Of course, we tried to squeeze a lot more than diving into the two weeks. We did a day of fishing with Chris Morkos on “Piscatur”, on the middle Saturday of the vacation. This was great fun, with all the family and Jim and Kristi on the boat. Of course, there was some family objection to the 6:00 am departure, but we managed to survive. The day started with had-line fishing for live bait, then trolling up the coast to the north point of the island. We caught a number of small blackfin tuna on small artificial squid lures on light tackle; and also had a number of barracuda on light tackle slow trolling live bait. We also had one mulatu (wahoo) on the heavier tackle, which was a nice fight. Chris filleted the tuna and a couple of the barracuda for us at the end of the day, and we gave the mulatu to him and Teo, the mate, as part of the tip for a great day on the water. It was sold and ended up on some restaurant menu that night.
We did our customary Sunday family snorkel trip on the Woodwind, which was a success as always. Renee provides a great day’s entertainment, and as Jessica becomes more proficient with a mask and snorkle, she enjoys it more each trip. As is usual, we did a stop at No Name Beach on Klein, and after snorkeling there, sailed over to Andrea 1 for a second snorkel trip. I concentrated on the shallows there, encountering several super male Rainbow parrotfish and a super male Midnight Blue. Renee found a couple of octopus as well, making for a fun day. Out of the water and back on the boat, there was the usual great spread of sandwiches, fruit, cookies, and all you could drink of whatever you would like. The only disappointment was that Janice Huckaby was not with us on the trip to do the underwater video as in years past. According to Renee, Janice was in the USA at this time so we will have to wait until our next trip for another video.
Of course, we did some driving around…out to Goto Meer to see the flamingoes, with a trip to Serou Largu to see the new memorial there and to take in the view…and of course to Rincon and a stop at Prisca’s for ponche crema ice cream. Did not make it over to Cai this year, just too much else going on.
For the first time this year, we signed Jessica up for the Aquakids program that is available at the Plaza, and this was absolutely great and much recommended. Jessica was the only kid signed up at this time, so she got five days of one-on-one attention from Annette, the instructor, from 8:30 until 12:30 each day. They did snorkel classes, reef fish identification projects, driftwood craft projects, snorkel swims at 18 Palms and even the kid version of an intro to SCUBA with her own little tank, the SASY supplied air snorkeling (see their website at http://divesasy.com ), with a boat trip to Klein. And to wrap up the week they had a surprise trip to the Donkey Sanctuary. All this cost $120 for the 5 days, making it a real bargain in our book. Most importantly, Jessica loved it. I understand that there are similar other kid programs on the island which are very good, but for anyone at Divi or the Plaza of course, I can highly recommend this. It is $30 per day or $80 for 3 days if you do not want the full 5 days.
We did not eat out a great deal, doing many meals ---about half the dinners--- in our room and going out the remaining evenings. We did eat dinner at the Chibi Chibi twice and enjoyed both times very much…had dinner at Richard’s twice, fine both times …had a very nice dinner at Mi Poron on Sunday evening mid-trip. At Mi Poron on Sunday, there was a guitar duo playing, very nice, and the food was great with minimal mosquito activity. This, combined with a delicious Keshi Yena, made for a marvlous evening which was the least expensive of our nights out, too. Dinner for three, with two appetizers, one bottle of wine and dessert was just under $70 with service included and a tip on top. Had lunch one day at the Harbor Village, which was a disaster---incredibly slow service, and the wrong order delivered when it did arrive. The only salvation was Jessica entertaining herself feeding the pet iguanas that hang out around the tables. Maybe as Jessica gets older, or when we travel without her, we will return to more frequent restaurant outings. Of course, we had the usual Thursday night pot-luck suppers that the “January Week 3 and 4 Gang” always do around the timeshare pool at the Divi…this can be the best eating on the island, sometimes, as people go all out to prepare the dishes they bring. It’s a great tradition we have, and we really get into it.
All good times eventually must end, however, so we closed out the vacation with dinner Friday night at Richards. Saturday of our return was leisurely, with the late departure on Air Jamaica. Actually, it became later than expected, as Air Jamaica’s incoming flight was delayed, so our departure was two hours delayed. We burned a lot of Amstels sitting around the Flamingo airport, but it was in good company with many of us returning home on the same flight. Air Jamaica was good about the connections, though, holding the Montego Bay to Baltimore flight until our arrival (I am sure some of those passengers did not appreciate it) and all the luggage made it with us. It did make for a late drive home to Virginia from BWI Saturday night.
As always, we did not want to leave, and we cannot wait to go back…

