Bonaire's always felt like a favourite old jumper to me. You pull it over your head & although it doesn't look so good, it's well worn & decidedly frayed around the edges, it just feels comfortable & homely. So it was this time around as we bounced along the unlit, potholed "road" to Lagoen, following Coras tail lights.
The Lagoen Hill project is an interesting one, comprising a collection of individual bungalows. They vary considerably in design & furnishings. Some are spartan & purely for rental use whilst others are more up market & are permanent residences for some of the local folk. Needless to say, the further you are up the hill, the better the views down over the surrounding countryside, town & the ocean beyond. We were renting two bungalows & had been unable to pick & choose. Quite simply there were only two available for us to have. A very basic rental one by the main gate & another with considerably more home comforts, beside the communal swimming pool at the top of the hill. Cora showed us around. I noted the smugness of the three guys who I'd detailed to share the better of the two options, as we said goodnight & I led Marcia, Wayne & Mel (Melanie) back down to our more humble abode. I could see Wayne's bottom lip trembling as we entered our dimly lit living area. He was feeling hard done by, but I had decided long before leaving England that this was the best option for me anyway, as it would be better to suffer his snivelling for a day or two than have the other three discontent & plotting my downfall behind my back! Incidentally, Mel would be happy anywhere, as long as she could be close to me (I wish!).
Cora had thoughtfully left a few beers in the fridge, so we polished them off before turning in. "Night all" said I, as Wayne & Mels bedroom door closed. Lord knows why, but I was suddenly aware that I'd mislaid the car keys. I wandered out to the car, pausing to enjoy the warmth of the night, the clear starlit sky & best of all, the all engulfing quietness. When I reached the car it was a relief to find it unlocked but irritating that the keys weren't in the ignition as I'd hoped. I'd just reached the patio door on my way back inside when, for the third time that night the car alarm went off! The others were out of bed by now & we all frantically searched for the damned key which was essential for us to silence the hell that was going on a few yards away. Mercifully it turned up under one of our cases & peace was quickly restored to "the hill". Well almost anyway. All our neighbours lights were now on & there were so many dogs barking that I could easily have believed I was back home just before "feeding time". Yes...the Pants had well & truly arrived!
Now, you might have noticed in a long ago thread, that I launched an appeal for someone to bring an underwater housing for a Sony digital camera from the States to the island, for Chris (one of our bunch) in return for a bottle of single malt? Well, an extremely trusting soul (Alan Marcus) volunteered his services. I had arranged to meet him, & do the deal at 07:00 the following morning at his apartment in Eden Beach. After a fifteen minute search the three of us tracked him, & his family down. I had planned to take only Chris with me but as usual Wayne was concerned that he might be missing something & insisted on joining us. The exchange went well. Chris handed over the cash & Scotch, while Alan produced the housing & then treated us to a coffee & a chat with his charming family. If you're reading this Alan...thanks again & maybe we'll prise a bacon sandwich out of you next time, eh? From here it was a quick dash to Martins hotel, where I had arranged to meet him at 08:00. We sat in the grounds together & made plans to meet together at Jake & Lindas at 16:00 later that day. It was a fairly uneventful meeting with the exception of one small amusing incident......Martin was wearing shorts & sitting on a bench made of thin wooden planks with spaces between them. Well, being Dutch he wasted no time in "airing his differences" which were soon swinging freely between the slats of the seat. Ordinarily this alone wouldn't have merited my attention but the moment was made when the hotels cat spied them hanging there & presumed them to be a plaything! As you can imagine they were hastily withdrawn. Thanks for that one Martin. Incidentally, why is he so quiet? Have I missed something during my absence?
Back to Lagoen for 09:00 & a diving induction chat with Toucans Monique, who I take an instant fancy to. Surprisingly she's even less inclined to tongue wrestle with me than Cora was, the night before!
10:00 finds us kitted up & standing in the shallows at Plazas 18th Palm. There's discontentment in the ranks of the groups male contingent....."Yeah ok, I admit that they are topless...but you didn't say that they'd all be over sixty, did you?!" You just can't please some folks, can you?

We'll hit the water tomorrow....I promise!

Whoops! Needless to say, that was Chapter 3.

yawn

Oh, Andy the suspense is killing me. Glad too see the trip didn't take away from your wit and ablity to "ramble on"!!!

Isn't it time you got down to the airport, you spiteful soab?....I'm doing my best!

I could have done without the vision of cats playing with Martin's dangles. Even with that I still anxiously await the next installment.

You jumped in too quick Tim! Your'e the last guy in the world I'd want to pick a fight with. But as for that little weasel above you....anytime anywhere!

Prudho it is then. Where ever that may be. And that is our phrase, probably stolen from the SAS, but our phrase none the less. I'm looking forward to 18 hrs in a plane more than the next installment of Andy's word drip torture.
Jesus.

soab, I love it, metric cussing.

I don't even know exactly what is going on and think Mr. Andy is better than 90 % of the entries I've read thus far. Since I tend to ramble, too...... well, I think the "stuff" is fond banter and soon something of real depth will surface, these little bubbles are just a long intro..
I have lots of time to our first trip to Bonaire and all. I'm learning gobs of info.....Will I still need bug spray in February. Everything else is extraneous...it's the bugs I am really concern about.. the shallow person I am.I was hoping they'd gone to Venzuela by then.....

Andy, I too am looking forward to the next chapter.. good job so far.. S

ps. we leave in 12 days... I hope I'm ready for it!

