BonaireTalk Discussion Group
Getting to Bonaire: ALM-trip report
Bonaire Talk: Getting to Bonaire: Archives: Archives 1999-2005: Archives - 1999-06-02 to 2001-12-31: ALM-trip report
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By joe chandler on Tuesday, December 12, 2000 - 8:54 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

It strikes me that evey trip report usually has
two parts-the adventure of getting to and from and
the adventure on the island itself. I have found
that if you go into "island mode" before you reach
the airport, eveything that happens will make
perfect sense. This includes explaining to an
Amer. Airlines employee that there really is an
airline that changes your itinerary the day before
and tells your travel agent (if she calls them to
check) but does not tell any of the computers the
airlines use to route your baggage. Also waiting
on the runway in Miami because ALM brought in a
replacement part without telling customs, and
besides,the plane is cleared to fly to haiti at
1:00 not Bonaire at 7:00

But then you are airborn and on your way and you
have the two things ALM never seems to get credit
for--leg room and real food. I always enjoy the
flight from Miami-once it is airborn- because of
these things.

Some Kudos for ALM:

1. Providing a meal voucher during the delay in
Miami and the gate attendant who did his best to
politely explain the cause of the delay in three
languages.
2. The " person in charge" in Bonaire who noticed
that we were booked to fly to Curacao to catch
another flight back to Bonaire and then on to
Miami. (This makes perfect sense if you are in
island mode). She pulled us and our bags off the
flight so we could catch the plane on its way
back. I would much rather be in the Bonaire
airport than waiting in the transit area in
Curacao

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kelly Hirsh on Tuesday, December 12, 2000 - 11:27 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Way to go Joe!! I have flown ALM round trip from Miami to Bonaire for more years than I care to admit and have nothing but praise for their ground and flight personnel. In Miami they make sure my connection from Curacao to Bonaire is confirmed. If I have a stop in Curacao it is usually pleasant, often running into old friends coming and going, sometimes long enough to permit sightseeing and a meal on Curacao . Some time ago I became aware of ALM's policy of getting the passenger to their destination first and if possible their luggage will accompany. On those rare occasion my luggage did not arrive at Flamingo International is was usually on the next flight or the first flight in the morning. I used to love ALM's in-flight meals, they are still good but cannot compare with the fish, chicken or mystery meat (probable goat). I read my tickets and always re-confirm at least 72 hours in advance at the the terminal and arrived no less than 2 hours before my flight. I ease the pain of my departure in the cafe with egg and ham (???) sandwichs and a dose of "jet fuel" (Dutch coffee). Most ALM's emloyees have been known to work even when their pay is in question, only the baggage handlers in Curacao have affected the flow. Oh sure ALM has cancelled an early afternoon flight due to equipment problem but they always made sure I was on the next flight, and when I missed my Miami to New Orleans connection because of departure delays in Curacao I was provided with a motel room, meal vouchers and transportation. Not bad for an airline that sometimes does not know when they are going to get their next paycheck. Try this stateside... and best of all THEY GET ME TO BONAIRE !!!!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Musolf on Wednesday, December 13, 2000 - 2:16 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

I've flown twice this year (March and just this past week December) Had absolutely no problems. The island-mode idea might help for those with short fuses though ha ha.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Glen Reem on Wednesday, December 13, 2000 - 4:20 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

A couple of things I have done in the past that
speed and smooth departure from Bonaire.
Go to the airport the night before departure to
confirm (again)/check in, select seats and pay
the departure tax. Then, in the morning, take
your luggage down as soon as the ALM
counter opens (6 or 6:30 am when I did this)
and check it in. Now you can drive back to your
accommodations, shower, change and travel
w/ minimum sweat. Literally! I find it much
more comfortable and easier on the nerves
than waiting in the lines w/ a KLM or a charter
flight.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kelly Hirsh on Wednesday, December 13, 2000 - 9:43 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Glen you too have learned the ways of Flamingo Airport !!! It makes the pain of leaving so much more bearable.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dara Walter on Wednesday, December 13, 2000 - 3:10 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I cannot agree more with the compliments mentioned above for ALM. I would include their accounting office staff as well, who were patient and accomodating when I had trouble with my current credit card which had been newly issued by a different "agency", resulting in a whole boatload of people with credit cards denying purchases for no apparent reason....my only complaint was that they wouldn't let me send a cashiers check directly. But they held the reservation until my credit union got the card mess all sorted out, so I can't complain.