(Actually, I am so on island time, I can't remeber what year this is...sorry about the title screw-up)

Bob,
Thank you so much for your detailed trip report. You obviously put a lot of time into the report. I particularly liked the description of your fishing experience and the Aquakids program. You are an excellent writer and I appreciate the update.
Thanks!

Great report. I ate it up!! -- Manta ray! On her first dive! Wow!

Welcome "home" Robert! We caught you on the reef cam!!When are you posting you trip pic? Waiting anxiously. Your bouancy skills are great!

Robert, thank you so much for the detailed report on your visit - we enjoyed it immensely. Your photos are beautiful - are you a professional photograher as well!
We were at the Divi for the first half of your visit and were thrilled to see the turtles and tarpon (but not the numbers that you saw!).
Your report will go in my 'keeper' file and I will no doubt refer to it many, many times.
Cheryl

Wow, Robert. Add my thanks to those above. You gave us many ideas about what we would like to see and do on our first trip to Bonaire. Your photos are wonderful. I agree with Cheryl - your report and photos are keepers!

I gotta ask...what kind of underwater camera, etc. are you using? These pictures are FABULOUS. My pictures are always so sad and monotone. Any tips would be appreciated!!

Thank you for the many compliments...I like to think that the enthusiasm which all three of us feel for Bonaire came through.
Amy, the camera for the underwater photos is a Nikonos V, usually with a 28mm lens (I cannot convince Ramona to let me spring for the bigger wide angles), or a close-up lens on the 28 mm, or with extension tubes on a 35 mm lens for the tiniest critters; with an Ikelite 50 strobe---hoping to upgrade that, too, though it is nice for the macro and the close-up. I don't think so much that it is so much a matter of being good, as a matter of taking a lot of pictures and only showing people the better ones...but I'll accept the compliments anyway! :-) My only "tip" would be to concentrate on subjects no more than 3 feet away and make sure that the strobe is correctly aimed---I am still working on that one!

Robert, Just wanted to add my "WOW" and "Thanks". What a wonderful report! My husbands uncle just sent us two videos of his trip in Bonaire - I'm just sitting down to watch them now - one underwater and one island tour. Hope they are half as informative and good as your pictures and report.

Robert, not that I haven't already cheered, but I want to applaud your recent batch of photos! Beautiful results! So glad you gave us the link! (readers, it's in part 1 of the report)

Robert,

As I have read both your report and Jessica's I must say you have BOTH given me some great info on Bonaire. It is a new "Island" for me and with reports like yours I am looking forward to it more and more every day.

On a side note you should be very proud of your daughter. I end up dealing with a lot of kids that age and from her writings she seems like a wonderful young girl. I am sure you and your wife are very proud. As I said in a note to her, I have been journal writing for awhile and enjoy it more and more when I look back and relive my experiences.

Just had to drop the note. Thanks again.

Andy.

Great report and pictures. You should rent a 20mm lens sometime. I have one and love it. Only problem is that I don't use the 35mm except with the c/u and macro kits so don't know it's potential. Amy - the rule of all photography is to take as many pictures as you can - and figure that if you get 1 or 2 good pictures out of a roll be thankful!
Thanks Robert for looking into the prices of the suit. I'll probably end up getting one locally or off line (thanks for the links).
Can't wait for our trip the end of April. All of these trip reports and comments are getting me excited and prepared (adding things to my packing list!

