Spoke with a friend of mine yesterday that just returned from a dive trip to Bonaire (his 3rd). He said one problem he had was finding any type of lunch meat in the stores. Is it possible they were just out of stock when he was there or is that sort of thing hard to get on the island? We are going to Bonaire for the fist time in September (I'm already counting down the days) and I said to him that maybe we'll just take our own. He thought there were restrictions on bringing in certain types of food from out of the country. Can anyone clear this up for me?

Thanks
Richard

The grocery stores in Bonaire certainly do not have the wide variety of lunch meat selections that is found here in the US but we have seen sliced meats (all are pre-sliced, pre-weighed and pre-packed). I know I have seen salami as well as something that looked like bologna.

I usually take down a cooler full of frozen things and steaks, but someone mentioned something about a problem with the beef and mad-cow disease in Jamacia, one of our stops. I'm leaving it home. Not worth the hassell. The stores in Bonaire have meat .Fresh breads and rolls and frozen and fresh and cold cuts and cheese. I have usually brought down cold cuts from home frozen. I know I can get that kind of stuff in the supermarkets on Bonaire and the warehouse sell frozen too. I just might have to eat out more often too;)

They were probably out of stock of Oscar Meyer stuff so he just had to look at little harder.
Warehouse Bonaire has a butcher/deli counter. They also usually have a large selection of Dutch presliced/prepackages cold cuts. Cultimara has precut available at the butcher section as well and they would have the Oscar Meyer brand most of the time.

I usually freeze a pack of bologna and a pack of cheese and take it in my carryon in a soft-side cooler. That way if it's late when I get in, I still have a sandwich, and can eat it for lunch all week. Then you have your little cooler for little excursions around the island to keep your *ahem* beverages cold. ;)

We do peanut butter and jelly sandwiches -- no cold cuts involved.
mary W

Linda's correct....Cultimara was probably just out of Oscar Meyer varieties. We've never had a problem finding ham, turkey or chicken slices in the cooler next to the butcher. Some packages had dutch names and we enjoy them as well. We also go from one store to the others for variety.....love the gouda.

My favorite named cold cut is "actorham"

we also find PB&J a great " inbetween dives" food...no refrigeration necessary and gives us energy...plenty of cold cuts are available at the markets..fun t check out the variety different from home..have fun

Seb
I would have thought it would be "filet American" or "Leverworst"

Sjosss

I ( always) try at least one local specialty . Trial and error type of tourist , yep that's me alright.

We are bringing in a soft cooler which will have Milk in it for our daughter. Since we are arriving on a Sunday stores will be closed and I want to have a few days worth in case we can't get any until later in the week. Will the milk pose any problems in customs? We are flying AJ.

Chris, can you pick up a few cartons of Parmalat milk? It does not have to be refrigerated at all until you open it up. Might be easier than lugging a soft cooler onto the plane. Just a thought. Carole

Check if your daughter will drink the Parmalat first. One of my kids and Jake won't at all.
Get to Cultimara first thing Monday for a supply of fresh milk and buy enough to last through Friday. They restock with a new shipment on Friday. Sometimes they are sold out by Monday afternoon although now we are into low season the supply is lasting longer.

I like tryinmg new things, Jos, but not the wurst.

Thanks Linda and Carole. I have not been able to find Parmalat here so I don't know if my daugther will drink it. I was also concerned about the stores being sold out and having to wait until Friday. The cooler we have is farily reasonable so I will just add it to the pile. Any reason to suspect I will have a problem with customs in Jamaica or Bonaire withe fresh milk?