Day 5

We got up and did our same breakfast at HV. After that we decided to take the sunfish out for a sail across toward Klein. The wind was kicking as it usually was at midday. I have NEVER sailed before but my wife had about 15 years ago. We quickly got into the deep water and prepared to make our first turn. Over we went and in the water. The boat turned over. We quickly turned it back over and got back in. Tacking back from the north end of Klein took an hour. My rear end was sore from the beating the boat hull took on the rough waves. We skipped lunch in favor of heading over to Sorobon to try our hand at windsurfing. I have never been windsurfing. We tried Jibe City and took the class. We were lucky to have just the two of us in the class and lucky that they didn't make us come back on Friday since we had no reservation. Our luck got even better when our coach was 'Ro' himself, a world class windsurfer! After a few spills in the nice shallow water of Lac Bay, I managed to get the hang of it and cruised for two hours without a problem. My wife had a hard time and spent most of her time in the water. I finally got to see what was around that fence! I think they all forgot to get dressed before coming out to the beach! The weather wasn't the best for surfing but at least I learned how to do it. Back to HV to clean up and then over to see Alfredo at Karel's for happy hour and another sunset. After three Polar's, we were off to Pasa Bon. The pizza was decent but I have had better in the states. The biggest problem was fighting off the mosquitoes. The brief rain shower didn't help either. Slow service again but we were used to it by now. Back to HV as we were beat from the day's fun.

Day 6

We had our usual breakfast at HV and decided to do absolutely nothing this day. We lounged around the room and the beach. I had managed to develop a ear problem by this day (which I still have) so I decided to stay out of the water. We skipped lunch. We headed back to the room from the beach to find a visitor. An iguana had somehow managed to get caught between our screen door and the main door. There was only 3 inches but he was in there. He had torn away a large section of the screen and left us a poop treat. Housekeeping was prompt to come and get rid of the mess. They said it happens a lot. After getting a good baking, we headed back to where else: Karel's. Alfredo took great care of us as we watched another sunset. Took some pictures with Alfredo and ate some of these interesting fried balls that they make there. They look like hush puppies. We decided on Capriccio for dinner on a recommendation from Alfredo. I hate spaghetti and my wife had a prosciutto pizza. We were surprised to receive a rum and orange juice drink at the beginning of dinner. We ate as much as we could and waited for the check. It was a long wait. It was clear that the best service was being given to regulars as we were pretty much ignored. The food was pretty good and the pizza here was much better than Pasa Bon. After dinner we headed back to HV.

Day 7

Awoke early and had breakfast at HV. We went into town to get some more cash from RBTT for dinner. When we got back, we had lunch at HV and then decided to kayak over to Klein. As we launched the boats, a large school of dolphin swam up next to shore. They were eating the jellyfish. We jumoed in our boats and paddled toward Klein. We managed to get right in the middle of the dolphins! We just sat there and they went about their business. It was beautiful. The water was rough again and we had to fight the waves. We made it to Klein in 10 minutes. We threw on the fins and headed into the water to snorkel. I had not managed to make it to the edge of the deep water the entire week. I was determined to do so today. My wife relaxed on the beach as I navigated the brain and fire coral. I got to the dropoff and then the sun came out. It was a magnificent sight. It was like being in a perfect aquarium. Fish of all kinds everywhere. All kinds of coral and plant life. I swam back to shore and told my wife she would regret it if she didn't come out there. She did and shared the most sight we saw in Bonaire. After 30 minutes, we headed back to shore. Rain was moving in so we jumped in the boat to head back. What a task! It took us 25 minutes paddling against the wind to get back. We were beat! We took a nap before dinner. We decided on Richard's for dinner. We made a huge mistake.....we waited to go after sunset not knowing that Richard's had a magnificent outdoor deck on the ocean. We arrived with no wait and sat on the deck under the stars. My wife loved it. She ordered the surf and turf and I had the scampi. To be totally honest, it was average. The service was good but the food was standard American fare. The key lime pie was probably the worst I have ever had. But we just enjoyed the view. It was very nice and the breeze was doing a good job of keeping the mosquitoes at bay. We headed back to HV and packed up.