TRIP REPORT- 02/03/01 TO 02/10/01- DIVI FLAMINGO

WE HAD AN AWESOME TIME IN BONAIRE!!! WE BASICALLY LIVED IN THE WATER AND SAILING ON THE WOODWIND. WE WENT OUT ON THE WOODWIND DAILY. WE DID THE BBQ ON KLINE FOR THE FIRST TIME AND RENEE AND BARNEY REALLY DID A NICE JOB. THEY SERVED SAUSAGES, RIBS, ROLLS, SALADS, BEANS AND LOTS OF OTHER GOOD STUFF.WHILE WE WERE THERE WE DID TWO DRIFT SNORKELS AND HAD AN HOUR OR SO EXTRA TO DO WHAT YOU WANT AND OF COURSE I SNORKELED! WE WERE VERY DISAPPOINTED THAT JAN WAS NOT AROUND TO DO THE VIDEO OF OUR SNORKELS THAT WE TREASURE SO MUCH, BUT WE WERE LUCKY ENOUGH TO MEET WITH HER FOR A VISIT OUR LAST NIGHT ON THE ISLAND. WE'LL JUST HAVE TO GO BACK AGAIN SO WE CAN GET THE VIDEO!

ON THE WOODWIND WE SNORKELED AT, NO NAME BEACH A FEW TIMES, ANDREA I , ANDREA II, BARKADERA, AND THE NEW ONE THAT ISN'T NAMED YET NEAR ANDREA.I ALSO DID A NIGHT SNORKEL WITH RENEE AND THE SALT PIER TOO. OF COURSE I DID THE HOUSE REEF, THE CALABAS, AT LEAST 2 TIMES A DAY AND THERE IS NOW A 7 FT GREEN MOREA EEL THAT LIVES THERE IN THE LITTLE BOAT! THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE THINGS I HAVE NOT SEEN YET ARE, BLENNIES, GOBIES, A FLAMINGO TONGUE, A FIVE FOOT HUGE BARRACUDA, A JUVENILE BLUE TANG, A JUVENILE FRENCH ANGEL, A NURSE SHARK, A HUGE TARPON AND AN OCTOPUS. I SAW PLENTY OF OTHER FISH. SOME OF MY FAVORITES ARE THE SCRAWLED FILE FISH, THE SPOTTED DRUM, QUEEN ANGEL, FRENCH ANGEL, BANDED BUTTERFLY, FOUR EYE BUTTERFLY, THE PUFFERS AND THE SMOOTH TRUNK FISH.

I ACTUALLY BOUGHT A LONG SLEEVE SHORTIE 3MM WET SUIT TO KEEP ME WARM. THE WATER WAS A TAD COLDER THAN LAST YEAR AND IT WAS A LITTLE BIT ROUGHER DUE TO THE CONSTANT WINDS THAT THEY ARE HAVING. THE WIND KEEPS THE TEMPERATURE REALLY COMFORTABLE AND IT REMINDS ME OF THE WEATHER IN ARUBA.

WE SPENT SO MUCH TIME SAILING AND SNORKELING THAT WE DIDN'T GET A CHANCE TO DO ANY LAND TOURING THIS TRIP. I HAVE GOT TO GO FOR AT LEAST TWO WEEKS SO I CANT FIT IT ALL IN!

