I dont normally write trip reviews but I felt compelled to tell how magical Bonaire and its people.

During our stay my girlfriends brother somehow dropped his wallet somewhere between the downtown grocery store and belmar. We all thought it was lost but this is where the magic of the island comes into play.

Someone found the wallet and noticed a receipt to Wills tropical grill (where we had dined twice before) Someone at Will's (probably our favorite waitress Sucha) saw his ID and recognized him. Doing fine detective work they realized we called a cab to take us to the restaurant. Since bonaire is so small Wills called the cabbie who picked us up (Cant remember his name...Burly guy with a gray beard) The cabbie remembered he picked us up at belmar so he drove the wallet over to the hotel. The problem....He didnt know what unit we were in. He proceeded to knock on every door until he finally reached us in until 9 and returned the wallet back to its rightfull owner with all the cash, credit cards and personal info in tow.

There are not many places in this world where something like this can happen. I want to personally thank all the wonderful people on the island who were involved for their generosity. We are anxiously awaiting/planning our return in 2009

Eric, I love a happy ending.

Wow! What a heartwarming story to read. I agree, Bonaire and it's people are the BEST!~

Eric, thanks for sharing. Hope your girlfriend's brother gave that cabbie a big tip for his trouble. And kudos to Wills for making it all happen too. Great teamwork, the people of Bonaire are truly amazing.

great, great story. But what? No pictures of the wallet?

I'm not sure this post is legal without a police report.

Great story and does not surprise me a bit. It is actually what I would expect from Bonaire.

What a wonderful story! Really, the folks on Bonaire are some of the nicest I've ever dealt with throughout the Caribbean. Was the "someone" ever identified? If so, he/she was certainly deserving of a nice reward and a big THANK YOU!!!!

Fantastic story - part of the magic of Bonaire for sure!

This story makes me smile from ear to ear and wanna go NAHNAHNAH to all the naysayers (they know who they are!)

Thanks for sharing your story. It is a wonderful example of cooperation and kindness. Hope the rest of your trip was as remarkable.

I am sure that those involved probably refused the reward! That is how the Bonairean people are!

another very happy story, good example, of the best of Bonaire and why we all keep going back.

LOVE IT - when other people tell me that "Their" island is the friendliest and have the nicest people I usually just smile and think to myself - you ain't seen NOTHIN till you've met the people of Bonaire.

I also had a very good experience with locals on my (first) trip last month. We went to Andrea I/II and wanted to get in at I and exit at II, but due to road construction we couldn?t get over to I. Having never been there before, I figured we could just get in half-way between, so we parked in the little dead-end roadway along the guardrail. After finding no access to the water, we kept walking farther north along the road. We finally went back to the car and drove down to the Andrea II lot. After getting out at Andrea I, I had my wife stay with the gear while I went for the car. I got to the little dead-end parking spot (where I had originally parked) and saw that there was no car there. My first thought was that I had been towed; maybe it was a no-parking zone. I went to the nearest house and fortunately found someone in the patio area. When asked who to contact about a towed car, the man laughed heartily and said ?no one gets towed around here? ? leaving me to assume the car must have been stolen. At that point, the man and his other guests became very concerned and took it upon themselves to help me in any way they could ? inviting me into their home, letting me use their phone and even talking with the police to clarify all details. I was incredibly humbled and grateful for their concern and hospitality. I finally made it back to my wife and gave here the terrible news. While walking up to the main entrance area to wait for our rental company rep to arrive, my wife pointed out that we had, in fact, moved the car to the far lot. (D?oh!) It was both a huge relief, and humiliating, that I had forgotten that. I had just gone into quick-response/survival mode. Fortunately, our car was where we had left it. I had to return to the helpful neighbors to tell them the whole story. They had been so genuinely concerned that our vacation may have been ruined and that we would go away with a poor impression of Bonaire. It was such a good feeling to reassure them that I had nothing but good things to say about Bonaire and its people, and that I hope to be fortunate enough to return many times.

Scubachef..Well you can always blame it on the sun as you were "blinded by the light"

Scubachef, you are a bigger man then I, as I would never have posted that. Vince is correct, it was the light.