I have learned to deal with travel upsets by having the proper attitude, carrying something to read and my sketch pad....I have lots of sketches of people reading in the airport! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for CPR for ALM.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By De Etta on Thursday, December 21, 2000 - 10:38 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

What a refreshing exchange of ALM stories.
"Island Mode" makes all the difference!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Glen Reem on Thursday, December 21, 2000 - 11:15 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Dara,

How about sharing some of your sketches
with us??? Airports and Bonaire.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dara Walter on Thursday, December 21, 2000 - 7:41 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hmm, if I can make some of my sketches digital I'll share them.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dara Walter on Thursday, December 28, 2000 - 3:13 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Well, I'm having a SSSLLLLOOOOWWWWWWWW (feet in the molasses) sort of day....being buried by an Alberta Clipper outside, everybody I need to accomplish work inside is on vacation.....so, here goes......I had the watercolor sketches in my office scanned, then I shrunk them to approximately the size of the reef cam pix (at least from a memory standpoint) and I hold my breath as I post this, hoping that they are the appropriate size and will not mire anybody in megabites :-)

Wishing all of my fellow cam fans happy Bonaire memories!

karels6
cliff6

I figured out that the raft-like things I wondered about some time ago are moorings at the water plant...when I snorkeled down to Small Wall in November there was a huge boat tied up there.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Robert Deal on Thursday, December 28, 2000 - 4:47 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Dara:
I am impressed! the watercolors are great! You have certainly captured the flavor of the waterfront we love...your rendition of Karels is marvelous.
It seems that operations manager/research scientist types not only write well, they can paint beautifully, too!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kerri Freeman on Thursday, December 28, 2000 - 4:55 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Lovely. The gentleman is correct. Colour me envious.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Niki Harris on Thursday, December 28, 2000 - 5:09 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Dara, splendid watercolors! Really terrific scenes, and brings up more good memories!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Carole Baker on Thursday, December 28, 2000 - 6:05 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Absolutely breathtaking, Dara! Are you the talented artist? Kudos to you, if you are. Simply lovely...wish we could all be there now....Oh, to be in Bonaire at this moment...Carole

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dara Walter on Thursday, December 28, 2000 - 6:09 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks for the compliments (I blush) - I'm glad to share and wish we were all at Karel's raising a glass right now! I dream of someday sailing off into the sunset to teach big people to dive, little people to swim and ski, to paint portraits, to write poetry and novels....

In the meantime, I'll continue to live in cube-land and spend my days chasing little frozen dough-balls around on conveyor belts, figuring out how to make more dough-balls for less $$$$ and insuring that the right preservatives are in those dough-balls so they can't make anybody sick - sqeezing in art classes, dive training and ski classes, writing poetry on the back of paper place-mats and dreaming a lot in little stolen moments :-)

Happy New Year!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jan Klos on Thursday, December 28, 2000 - 6:47 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Dara,
The water colors are fantastic--- Any thoughts of putting them on the market-- I am sure all of us could hang the pictures of Karal's kick are feet up with a nice cold amstel in hand and day dream.
As far as the dough balls--Rich's or maybe Doskicil

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kerri Freeman on Thursday, December 28, 2000 - 6:52 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Happy New Year to you too,Dara. Do you know we're practically kith and kin? I used to put words in the mouth of the big green fella that says Ho Ho etc,and his little green pal. At one point I think the agency also handled "dough balls".You'da loved me walking in with the AD and a request to bake up about a thousand for a test shoot,so we could figure out something nice to say. C'est la guerre. Drink a little. Laugh a lot. Peace to you. Kerri

