The start of our trip was quite eventful. Due to leaving my brain on the plane from Humberside to Amsterdam, I had a disaster. I left my purse and boarding card on top of my carry on bag and wheeled it around the airport! I think St. Jude and St. Anthony must both have been caring for me. The purse did not drop off my bag and some angel handed in my boarding card to the information desk within minutes of me losing it.
We were late taking off because of a fuel valve problem but made up most of the time, so we were at Lions Dive by 4.30pm. We had been given a room upgrade because we were repeat bookers but we had one of the smaller Royal rooms. There were a few small signs of wear and tear and we missed things like kitchen rolls and soap that have been provided in the past. However the rooms are nicely furnished and well equipped and a problem we had with the shower was fixed promptly and efficiently. We love the position and the grounds and facilities are wonderful.
We did our check in dive at Bon Bini the next morning and renewed old friendships with the staff, especially Francey and Susan. We were sorry to have missed Mary, but hope to see her in October.
On Monday morning we had a guided shore dive with Connie from Bon Bini. I needed more confidence and some tips on safe entry and exit. I would really recommend this to people who worry about themselves and the coral! It made a big difference to how I felt and a great deal of credit must go to Connie who really helped me. We went to Andrea 2 and it was a lovely dive. We will certainly do it again. Later in the holiday we did Angel City and Oil Slick Leap, neither of which I would have done before my ‘lesson’ with Connie.
As we were looking at Oil Slick Leap the day before we went to dive it there were two people getting out of the water. It was Sebastian and Mary. My husband was highly amused when Sebastian asked me where we came from and after I told him he said, ”You must be Julia.” We also met John and Susan from Wisconsin who were staying at Lions Dive too! Never made it to Gibi’s this time, missed it the first week because we forgot it was Tuesday, and the next Tuesday was our last night so we were packing and drying! Hope to make it in October.
We did get to the web cams where we were spotted with our flags and T-shirts giving a lot of attention to Mandy the cat. Jake came out and we had a brief chat.
We also visited Michael’s ‘Chat and Browse’ and bought a print on the slave huts done by Linda. Michael is very fond of Shortbread biscuits and we have promised him some special biscuits on our return. We always bring a pack for Kirk at Lions Den restaurant and I had a spare packet so dropped them off for Michael the next day! I think he was amazed!
We mainly did our own cooking but we ate at Lions Den, we like the good and slightly unusual menu and love the Lobster Butter with the grilled lobster! Also enjoyed China Nobo and Pasa Bon pizza.
I'll write more tomorrow.

Julia, glad you had a great time, and you didn't lose your pocketbook and boarding pass! YIkes! Did we recognize you at the cams? I remember someone with a BT flag and we thought it might be you! Glad you had nice dives Look forward to hearing more!

Julia, lucky you! With not losing the purse!
Nice to read about the good dives.
Waiting for more....

Julia,

Disasters, or potential disasters in your case, add to the flavor of the trip and just add to the memories!!

I too bought the slave hut print, along with the lora print. When I showed my husband, he looked at the slave hut and asked why did I buy THAT one. Granted it isn't a pretty memory of what some people endured, but the composition and color just spoke to me, "Bonaire"! I love it!

It sure must have been quite a fright with your purse and boarding pass near disaster! Glad you made it to Bonaire and had a nice time! I also have Linda's Slave hut print! The colors are some warm and Tropical. Her work is just incredible!!!!!

Thanks for the report. I'll remember the info in 'safe entry & exits' because I am very afraid of damaging coral once I scuba down south.

Great report, Julia! Glad you didn't actually lose anything!

Gail, I know what you mean about the Slave Hut print. My husband would have done the same thing if I would have purchased it. It does speak to you, "Bonaire," in such 'hush' tones...it is wonderful!