THE NEWLY DONE DIVI IS VERY NICE. I REALLY LIKED THE WAY THEY DID THE GARDENS WITH THE BRICK WALKWAYS GOING THROUGH IT. WE STAYED IN A DELUXE ROOM RIGHT ON THE WATER AND WE LOVED IT! THE CHIBI CHIBI RESTAURANT WAS VERY GOOD. WE ALSO ATE AT AMADEUS, ZEEZICHTS, RAINING FISHES AND RICHARD'S . THEY WERE ALL EXCELLENT. WE HAD LOBSTER THERMIDOR AT ZEE ZEICTS THAT WAS TO DIE FOR! WE WENT TO RICHARD'S TWICE BECAUSE THEY HAVE THE BEST ESCARGOT AND FILET MIGNON THAT I HAVE EVER HAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL SUNSETS ARE A BONUS WHEN YOU DINE EARLY THERE! FOR THOSE WHO READ THE NEWS GROUP REGULARLY, THE NIGHT WE WENT TO RAINING FISHES WE MET UP WITH SHERRY AND BARRY BAKER AND JAN AND BOB KLOS. WE HAD A REALLY NICE EVENING! I WAS ALSO SUPPOSE TO MEET UP WITH JAKE AND LINDA, BUT I WASN'T THERE LONG ENOUGH. SO SAD!MAYBE NEXT YEAR!

I THINK THAT JUST ABOUT COVERS IT EXCEPT FOR THE ALM (ALWAYS LUGGAGE MISSING) HORROR STORIES. YEP, THEY LOST TWO SUITCASES SATURDAY ON THE WAY DOWN AND WE DIDN'T GET THEM TILL MONDAY. THERE WERE ALSO ABOUT 25 OTHER PEOPLE THAT HAD TO REPORT LOST LUGGAGE. WE ARRIVED IN BONAIRE AT 5:30 AND DIDN'T GET TO THE HOTEL TILL 8:30. WHAT A WASTE OF PRECIOUS ISLAND TIME! AND THEN ON THE WAY HOME THEY DECIDED NOT TO PUT OUR BAGS ON THE PLANE AGAIN. ALM AT LEAST READ A LIST OF THE PEOPLES NAMES THAT THE LUGGAGE WOULD BE COMING ON THE NEXT FLIGHT SO YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO WAIT AND LOOK FOR IT. WELL, WE DIDN'T GET THAT LUGGAGE TILL MONDAY AND WE TRAVELED ON SATURDAY! THEY WERE ALSO ABOUT AN HOUR OR AN HOUR AND A HALF LATE TAKING OFF FROM BONAIRE. WE HAD A CONNECTING FLIGHT IN MIAMI ON AMERICAN AIRLINES TO BOSTON THAT KEPT GETTING DELAYED AS WELL. WE WERE SUPPOSE TO BE IN BOSTON BY 11 PM AND WE DIDN'T GET THERE TILL 2 AM.

WAS ALL THAT ALM MESS WORTH IT? WOULD I DO IT AGAIN? YOU BET!!! BONAIRE IS MY PARADISE AND I CAN'T WAIT TO GET BACK THERE!!!!!

Linda, Sorry about the caps. I remembered just after i hit the post button.

Darlene:
Thanks for the report. It is great to hear someone else's take on the Divi at virtually the same time that we were there. You mentioned seeing the tarpon, though I cannot be sure that you mean the ones that were hanging around Calabas Reef, or if it was elsewhere. Nice to hear that Janice is back---I hope that she will take up doing the video on the Woodwind again. Any trip on the Woodwind is great, but it is especially nice when you can take home such a memorable souvenir.
And who can argue with your conclusion?...we also can't wait to get back there!

Robert,
The tarpon was when we were doing our night snorkel at calabas in the shallows. He stayed with us the whole time and he even kept brushing up against Renee. His big eyes were awesome and my husband thinks he may have got some pictures.

Isn't that an awesome feeling, when the big fish hang out with you like that? When we were there, on a night swim, a friend of mine almost swallowed his snorkel when a big tarpon swept in over his sholder to feed on the fish illuminated by the light. One of those great, "up close and personal" Bonairean moments!
Once again, I'm so glad for you that you had such a great trip!

Darlene, welcome back!

I'm sure that you would rather not be back... what an exciting holiday you had!!
Tell me, did the French Angel fish greet you every time you entered the water off the tanning pier?

Were you able to secure a room on the second floor?

