TRIP REPORT 01/05/02 – 01/16/02-PART ONE
Hi everyone!!! I am already missing Bonaire. I started missing her slow pace, charm and character the moment I landed in Boston. Here is my trip report.
Travel: We used Air Jamaica both ways and it was excellent. We will definitely use them again!! Our luggage even arrived with us this time!! We flew out of Logan to Montego Bay and then on to Bonaire. On the way down, we walked down to our gate waited in a line by the famous Jimmy Buffet’s Margaretaville Bar for about ten minutes and then it was time to board the plane. On our way home we had a couple hours time to look around the airport which had a lot of interesting shops. Another thing I really liked is that when we arrived in Bonaire, we had time to go to Cultimar for soda and snack foods and then have a quick snorkel before watching the beautiful sunset! On the day of departure we had enough time to have a leisurely breakfast, say good-bye to our friends and have a two hour snorkel! The food was just like any other typical airline food, but I didn’t think it was gross or anything. The only thing bad that I have to say about Air Jamaica is that it loves to serve the champagne on their flights but a glass of diet soda was hard to get and I don’t like champagne. On the leg between Montego Bay and Bonaire our only choice was water or alcohol. A little about the security in the airports: We all know it is a little tougher and it is. The line at Logan for your carryon to go through the scanner is long and it takes a while. On the way down we had both our carryons hand searched, but they were very nice about it. They were randomly having people remove shoes, but we did not have to and I think they did the wand thing randomly as well. When we hit Montego Bay they also hand searched all carryons and they did a through wand search all over the front and back of you. Something I didn’t know is that we were each carrying a sealed bottle of booze in our bags and if it were open they would have taken it away. So if you open a bottle, drink it all before your next flight!! J We did not get searched on the two flights home. All and all I think the airports went smoothly and I think it is important to put on a happy face during these little inconveniences and be as helpful as you can to help expedite things.
Restaurants: I guess we are pretty much creatures of habit and frequent a lot of the same places from our previous trips, but the way I look at it is, if you find a good thing stick with it and besides I haven’t had a bad meal in Bonaire yet!
Richards: We had the escargot and filet mignon. We love the ambiance and the food there is always good but you should know that it is a bit pricey.
Zee Zichts: We had appetizers of conk fritters. They were so good that we actually had two appetizers each before our main dishes. I had lobster thermidor and my husband had a dinner that I can’t remember what it is called but it had a variety of foods on it. It was like a Bonaire style pu pu platter. Both meals were excellent and so was the service. Because of previous posts we did check the bill and change carefully and they were correct.
Chibbi, Chibbi: The Coconut shrimp there is excellent there but this time we had the fish of the day which was dorado and it was presented nicely and very good! You dine right on the waters edge and can see the fish in the water. We did get hamburgers there for lunch one day and they were very good too but the service was slow and that is not what I want to be doing when I could be in the water.
Beefeaters: It has new owners and the food is very good. You dine outside in a patio garden with white lights on the trees. It is really quite charming. We had beef stroganoff and the prices are very reasonable.
Conzzolli’s: This is little pizza place located in the Harbourside Shopping Mall and the pizza was delicious. There is an ice cream place that is also in that mall and the ice cream is very good too.

Hotel: Divi Flamingo Resort... I had my usual ocean front deluxe room. The view and sunsets are awesome from my balcony! The gift shop that is on the property is full of great stuff and is also a little grocery store for soda and snacks. There is also a very nice slide show on Tuesday nights at the Eagle's Nest. The casino has opened and is a lot of fun. It is bigger than the old one and the bar just outside is really pretty. A great new look for the Divi. The activities center has opened and runs a little desk right at the cement pier near the beach. It hosts quite a few excursions including the Woodwind but for all Woodwind fans, it is still best to sign up with Renee directly on her sign up board or by calling 560-7055. She has flyers at the airport and I believe in the lobby of the resort as well as at her sign up board that give full information of all her different sailing and guided snorkeling excursions. On Monday nights there is a managers cocktail party with rum punch and appetizers at the Chibbi Chibbi. I really like going to the manager’s cocktail party to mingle with the other guest and it is a great opportunity to speak to the manager about any praise, problems or concerns that you may have. We met the new manager, Fritz Hannenberg and he is a very energetic nice young man with lots of good ideas and we really enjoyed his company. There was one idea Fritz had that my husband thought was great and I hated. It was to bring a big screen TV to the Eagle’s Nest bar for sports and stuff. I don’t know about you folks, but I go to Bonaire and don’t even want to look at a TV! I think some nice Caribbean music playing would be much nicer! I did take the opportunity to discuss what water activities will take place in front of the Divi. I told him my concerns about sail boarding hurting us snorkelers and he said there were not supposed to be any by the Divi. We had seen two, but they apparently were not supposed to be there. Another conversation we had was to let him know that we knew where the activities desk was and that we didn’t appreciate be approached for a sales pitch while we were gearing up to go in for a snorkel. Fritz quite agreed and said that he would talk to them. We also talked about the need to attract business and I shared with him my feelings about not making the Dive one of those touristy places just like all the other islands! I also talked to Fritz about Bonaire Talk and how important I think it is to the tourism of Bonaire and his one comment to me was that he was understaffed and does not have enough time to keep up with it, so anyone who does not get a reply back from him, please don’t be offended. I do hope that some time in the near future he will get the staff he needs and be able to read the important feedback of Bonaire Talkers. I am sorry if I rambled a bit here but I know that there are some Bonaire Talkers that share some of my concerns for the future peace and tranquility at the Divi and I wanted them to know that Fritz does listen and care!