Day 8

We tried to sleep in but it didn't work. Up at 8:30. We packed all our gear and headed to the Lost Penguin for our last meal on Bonaire. We walked around downtown before heading over to Lisa gas to fill the tank up to the level when we rented the car. I tried to explain to the guy at the pump that I only needed 1/4 tank. I actually pointed to the tank gauge and showed him. It didn't work. I stopped him when he had pumped in 18 NAF. We were way over but there wasn't much we could do about it. We headed back to HV and picked up our luggage and off we went to the airport. We turned in the car and got our boarding passes. The we had to go through security. They were very interested in my can of shaving cream and my wife's can of hair spray. They didn't really care about anything else. They took my wife's hair spray and told her she couldnt have it on the plane beacuse it was flammable. They didnt take anything of mine for some reason. It was expensive spray ($12) and my wife was mad. She felt like they were taking it for their own use. She should have sprayed it empty in front of them. Anyway, the plane was packed this time. Only about 10 seats were empty. We loaded up and headed to Montego Bay. Upon arrival, we found total chaos in Montego Bay. The place looked like a zoo. Even with four gate attendants, no one could keep any type of order. People were skipping in line and going under the ropes (all Americans I might add). They were rude and had no manners at all. It was at this point that I realized how much I missed the people of Bonaire. I told my wife that I was not looking forward to going back to the states to deal with these people. Well, the plane was late of course and took off 40 minutes late. We arrived in Atlanta to find that we only had 45 minutes to get to our connecting flight. We headed to immigration and waited for our bags. We waited for 15 minutes before they finally showed up. We ran like crazy to the Delta desk to get them re-checked on our next flight. The agent was in another world. She tossed our bags on the belt and said they would make it on the plane. We ran through the airport and got on the shuttle train. We arrived at our terminal to find that our plane was delayed also. We finally relaxed. The gate agent saw that we had been to Bonaire. He was heading to Jamaica next week so we struck up a conversation. Good thing. He moved up from row 45 to row 17. We finally got on our plane. A 767 which made us feel like we had all kinds of room compared to the A321. Off we went to Jacksonville. We had an interesting experience. We saw a group of people who had got on the plane a week earlier with us in Jacksonville and went to Bonaire. They were also on all our planes coming back. Kind of unusual that we all went to the same place on the same flights and came from the same city. Upon arrival, my bag came off fairly quick. Then the chaos. My wife's bag didn't show. Neither did the other group's who had been in Bonaire at the same time as us. Delta didn't even show it checked in Atlanta. So, I spent all night and all the next morning calling Delta to tell them that it had to be in Atlanta. It paid off. The bag was found and delivered the next afternoon. Lesson here: make sure you watch the agent tag the bag.

Well that is the trip in a nutshell. We loved everything about Bonaire. We actually forgot about everything back home while we were there. We tried to figure out ways we could live on the island. There was only one thing that totally disturbed me about Bonaire. There was an excessive amount of trash on the east coast of Klein. Plastic bottles, cans, broken glass, etc. The most beautiful place we had found was a trash dump. I was appalled. I am not sure what groups are respoonsible for most of that trash but there were a lot of dive boats in the area.

**we didn't make it to Gibi's for BT night. We couldnt find it! We had no idea it was in Nikiboko. We found it on Thursday on our way to Sorobon.


P.S. it's 2 am here so if my wording sounds strange, the late hour is the reason.

What a wonderful trip! You, two, are now addicted to Bonaire.....and the PBD sets in big time...Post Bonaire Depression. The only cure is to book your return trip as soon as possible!

I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed the beauty of Bonaire and her people and all that she has to offer.

Perhaps there was trash on the east side of Klein Bonaire due to storms? I think they do have a clean up program every once in a while to keep it nice. Hopefully it was someting rare and not a regular event. I don't recall having heard of poor conditions until your post.

Thanks for the reports! Ayo. Carole

It sounds like you had a good time! One thing about service in Bonaire - you get your check when you ask for it, they don't assume you're done until you tell them.

It makes for a very leisurely meal if that's what you want, but if you're in a hurry, just tell them at the start (and still make sure to ask them for your check - I think they sometimes think you'll change your mind)!

Bon Bini(welcome) to the ranks of BT'er who return again and again! Love your report ! Masha danki!
Most of us on the board have the same feelings as to wanting to move to this wonderful island, and some of us actually did.( We'll take a few months a year soon.)It has a way to doing that.
Confiscating your hairspray and Shave cream was not a ripp- off. I work for the USPS(post office) and you can not mailing ANYTHING in an aresol can.
I can explode in the aircraft due to the fluctuation of air pressure. The mail travels by plane too. That's why they took those things. Heighten security. At least we know they are doing there job. Guess they missed it on the way out.Most people don't realize that. I take the pump airspray. I'm not sure about carry-on.

Really enjoyed your report. Been to Bonaire 6 times in 6 years. Being one who doesn't get dressed to go to the beach...LOL

I think the trash that blows ashore on the east side is not from dive boats or from Bonaireans. It's from open ocean vessels, and sad to say, the whole world's oceans are littered badly. Dumping biodegradables back in history didn't bother seafarers. But today, plastics and other materials float and last for years. And harm sealife too. Well, enough of that. I just wanted to say that on Bonaire they might not run out and pick it all up every week because it just piles up again, not of their own doing.

I didn't bother to read the guidelines on this newsgroup but does anyone know if there is a limit to how many pictures you can post on here? All of ours are just coming back and I want to post as many as I can.