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By bob routhe on Thursday, December 28, 2000 - 10:24 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks Dara,your watercolors are a delight to the eye and tweak fond memories of past vacations.Your prose paint vivid and humorous mental images of your experiences.Perhaps now,you could honor us with some poetry.I live about 125 mi. south of you in Winona and we're now in the heaviest snowfall of the year,about 4" on the ground and still coming.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By DARLENE ELLIS on Tuesday, January 2, 2001 - 3:18 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Dara,
Thanks for sharing your pictures with us. They are very beautiful and much appreciated at this time of year!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Lorraine Meadows on Tuesday, January 2, 2001 - 9:12 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Wondeful sketches, Dara. Your a very talented lady in many ways!
I also have flown KLM(twice last yr.) without any problems. I always say"part of the advnture is getting there ":) "The luck of the draw"

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Glen Reem on Wednesday, January 3, 2001 - 8:23 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Dara,

Where can we buy our favorite 'Dara
Walters'?? I need one to go on the wall behind
the little painting of Bonaire countryside, cacti
and, centered, a divi-divi tree that sits next to
my monitor.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dara Walter on Thursday, January 4, 2001 - 12:06 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Ha, I'm flattered! Maybe someday when I'm 'good' I will be lucky enough to have people pay me for my pictures, instead of me paying people to sit still so I can paint them! I think that's what all of us artist wannabes dream of :-) Now to plan my next ALM adventure......

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Glen Reem on Thursday, January 4, 2001 - 9:43 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Dara,

Has there ever been an artist who was really
completely happy with a picture they have
made?? Look at all the versions Picasso
amde on single themes.

'..eye of the beholder...', etc. No one
ever sold a thing they did not offer, or at least
accept offers against.

We like them now!! Just reread above. You will
progress, like Picasso, and may even go
through as many 'periods' and we want the
'early Daras'.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Barry Baker on Friday, January 5, 2001 - 5:52 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Dara, I myself would love to have an "early Dara" in her "Bonaire period". My wife, who does water color and pen & ink is currently working on her reef scapes and fish in hopes that one day it will be able to supplement retirement and pay for more trips to Bonaire. Please do not lightly brush (no pun intended)aside others admiration of your work. I beleive the great people of this webcam community are just the right ones to judge what your water colors of Bonaire mean to them. Think about the possibility of marketing some of your Bonaire art to those of use who would appreciate it.

Just my thoughts
Barry Baker

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Robert Deal on Friday, January 5, 2001 - 6:10 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hear! Hear!
There seem to be many of us who would enjoy being able to say, one day---"And see this one? This is an early work by Dara Walter...you know, the one who started out doing airport sketches and watercolors on her vacations, and now has her work in all the museums. Well, I managed to acquire this piece because we were 'friends' on this great Bonaire newsgroup bulletin board...."
So, where do we line up?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By NikiH2 on Friday, January 5, 2001 - 7:48 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Dara, are you blushing?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dara Walter on Friday, January 5, 2001 - 8:31 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Yeeessss, I am blushing! I really appreciate the enthusiasm and I really don't know what to say....

I do want to know if Glen painted the divi-divi tree on his desk????

I also want to see Barry's wife's work!!!!

There are so many gifted people sharing in this space - writers, photographers, artists, musicians, athletes - it's great!

Others out there, please share!

Ayo, gotta go (the rhyme bug got me today :-)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Eberhard on Friday, January 26, 2001 - 9:20 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Flew ALM (Curacao/Bonaire & Bonaire/Curacoa) on January 11th and 23rd respectfully. Everything went well.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Chet Wood on Saturday, January 27, 2001 - 7:24 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Flew ALM (Miami/Curacao/Bonaire & back) on January 14th & 25th; only minor issue was 1 hour late into Bonaire.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Gail Currie on Monday, January 29, 2001 - 5:26 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

This is one of my favorite pictures that I've taken. Internet Explorer Wallpaper

 


Visit: The Bonaire WebCams - Current Bonaire images and weather!
The Bonaire Insider - the latest tourism news about Bonaire
The Bonaire Information Site, InfoBonaire
Search Bonaire - Search top Bonaire Web sites


Topics Last Day Last Week Tree View    Getting Started Formatting Troubleshooting    New Messages Keyword Search Contact Moderators Edit Profile Administration