Woodwind, sailing, snorkeling, touring and friends: PART TWO Remember on my last vist in September some one recognized me, well I was recognized again!!! I went into the pool for an am dip and someone was calling my name. Sandra from BT was up on her balcony and she recognized me. Our second day on island, we had a note on the door from Rickie to meet him and Tova for dinner. And then of course you all know of the plan to meet the gang at the street cam. There was Sandra, Phil, Lea, CiJai, Tom and myself on the 15th and then Rickie, Tova and Tom and I were there on the 1oth. Sandra, Phil, Tom and I also did a snorkel at the small wall while we were there. I just love reading Bonaire Talk and meeting a whole bunch of people that share my same love for Bonaire! It is so much fun!!! Thanks Jake and Linda!!! I actually came out of the water for a little while and spent a couple of days touring and snorkeling around the island with Rickie and Tova. On one day we went all around the southern part and by the mangroves and on to to Lac Cai where the Sunday parties are held. We also saw lack bay which looked very inviting for the wind surfers. On the day we did the street cam, we did northern route with a trip to pricas ice cream in Rincon and a trip up to Seru Largo where the view of Bonaire and Kline are incredible!! I think it is the highest point in Bonaire with a beautiful statue and viewing area. It is well worth the trip!! We snorkeled at Captain Don’s house reef and then we went to, Olde Blue and Country Garden where the corals and sea fans were simply breath taking! We had dinner together often and one of the nights we all met with Jake and Linda for a nice evening. We were very lucky to be in Bonaire when the Tall Ship was there and they had an open house that we took advantage of. Her name was the Stad Amsterdam and she is a 250 foot long modern extreme clipper ship that was built with the historical perspective of the 1800’s. She was absolutely beautiful and her deck was immaculate!!!!
I lost count of all the green flashes that I saw this trip. It seemed that the sunsets were more vibrant than ever and it was so nice sharing them with other people.
On Friday Night we went to Jan Huckaby’s open house for her art. Remember last trip I snorkeled with some spotted eagle rays, Well, Jan did an original painting of three spotted eagle rays gliding towards some beautiful coral. I just had to have it and Tom bought it for me as a belated Christmas present!! I bought some prints too!!! Her work looks so real of all the creatures that I love. I actually have a wall dedicated to her work.
I spent most of my time in the water. Now that's a surprise! Everyone kept checking my neck for gills again. The snorkeling around the divi is incredible! The cement pier is now full of life and the brain and corals continue to grow!There is a family of rainbow parrots that were hanging out there a lot. Of course I still love hanging above the little boat that they have sunk to the right of the cement pier with all kinds of life on and in it. The water was a bit churned up on some of the days due to a heavy surge, but the visability was still ok.
I snorkeled at the Calabas a lot and then with the Woodwind I went to No Name and South West Corner at Kline, Andrea I, Andrea II, Small Wall, Coral Gardens. Ebo’s Reef and Just a Nice Dive. All were great snorkels. I also went to a special place of Renee’s and I am not sure where it was but I have named it Renee’s Garden because it is the second time she has brought me there to see some very special creatures.
As all of the regulars know, I sail almost daily with Renee and the Woodwind. Almost all her sails have two snorkel stops and lunch included. Then there is the big BBQ day on Wednesday that I wouldn’t miss for the world and Barney, her Captain still makes the best ribs around!!!! We met some really great people while sailing with her. Mary Ann and Peggy. They were also staying and the Divi and we had a lot of fun times with them. We had some really great sitings this trip. Renee showed us a beautiful black seahorse in about 10 feet of water. I couldn’t believe that as a snorkeler that I would ever see a seahorse! I had a few omens prior to the trip that I would see one. When I broke my Knee on the last trip, my roommates Karen and Eileen gave me a shirt with a seahorse on it, then my husband gave me a stuffed seahorse in the hospital and then for Christmas he gave me a crystal seahorse. I guess it was just time to see one of those elusive creatures!! Another day I was snorkeling with some new friends Mary Ann and Peggy and they spotted a pair of Hairy Blennies mating right under the balcony of our room! We watched this incredible experience for at least a half hour and they got some great pictures. The day before we were leaving they surprised me with an awesome picture!! Thanks Guys!!! Another very big find was at Andrea while sailing on the Woodwind. We spotted a huge queen Trigger Fish. They are a pretty rare find in Bonaire!!! I was ya hoo ing in my snorkel!!!!!! At Just a Nice Dive we saw a Bandtail puffer. He was so cute and he let us take lots of pictures. At Andrea we saw two huge corenet fish side by side just hanging there. They were pretty deep but we managed to get some decent pictures. One of the trips to No Name beach at Kline we saw two green turtles, a sting ray, an octopus and a huge dog snapper! Speaking of huge fish. I saw a barracuda as big as me right at the Divi. I have to admit that I was a little intimidated by that one!! Renee says he hangs between the Divi and the Plaza. I saw some a lot of big midnightblue parrot fish as well as the light blue big blunt nose parrots. There were more scrawled file fish than I usually see and I saw a bright yellow phase Cooney for the first time! I also saw quite a few sharpnose puffers. The rest of the fish I consider regulars but I thought I would list them for all you first-timers. Here they are: harliquin bass, greater soapfish, all phases of parrot fish including the big rainbows with the green teeth, spanish hog fish, puddingwife, yellowhead wrasse, bluehead wrasse, squirrel fish, soldier fish, cardinal fish, lot's of scorpion fish, peacock flounders sandivers, trumpet fish, burr fish, balloon fish, porcupine puffer, honeycomb and scrawled cow fish , smooth and spotted trunk fish, white spotted file fish, spotted and yellow goat fish, spotted drums, glassy sweepers, lots of big redlip blennies, gobies, bristel worms, sea cucumbers, flamingo tounges, squid, arrow crab, fire worms, golden tail morray, and a spotted morray. I think that is most of them and I would like to give special thanks to Renee for pointing out most of the smaller critters and some of the big ones too! That's way I love to go out on the Woodwind so much, she knows where everything lives and she has a real nack for spotting things. I also bought Jan Huckaby's video of one of the snorkel trips on the Woodwind and we love it!!! I guess Jan only sails a couple times a week so if you are interested in a video of your snorkel you should probably check ahead of time.
That is about all I can remember for today. I hope you enjoyed reading this report as much as I relived my trip writing it!!