I believe it is maxed at five per individual/single posting, J., but no limit on the number of single postings at all. Give that a try. The size has restrictions, too, being no larger than 50K each. Good luck! Can't wait to see the pics....I was hoping you were going to offer to share them with us! Carole

The more the merrier!!! we like to see them just make sure the are under the 50 mb limit or they will not post...If you have any problems posting just holler and someone will come to your rescue.. Looking forward to the picture show

oops make that 50 K sorry....

If aerosol cans are a no-no, then how is it we get to bonaire with them? I had the same experience as J Oldham. They also took unopened bottles of liquor. We also felt like they were wanting them for personal use.

Niki,

The trash mentioned was on the 'east side of Klein' so more likely it is from the 'Big Island".

Open ocean trash is a problem. Saw a program about the immense amount on the NW Hawaiian Islands like French Frigate Shoals.

Oldham, post away, but the moderator has asked us to keep the thread length down,so multiple threads (part one, part two) would be nice. Also kinder to the dial up users.

Ooops, Glen, I didn't notice he said east side of Klein, so I agree that's appalling.

Niki,

As usual, I forgot to :–) though it was meant!!

Hey all,

Maybe its time to start a conversation about Security at the airport in Bonaire. As I said in our Trip report back in January they confiscated a tiny pair of tweezer, and toenail clippers from my wife, and managed to be pretty rude about it as well. I put my best politicians voice on and tried to explain to them that the store in the waiting area had both of these items for sale and they laughed at me and said thats not their "juristiction", although the "unsafe" item they just took from us we can still purchase and get on the plane with. Merideth mentioned unopened liquor bottles, which can also be purchased at the duty free store, after clearing security, and then be brought on the plane. My wife and I travel extensivly for work and since 9-11 have not been questioned about toenail clippers or tweezers in well over 20 airports...... What's really going on????
Like I said in our trip report this was the only negative in our entire trip. Lisa still has not found suitable replacement for her tweezers.....I guess its a "chick" thing!!!

Big ed

Interesting about them taking the manicure stuff. My wife had the same argument that they were selling them in the store right next door in the waiting area. When they were scanning our carry on luggage, they specifically were looking for 'bottles' as they called them. Anything that was round and shaped like a bottle. They picked out the items and looked them over really well. When they discovered that mine was shaving cream, the two security ladies looked at each other and said 'thats for mans face'. They told me it was ok and put it in my bag. When they saw my wife's hair spray, they took it. I have checked bags in tight airports, such as Atlanta and San Francisco post 9/11. None of them cared. I am more convinced that the items were taken for their use. I can say that after hearing Ed's post because guess why: they didn't take my wife's tweezers or my nail clippers! My wife should have just sprayed out the entire can and handed it to them. But then I figured we would have been arrested for something.

Well, I agree something ought to be done. For starters, did you TAKE THEIR NAMES? It's amazing what a difference it can make to obviously write down someones name. Then you can effectively follow it up with letters of complaint. But "whoever was on duty" doesn't cut the mustard. Names, dates, times, that's called evidence. Pictures are icing on the cake. (it also helps to call them by name once you have written it down, to make sure they know who you are. And as always, being endlessly polite, and mildly confused works pretty well too.)
Insofar as sharps in your carry on, DON'T. Period, No sharps. Why? Because they can take them away from you, and you can pack them safely in your checked baggage. Had an airport employee stole my duty free liquor, I would surely have their name, and letters would be flying in the mail as we speak.

(Message edited by seb on April 26, 2004)

Right after 9/11 they were extremely strict about flammable items even going way beyond the US requirements. I think they did not fully understand them. So I argued about some hair mousse and lost the battle about a year ago (I got it back when I returned 1 week later). At the time he handed me a brochure which I felt clearly stated I could have "personal" size amounts of items like hair spray. He did not agree. Anything they said flammable was taken.

Other visitors had problems with pressurized bug spray.

On my last trip in April to the states, I talked to one of the handlers again about the hair spray issue. He said they just relaxed their rules and we could take about 3 items of flammables in checked bags but no more than that. Anything over 3 and they confiscate it. I think there is a size limit too.

I talked to my wife further about the hair spray. She had two bottles of spray. They took the expensive one but told her to keep the other one. We didn't bother taking any names. I told her not to worry about it while we were at the airport because we would know better next time. And the last thing we wanted to do was miss that plane.

Pics of our trip to come as soon as I can get this scanner working. Not a bunch of pics but a couple.

We'll be here ready to enjoy the pics! Carole

Cann't wait to see your photo's!

sorry for the delay on the pics. First they took a while then my account on here got temporarily suspended as my email address was offline. Ok, let's see if I can post some of these pics....

Ok, I do not know how to post pics...can someone tell me how?

Sure, just type \image{text} for each image you want to post. Instead of text you can type a brief description about the picture. The pictures are not allowed to be bigger than 50Kb.

Martin