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Trip Reports: DARLENE AND TOM’S TRIP REPORT 03/05/05 – 03/19/05 PART TWO
Bonaire Talk: Trip Reports: Archives: Archives 2000 to 2005: Archives - 2004-08-02 to 2005-05-08: DARLENE AND TOM’S TRIP REPORT 03/05/05 – 03/19/05 PART TWO
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By DARLENE ELLIS (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1372) on Sunday, April 24, 2005 - 9:08 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

We went to the Donkey Sanctuary one day with Corney Ann and John Carter. There were a ton of donkeys there. I especially love the little babies. They are sooooo cute!!! I went up to the top of the tower and it had a beautiful breeze and awesome view. I never realized that there is a little area for Iguanas. There are some pretty big ones in there with great photo opps.

Bonaire Talk Sunset Sail: I think there were about fifteen of us that went out on the Woodwind for a beautiful and enjoyable sunset sail! It was so relaxing and everyone was chatting, drinking and eating as the sun slowly drifted down. Most of us ended up at BoBo Jans for dinner after the sail. I think it is so great how all Bonaire Talk folks are getting to know each other. It was soo much fun seeing Josie, Chet, Jean, Corney, John and their friend Louigi and Jeannie again and meeting Natalie and Pat and Mary Murphy and their friends. Sorry for any names that I left out.

This was my tenth trip to Bonaire and Tom’s 6th. We also have some wonderful friends on island and enjoy our times together with them as well. Between BT friends and friends on island, it is getting to the point that two weeks just isn’t long enough to see everyone!! Jake was off island when we were there and we didn’t think we were going to see him. When we were at the airport ready to leave Jake shows up with his big smile and gave me a great big bear hug!!! Jake gives the best hugs!!!! :-) Then Martin joined us for a while until it was time to go! It’s moments like all the ones I have shared that make Bonaire our paradise!!!!!

Gibi’s BT Nights: I always have such a good time when I go to Gibi’s. Chet and Jean were there and I got my second Bonaire Talk Pin that they do up for all the March BT’ers. Now my friend Renee, from Renee Snorkel Trips and the Golden Reef Inn goes there every Tuesday so I get a little extra time with her too!! This trip I finally got to meet Cynde, her husband Michael. Dillon and Sarah. They sure do know how to have a fun time with the Flamingo hat, purple tiaras and wands!!! Josie, Martin and Angela jumped right in on the good times, as pictures will show. My face was hurting from laughing so hard. Cynde also brought some huge St Patty’s day hats later in the week! Pat and Mary Murphy were there both weeks and we also met Donna and Charlie.

Josie, Tom and I did meet up for a few dinners and snorkels. We had a lot of fun together. We also went to the animal shelter with her to see her new babies. I was the one that talked her in to getting two! They are so cute and now they have a great home with Josie! This was our second time on island at the same time.

Thanks to Natalie, Josie, Benny (we got to meet him),Corney, John and their daughter Hope and Husband Evan, Tom and I had a wonderful snorkel at Small Wall!!! We got to hang around and get pictures of a huge Midnight Blue Parrot for quite a while in the shallows!!!! It was great!!!! I could almost touch him!!!! There was also a huge Cornet fish that was just hanging there.

I would usually spend afternoons snorkeling around the Divi and it is incredible! The cement pier is full of life and it is one of my favorite spots! There was a huge Barracuda that hung around Divi’s southern most pier for the whole two weeks.! All the usual critters were there plus some not so usual ones! I saw several octopus and one was posing for me out in the open! I actually was lucky enough to see two more Octopus out in the open at other sites. There was an abundance of baby juvenile Banded Butterfly fish, which was unusual. There were around 50 to 60 baby squids hanging under the float!!!! They were really neat and I got to visit them every day! Another pleasure was watching a pair of mating squids right there in the shallows. I also saw and had to ID it, my very first Tobacco fish which was a lot of fun!!! Another nice little snorkel was between Cha Cha Pier and the South Pier. There is a lot of neat life living in the rocks along the way.