When we were there in January, the dive shop was sold out of the videotape on Bonaire's marine life, would you know how we could get our hands on a copy??

The tarpon and the barracuda freaked us right out.. what a thrill!

Sorry that you had problems with your luggage and your flight, but I agree.... once you get there.... every problem or stressor has a miraculous way of disappearing!

Until next time. Cheryl

Hi Cheryl
I had to go a little ways from the tanning docks to see my angels, but I got to see all the stages of development of the french angel all in one snorkel! It was so neat to see a very small juvenille black and yellow stripe with the bright blue on his bottom fin. Then I saw a little bigger one, still with the black and yellow stripes. Then I saw an intermediate one when they are starting to look like the adult but they still have a white stripe or two. And last but not least I saw the adult. They were all between the dive dock and the cement jetty and I got lots of pictures. (I hope they come out good)
I didn't get the same room but it was a second floor room on the water and just as nice. It was right across from the hotel pool and the sunsets were incredible.
I am not sure what video you are referring to, but you can go to the bonaire reporter home page and there is a purchase art section. Under Janice Huckaby you could purchase her video called the Nature of Bonaire. It is awesome. It shows all the touring sites and also there is lots of great footage of underwater.
I must say if I had seen the Tarpon last year I would have been scared to death, but I was ready this year and it was definately a Bonarian moment! I found myself waiting for his next pass by and some times we actually made eye contact. It was so cool!!! He was a really big one and I was glad he chose to brush up against Renee instead of me! Maybe next year I'll be ready for that!

Ok, here goes on a trip report. 2/03/01 - 2/14/01
Sherry and I woke up on Friday the 2nd of Feb. at about 6am and went for a full day of work. After getting off of work at 4pm we went to our local scuba shop and picked up our rental regulators and dive computers. We then went and had a nice dinner and then headed home. We stayed at home until about 10pm when we left for Denver International Airport. Our Delta flight left on time a 12:40am Saturday the 3rd of Feb. We arrived in Atlanta at about 5:30am Atlanta time. We already had our luggage checked all the way through to Bonaire so we took our carry on luggage and found our gate for Air Jamaica leaving for Montego Bay in about 3.5 hours.

At the time the plane was to leave they informed us that the battery was dead and they were looking for a part. They then told us that the plane for the connection to Bonaire would be held for us. A little later they asked for all passengers connecting to Bonaire to come the counter. We were told that they could not hold the connecting flight long enough to get this plane fixed, so they sent us to another gate to get on a Delta flight going to Montego Bay that was leaving shortly. We could only hope that our luggage got transferred. This flight was fine but full and we were starting to get extremely tired.

We landed in Jamaica where we were told that even though we were just catching a connecting flight to Bonaire that we still had to go through customs. We did not think that this was correct but we were not the only ones told this. We had to sweat going through customs hoping that they would hold our flight. They did and we got on our connecting flight and flew to Bonaire with no other troubles. And all of our luggage made it also.

We stayed at the Great Escape, a 10 room bed and breakfast that I am sorry to say is not set up to well for divers. We had a small second story room and had to continually carry our equipment up and downstairs. The room did have a small fridge and that made it nice. The room also had an air conditioner that worked very well and that made the room comfotable. There is no place at the hotel or room to hang up wet dive gear except for the shower which is not set up with any way to hang it up but for the shower rod. The rooms don’t' have any of lock box for extra money and other valuables. The breakfast side of the bed & breakfast was nothing more that eggs, toast, fruit and OJ or coffee. The people there were very friendly. We never had lunch or dinner there so cannot comment on that. We will probably not stay there again, but for the money, around $80 a night for the 2 of us we could have done worse.

We went a met with Michael Gaynor and brought him his coffee and sat and talked for quite awhile. He was very kind and even offered Sherry a cup of coffee. We stayed and visited for about an hour and a half. Unfortunately, even though we meant too, we never got back over to his house again this trip.