Enjoy? I sure did! Thanks for all the great details.

Darlene, I'm glad you had some great snorkeling.. wonderful. S

Correction to my trip report: The bar's name at the Divi is the Flamingo's nest not Eagle's nest. Sorry!

Darlene, thanks for a great report! It was nice sharing some of it with you in person. I saw your two Coronet fish yesterday at Petri's Pillar. Was a first for me to see 2 hanging out like that. Look forward to your next visit!!!!!

Hey Darlene, great trip report. I'm taking my second trip to Bonaire Feb 28th. I have been to quite a few islands and really LOVE Bonaire. We are staying at the Divi again. We were there in Aug. and really enjoyed the laid back atmosphere, small size, and convenience to town. At that time of year it was not crowded at all. I can't wait to go back.

Great trip and great trip report, Darlene! I am "ready" now! May will be here soon. Glad to hear things are going well at the Divi, too. Thanks for taking the time to thread your tale for us. CArole (shutterbug)

Iam glad that everyone is enjoying the trip report.
Ginger, this was my 4th trip to the Divi and we also go for the same reasons that you stated and even when it is full, it's not crowded! I think they are all under water!

Darlene, loved your report. It makes waiting another 3,642 days agonizing, but well worth the reading. Brought back alot of memories for me - thanks!

Darlene:
Now really....tell me the truth. Did you enjoy yourself?

Darlene: Great report---your enthusiasm is infectious.
We just got back on Saturday...really wish that we would coincide some day...Renee told me about finding the seahorse with you...she sends "Hello!".
We'll try to get around to doing a report soon!

Hi Robert!!! Welcome back!!! Did Renee tell you how crazy I got when we found the seahorse!!! I damn near drowned going up and down for pictures!!! Did Renee tell you that I was also very excited when we found the Queen Trigger. Barney could hear us screaming through the snorkels on the boat!!!
I hope you had a great trip and I look forward to your wonderful pictures and report.