Hello Sarah, have a great time on your trip.

Patricia, yes the boy does seem to have a gift with words. It is indeed friendly banter. I look forward to showing him how to dive in the not to distant future. Real divers dive air and are not addicted to exotic gas mixtures!

I was hoping Andrew would get to a subject that I think he eluded to in an earlier post. A subject that I have waited for several months for someone else to bring up. I found it elsewhere, have responded, and will probably be booted out of this board.

You too have a great trip, as to the bugs, do what we do here in SW FL, the bug capitol of the universe, cover up, long pants and shirtsleeves.. "bug spray" on cloths is better than on the skin. Come to think of it, the bugs were never that bad in bonaire, but it is a relative thing.

sir andrew...i am beginning to look forward to reading your "morning chapter"....crackin' me up. you do have a way with prose...and as for martin's cat toys...that was a picture worth your 1000 words!!!! am waiting with baited breath....

Scott, thanks for the info..I was just hoping it was the dry dry dry season....then no itchy guys. My much better half and I been going to Moorea and Bora Bora the last 4 years( our winter... their summer) and I've literally been chew up and spit out by the little teeny weenie "looks like lint" flying mega toxic mosquitoes.They are selective, just like the sweetest or maybe smelliest skin. I rather hope it's first reason. They ignor my husband...get totally full on me, I reckon. They get big, bright red and ugly right before your eyes, the bites not the mosquitoes. You don't stop itching until after your credit card comes up for breath. I gotta remember Bonair is arid and wearing the long clothes is a viable alternative, not so in the So. Pacific. We are going to Bonaire because quite a few couples we meant said it was Excellant.We will be two of thirty arriving at the Habitat. Coming from Northern California,San Francsico Bay Area (Don's gone... I've read )to check it out. Sounds as if everyone falls in love with it, hands down......

Patricia, you will fall in love, we had no bugs in september I must admit, brought the spray and all but didn't see a one. be sure to join our PBD group when you return!

Andy...where was the camera when you needed it most??! ROTFLMAO! Carole

In my hand Carole. Martin & I are still negotiating the film rights!
No-ones answered my question yet. Where is he?

Andy:
Yes I read your reports and I must say, they are extremely interesting. Wonder if your guys ever got the chance to go over to Cai... I gave them the general directions but if they didn't go that day or early the next, it was probably too windy on the east end. (and the current gets up fast with the wind). If they want a picture of the yellow seahorse (that they could not find even with my almost good directions)at Eden Beach, will see if I can scan it in and send it to you.
If we cross paths again some day there will be a bacon sandwich waiting for you.
Alan

Alan, we gave up waiting for the wind to drop a couple of days before the end of our trip & decided to "go for it" & dive the East side anyway. It became our favourite dive of the vacation & we wished that we'd plucked up the courage to tackle it earlier. Maybe we were extremely lucky, but on each of the two dives we made from Baby beach we encountered sharks...one black tip the first time & four the second. Great stuff!

Andy, I'm back at the living... Both Angela and me are / were suffering from severe PBD. (or maybe just a flue....) And right after our return to holland, I had to work like crazy because of the Euro thing going on in almost whole Europe, except that little island across the channel called Great Brittain. (I wonder where that Great came from????)

Hey, Martin, you watch it about GB -- or Andy and Sarah and I will get together and beat you up!!

I missed you soooo much Martin. First, you Continentals try to give us Rabies & now the Euro! Well, you know where you can stick them! I'm sure that you already realise that they are going to be one helluva big mistake? I'm now doubling my efforts to have the Channel Tunnel filled in to restore our island status & put some welcome space between us again.
Josie, I see that just like me, you only require a little favourable attention to be transformed into a formidable ally. More power to your elbow!

Josie, You and Sarah are more than welcome to grab a pint in one of the bars here in Rotterdam. You know about the exception that makes the rule???

Andy, I could have known that you wouldn.t accept the Euro. You still use your feet to see how large something is and there is a sentence about "Left is right but right is wrong."


O, BTW: you can come and get a pint here as well, but you knew that didn't you???

Andy, wait until next year to fill in the Tunnel. We're visiting my family in England at Christmas and New Year, and taking three days to whisk off to gay Paree (never been there before). My sister lives near Ashford, so it's a quick hop to the train and two and a half hours later we'll be in Paris. I heard on the radio tonight that French bank clerks are talking about going on strike on Jan 2 so the French won't be able to get Euros. Thank heavens for credit cards. I have a feeling that US Dollars aren't widely accepted in France.

OK, back from my exam.. phew.. I'm glad that's over with!

Martin, I would be delighted to join you for a beer.. we visit Holland regularly! S

Josie, I hope you have a wonderful time here over the holidays, you'll love Paris.. have had many happy times there.. very romantic (if you like that sort of thing)!

S

Sarah,

If you're in Rotterdam, please let me know, maybe we can meet in person. You're more than welcome in the best city of Holland...

Martin, we often travel by train from Belgium through to Amsterdam.. we could very easily get off at Rotterdam.. who knows, we could be meeting up in 2002..S

Sarah, thanks. Just three days in Paris. We arrive London on Boxing Day and then shuttle back and forth between a sister, brother (both in Kent) and my dad (in London - Bermondsey). We'll have a nice few romantic days just the two of us in Paris, then back for a final family dinner and home to Rochester, NY the following day. Then, less than a month to BONAIRE!!

Josie, sounds wonderful.. have a super time!..S