The mornings we would spend either sailing and snorkeling on the Woodwind or doing guided snorkels with Renee from Renee Snorkel trips. We love doing both!

The Woodwind is a trimaran run by Dee and Ulf. It is a lot of fun sailing with them and you do two snorkel stops with snacks, lunch and drinks included. We sailed to Ebo’s Reef and No Name at Kline, Andrea I, Andrea II, Small Wall and Petries Pillar. All were great snorkels and we saw turtles almost daily at Kline and lots of Queen Angels. Our highlight was when a gigantic turtle came up from the deep for just a brief moment over at Kline!! We also saw a large Cornet fish several times at one of the Andreas. Dee is great at spotting critters for you to see. She also went out of her way to try to show us a seahorse but it was to deep for me. Maybe next time!

Renee’s business is Renee’s Snorkel Trips. She will pick you up and drop you off and her prices a very reasonable. We love going with her as she knows where all the good stuff is and she finds easy entries for me. We call her ole eagle eyes because she can see a baby flounder at 40 feet down!!! Some of the sites we went to with Renee were Lac Bay, Plaza, Invisibles, Tories Reef, and what I call Renee’s special garden! In the middle of this shallow sandy boat mooring spot there all of a sudden was this beautiful area of corals with hundreds of brightly colored Christmas tree worms that looked like bouquets of flowers!!! Then she spotted two juvenile Gray angelfish!!! It was really a beautiful spot and I could have stayed there all day!!! We saw three different Eagle Rays while out with Renee!!!! One at Plaza, one at Tories and the best one at Invisibles!!!! He stayed with us for about 15 minutes!!!! Tom would go down deep and get pictures but I can’t so the Ray felt bad for me and came up long enough for me to get a couple of shots!!!! Also at Invisibles we saw Garden eels for the very first time. There was a diver still on the bottom with a camera so we knew to get a closer look. They were so cute how they dance about! AND…. We saw a juvenile Queen Angel!!!! What a snorkel that was!!!! At Plaza in addition to the ray we saw a baby trumpet fish about an inch and a half long hiding in a gorgonian and then I spotted a baby trunk fish!!!!! The one that looks like a little dice!!!! At Lac Bay the highlight was an octopus moving about and changing colors just posing for the camera! At Tories Reef we saw a couple of mating squid and we saw a pair of juvenile Rock Beauties!!!

This was suppose to be a short trip report but I guess I am not capable of such a thing!! J Pictures will come eventually if I ever get to them! :-)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tom Cousino (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1814) on Sunday, April 24, 2005 - 9:15 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Just keep typing Darlene. I am so happy for you and Tom.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jan Klos - ( Hamlet Bonaire Owner) (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #320) on Monday, April 25, 2005 - 9:46 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Looking forward to the pictures... Especially after a tough year... glad to hear you both had a great time...

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cecil Berry (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #4012) on Monday, April 25, 2005 - 7:37 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Excellent report Darlene. Only a little jealous here. At least you got two weeks, I'll be lucky to get one, not that I'm whining, because I am so thankful, really I am.

Going to Bonaire is like going home.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cynde (BonaireTalk Deity - Post #13527) on Monday, April 25, 2005 - 7:54 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Darlene, great report. It was wonderful to meet you and Tom as well. We'll have to spend more time together next time!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Denise Kacavas (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #985) on Monday, April 25, 2005 - 8:51 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

great reports Darlene :-) you already know I am anxiously awaiting pics! Denise

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Lorraine Meadows (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #939) on Tuesday, April 26, 2005 - 7:33 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks for sharing, Darlene!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Brian (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #958) on Tuesday, April 26, 2005 - 1:37 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Darlene

Thanks, but pictures please.....