We started our diving on Sunday and had an extremely good time. We never made it to Klein Bonaire as we never did do a boat dive. We had no intention of trying to overdo the diving as this was a vacation to calm our souls and not just to dive. We used Photo Tour Divers located at Caribbean Courts for our diving needs and Jan, Pascal, Dos and the entire staff were absolutely fantastic. We also looked all over the island for someone who could do a video specialty course but was unable for one reason or another. We then took the Under Water Photography Specialty from Pascal at Photo Tours and had a wonderful time. We also had met Dos Wenkel who had done the Water Colors Bonaire Book and purchased a personalized signed copy from him. The dive shop is set up well for shore divers, you only have to carry your tanks 30 to 40 feet. They were in the process of building a dunk tank better suited for shore divers so we did have to carry our gear a little ways to rinse. As for the animals that we saw, we did not see turtle this trip but did see 4 octopus including 3 in one day and 2 on one dive. On one dive we had to abandon the dive because a hose on my BC had a leak. We took it to photo tours but they were unable to fix it. Jan suggested taking to Bruce Bowker at Carib Inn. We took it there and they were able to fix it in about 5 minutes for only $8. I am glad I did not have to rent a BC to complete my diving. We then went and continued the days diving with just a minimal delay.

After a few days of playing message and phone tag we were able to meet up with Darlene and her husband Tom and have dinner at It Rains Fishes and also met Jan and her husband and their friend Bill. Jan and company left early but Darlene, Tom, Sherry and I stayed for awhile and had a wonderful time.

Later we were finally able to hook up with Jake and Linda, after a lot of fax, message and phone tag. They turned out to be the most down to earth and friendly people. We delivered the Friskies cat food and extra light bulbs that we promised to Jake (that was captured on the street cam). Later in the week Jake invited us to dive with him and his friend Caren at the reef cam and small wall dive site. Jake showed us the reef cam and of course I had to pose. He also showed me the Black Brotula living in the cave at small wall behind his house. Later on Tuesday the 13th Sherry and I dove there again with Jake's permission and I saw the Black Brotula again. I also took my MX-10 and tried to get a picture of it. We also saw what we believe to be the octopus that visits the web cam on this dive.

On Sunday the 11th We all had dinner at the Old Inn. In attendance beside Sherry and myself was Jake and Linda, Peggy and her husband, Josie and her husband and Ellen and her husband. Please forgive me for I am terrible with names. We ordered on Jake's suggestion the Rice Taffle (sp). We ordered six orders of that with some added things and we had more than enough food. We stayed until they kicked us out at about from about 6:30 to 10:30.

Sherry and I also meet and brought supplies for Marion and her horses. We got in contact with her through Lorraine Meadows and she turned out to be the most wonderful person. She has 5 horses, 3 geldings, 1 mare and a filly that was born on Saturday the 3rd. Her daughter Bijou is a breath of fresh air. She is just so horse crazy and enjoyed the fact that Sherry loves horses as much as she does. Sherry said that if she were a horse she would love to be Marion's. She takes such wonderful care of the animals. We also had dinner with Marion and her daughters a couple of nights. We took them out once and she had us over twice for dinner and once for lunch. Bijou and I also went shore fishing at the Salt Pier although I can say that the fish won. Her other daughter Dominique works in town at a jewelry store. Both girls although just about the age as my own daughters are very mature. We had the most wonderful time with this family and are glad to say that although we were loaded down with supplies, we left the island with more than we brought when we weigh in the lifetime friendship forged.

The end of the vacation came way too suddenly. Before we knew it, it was time to leave. Sherry had to drag me screaming and kicking and crying up the stairs to the plane and that was pretty tough for her as she didn't want to leave either. The plane trip back was fairly uneventful except for the short time we had to clear customs and catch our connecting flight in Atlanta which ended up being 50 minutes late anyway. We left Bonaire at 4:00pm and did not get back to Denver until 5:00am Bonaire time. Needles to say we were pretty tired having to go back to work today.

