast: those bright white salt mountains. Perfectly shaped. Some are over 30 feet high, glowing like crystals under the Caribbean sun. My glasses didn’t just cut the glare. They gave the light texture—clarity without harshness. Like the sun and I were working together.
The sound of wind and stillness
Out here, silence rules. You hear only the wind brushing over shallow water and the soft crunch of salt beneath your feet. And flamingos. Dozens of them, flying low or wading slow—rose against rose. Nature’s boldest palette.
I stood still, on the edge of this alien beauty, and thought about the past. In the 17th and 18th centuries, enslaved people worked these flats in brutal heat. You can still see their tiny stone huts lined up along the coast—quiet memorials to human resilience. I saw them through my sunglasses, and the history became personal. The lenses dimmed the brightness, but not the weight of the story.
SunSmiles & the way we travel
These glasses didn’t just protect my eyes—they changed the way I saw the world. The wood felt warm against my temples, the design natural and intentional. It wasn’t just something I wore. It felt like part of me.
That’s the kind of travel I believe in. Not ticking off a bucket list, but truly seeing a place. Feeling it. Letting it move you.
Bonaire’s salt flats do just that. They make you pause. They ask you to look closer.
A light you take home
As the sun dropped lower, the flats turned gold, then orange, then a glowing lavender. The salt mounds looked like they were on fire. The water? Like liquid light. And through my SunSmiles, the glow softened, but the emotion sharpened.
Even when I took off the glasses, the moment stayed. Like the lenses had etched the memory onto my heart.
Don’t just go. Look.
If you find yourself in Bonaire—and you should—don’t miss the salt flats. Go in the late afternoon. Bring water. Wear sandals. And wear a good pair of sunglasses. Not just for comfort, but for clarity.
Wear something like SunSmiles—with wooden arms that carry stories, and lenses that let the world in.
Look. Breathe. Let the salt, the light, the wind move you.
Because some places don’t just live in your camera roll.
They live in your bones.
Like these glasses.
Like this island.