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Carole Baker (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #4817) on Tuesday, April 26, 2005 - 5:47 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Wow, Darlene...what a great trip you and Tom had! Great report, too. I can't believe you didn't make it to Janice's place tho...LOL! I think you and I own just about every print she has done as well as some originals, too! Can't wait to get back down there in a few weeks. Will you post some pics for us or do you have a site? I hope I didn't miss the link on the other report....thanks! Carole

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Eileen Kimmett (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #7835) on Tuesday, April 26, 2005 - 8:00 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Great report Darlene!!:-)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Aimee (BonaireTalker - Post #26) on Wednesday, April 27, 2005 - 12:22 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Darlene,
Excellent trip report!! My son snorkeled at Dive with Miss Caren and ID'd the tobacco fish too! He brought us out there to show us that and the squid under the float! We got an excellent shot of them. They were so young that they inked us several times while we were just watching them, it was hilarious just like the baby squid in Nemo who couldn't control himself.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Aimee (BonaireTalker - Post #27) on Wednesday, April 27, 2005 - 12:23 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

oops, that should read DIVI, not Dive.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By DARLENE ELLIS (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1395) on Sunday, May 1, 2005 - 7:55 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

These are my fish pictures. I will post some of my husband's when he gets to them.

me in heaven


tom with ray


spotted eagle ray


boquet


turtle


minightblue parrot


midnight blue


juv french


gray french


juv queen 1

juv queen

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By DARLENE ELLIS (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1396) on Sunday, May 1, 2005 - 8:04 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

rockbeauty3

rockbeauty2

rockbeauty1

juv rockbeauty banded

octopus1

octopus2

foreye butterfly

juv banded

baby trunk

squirrel


 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By DARLENE ELLIS (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1397) on Sunday, May 1, 2005 - 8:09 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

pair of filefish

kissing filefish

honeycomb cowfish

squid2

squid1

baby squid


 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By DARLENE ELLIS (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1398) on Sunday, May 1, 2005 - 8:14 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong when I get the poor quality when I shrink the down to the under 50???? thanks!:-(

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Aimee (BonaireTalker - Post #36) on Sunday, May 1, 2005 - 8:36 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

excellent pics Darlene! Thanks!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Debbie Babcock (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1537) on Sunday, May 1, 2005 - 8:46 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Darlene,

Loved the octupus, baby squids, and the juv. queen fish, and all of them! When my son told me about the baby squid being there this last Feb., he took me and there were only about 15 and I thought that was a lot of little squid, but, OMG, they multiplied a bunch since then! Keep them coming! :-) Debbie

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Denise Kacavas (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #989) on Sunday, May 1, 2005 - 8:54 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Darlene, I'm not sure why you are losing the quality - are you telling your software 100% quality when you save? I am looking forward to seeing the original pics of the juvenile queen angel !! I can't believe all the squid!!! A number of these pics look like they must be GREAT before you downsized them, especially the scrawled file fish!!!

Denise

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mare (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #817) on Sunday, May 1, 2005 - 9:04 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Yay! lots of fish pics! thank you very much.

Mare

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Carole Baker (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #4826) on Sunday, May 1, 2005 - 10:47 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Wow, Darlene!! What a great "show" you had!! Thanks for sharing them with us. You really hit the jackpot with the number and variety of marine life this go 'round, didn't you. Wow! Were some of there at the Divi area?? Where was the ray hanging out? That is really shallow water...how terrific!

The baby squid are unreal....everywhere!!

Thanks again for posting the shots!! Carole

PS I'm hoping AJ hangs in there at least until Joe and I get down there in a few more weeks....will worry about how to get "home" later on! LOL. Just need to GET there, first! cb

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By DARLENE ELLIS (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1400) on Monday, May 2, 2005 - 11:52 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Denise, I would do them in MGI photo suite. First I would save them as email size. Then I would use the custom part and deduct 50 or100 equally on both until I got under 50. Where is the point of saving at less then full quality? Maybe I need a little lesson next time your over:-) Thanks

Carole, The baby squid were under the float at Divi and the the mating squid were there too as well as the juv banded butterfly and scrawled filefish. The spotted eagle ray was the one hanging at Invisables. He was in the sandy flats just before the drop off about 30 feet down. Tom can dive down pretty far but when I took the picture he came up about 3/4's of the way just for me!! :-) Have a blast when you get there!!!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jan Klos - ( Hamlet Bonaire Owner) (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #322) on Monday, May 2, 2005 - 7:03 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

loved the turtle, squid & the pus pics...

 


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