Thank you all for listening, sort of and cannot wait to go back

Heaven can wait cause' we found paradise…

Barry and Sherry Baker

Great report! I envy you for getting a chance to get together with so many of the people on island...we keep trying to improve in this regard, but time does slip away.
I can definitely identify with the "screaming and kicking and crying"! Have felt that way too many time!

Barry and Sherry -- Had to work hard all afternoon (no sneaking onto the discussion group), but just got to read your report, which really made me nostalgic for Bonaire. We all enjoyed seeing you on camera! So cool that you had some social evenings with people we " know..." I guess if you survived the red-eye connection at dawn in Atlanta, we ought to be able to do it too. Thanks for writing about it all for us!

And Darlene, too -- Enjoyed your report, too. After I adjusted my eyes... :-)

Barry,yours is the first message I got to read,for a couple of days because of ISP. When I saw 'Trip Report' I went there first. And there you were. If you read our mail, we saw Sherry, but she was always with some haircut we didn't recognize. Same with Jake. Nice to find out you really did have great buoyancy.And good pictures of Jake's door to share. Wonder what the neighbours think? Bears? Divers? What next? For me, noone who likes horses and diving can be bad. No wonder you made such friends on the island. You write with your heart. You and Sherry seemed to be having such a good time,it's nice to know you really did.Thanks for including us. Oh...thanks for signing your name so we could pay the right guy the compliments :-)

Darlene, loved your trip report!!Renee' is so much fun to go with !!
It was great some of the "groupies" were there together, ( I was there vacariously thru Sherry and Robert)(thanks for the "free" trip guys)Fun to put faces and real live personalities behind the names. I wonder who will be there in June?

barry did quite a nice complete trip report for us. i appreciate his efforts and attention to details. i only wanted to add a few things.

the troubles with getting to and from bonaire, no big deal- everyone has to deal with it and boniare is worth the hassle.

the stay at Great Escapes- was pleasant, it was comfy, clean, and friendly. probably better suited to the wind surfers who were staying there than scuba folks.

we met so many nice people when we were there, so warm and friendly and fun. to each of you at our dinner parties, we are so glad to have met you. you brought more fun to our vacation.

thank you to jake and linda for the hospitality of your home and access to the shore dives on small wall. you are truely one of bonaire's treasures.

i had so much fun doing (my passion)-horseback riding. it also gives a nice different off road view of the island. i recommend a trail ride to anyone so inclined. anyone wanting to know how to get in touch to ride, e-amil me. we also fell in love with the whole family who has the horses for trail rides. they are warm wonderful people who we now treasure as dear friends.

the underwater photography class was very interesting. i think barry will be the better photographer- he is better at details with the cameras, i am more of a point and shoot person. i mainly want to use my photos for research of my art.

as before, the scuba was fantastic. the water is warm, clear, and alive with fish and creatures that are so beautiful and interesting, every dive is an adventure.

we took time to drive around and explore the island which we enjoyed very much. we like the country scenery, oceanscapes, and enjoy looking at the wildlife

i, like all people who have to leave, did so regretfully and cant wait to be back on paradise.

I can hardly believe my luck. Twice in l day, the ISP comes back again, and there's another Baker Report.And I have 2 more reasons to regret giving up that 'shortie' to Bonaire. I think it was the first week you and Barry were there, and we might have met. We could have gone riding. I know you'd both be too kind to laugh at my 'too long in the city' skills. Although, Heaven knows I have the 'seat' for riding. I had wondered if there were stables but figured I'd wait til on-island to ask.No point in panicking the ponies til I get there. Do you paint u/w scenes? Seascapes? Would you ever show us something? Please? As to photography, I'm guessing you and Barry compliment each other.As you do in your writing. You seem to have a similar 'voice'. Often Jake and Linda do too.This is just a long way of saying I think we'd miss something if we didn't hear from both of you.Made my day better!