Sooner than expected, have a busy week ahead of me, so here goes.. GETTING THERE KLM Schiphol direct to Bonaire, no major delays. THE RETURN Hugh and I left Bonaire on July 15th in the pouring rain, we had left the car windows down, and so my behind was rather wet upon our arrival to Flamingo! We checked in our bags and took off for lunch at the Plaza. Our flight back to Schiphol left Bonaire 15 mins early. As we left the island behind, I began to think about all the things we had done and the people we met. ACCOMMODATION Crown Courts 44a Sabadeco. (Just past the Andrea I and II Dive Sites). This is a very nice house. Oceanfront with pool, well equipped kitchen with a large dishwasher, dining area, sitting room, 3 beds with A/C and 2 baths. The property also has a TV and a nice sound system. Entry into the ocean is fairly easy (see pic below of steps). The water is shallow at the bottom of the steps, and naturally the steps are slick, so do take care. The property does not have a washing machine or telephone. We rented a cell phone from SunRentals. All that aside though, the property needs to be sprayed, there’s a problem with “no see ums”. MOSQUITOS Well, word sure does get around fast when I arrive! Bring your bug spray. By the way, the Pharmacy in town sells Autan, both the 4-hour with Aloe Vera and the 8-hour spray/lotion. DINING OUT Hugh picked us up a BBQ, so we had some very nice steak nights! We ate out at Richards (never disappointed here), Compadres at Harbour Village (always good food and service); Lions Dive (very nice burgers). DIVING/SNORKELLING Hugh obtained Solo Diver Certification with Walt, which he thoroughly enjoyed (thanks Walt, I’ve no doubt you’ll be seeing more of Hugh in the future). Hugh also obtained Dräger Dolphin Rebreather Certification with Luciano at Toucan Diving, Plaza Resort. I can’t speak highly enough of Luciano, not only is he a highly qualified diver, but he really did take good care of Hugh just as he did the year before. And my thanks to Steve for looking out for Hugh too… If you’d like to know more about any of the above, drop me a line and I’ll pass it over to Hugh. Hugh had some great dives at the back of the house; among the more exciting dives he saw a good size Green Moray swimming around, a Scorpion fish, Frogfish, and Green Turtle. The snorkelling is pretty good too. I had a great free dive with a large school of Blue Tang one afternoon; I also came across a Chain Moray (the first I’ve seen on the island). The coral out back is really rather nice, some branching coral, blade coral, fire coral, lace coral, brain coral, star coral, anemones and so on…..The fish: Fairy Basslet’s were abundant, as were Parrotfish, Snappers, Surgeonfish, Goby’s, Blenny’s, some jellies and a busy cleaning station! Hugh dived the Windjammer with Luciano on two occasions, and they both saw a Pelagic Tunicate (very cool)… the East Coast with Bas and the Hilma Hooker solo. His dives with Bas were very enjoyable; a closer encounter with a Green Turtle put a nice big smile on his face! I had a great snorkel one afternoon with Bas’s Mother from Ladania’s Leap to Karpata. I saw 2 Green Turtles, the second Turtle stayed with us for a while and we got to see him surface for air just before we exited the water. I also went down and swam for a bit with a French Angelfish, other fish seen were Surgeonfish, Parrotfish, Snappers, Damselfish, Squirrelfish, and many more, a wonderful snorkel indeed. A recommended Tekki WWW: http://www.nobubbles.com BONAIRE TALKERS We went along to the 4th July BBQ, though we did arrive a little late and missed some of the Talkers (sorry guys). But we did get to meet Scott & Sharon, and caught up with Jake & Linda some. I'm sure we met some others, just can't remember their names (perhaps I will in a few days)! We missed the Tuesday night get-together (we had made plans for dinner on this night before our departure), but we’ll do it next time. We had Candy and Scott over for Steaks one night and also spent their last night with them at the Tipsy. It was lovely meeting you guys and we hope to see you both again in December. My apologies to Christine, I should have told you to meet us at the Tipsy, not the Coconut Crash! I went down to look for you, but couldn’t find you… I must admit, I’d had a rather rough day, I did the Ladania’s Leap to Karpata Snorkel again, but this time the waves were HUGE, I had cereal shortly before and felt incredibly sick in the water! In order to avoid throwing up in the sea and attracting large amounts of fish, I pretty much used up all of my energy getting out (bear in mind this is a 45/50 minute snorkel and you can’t get out until you reach Karpata)… I found myself in a bit of daze for the rest of the day! We also had our mobile exchanged for a new one as we were having big problems receiving/making calls, and I know that I forgot to inform some of you of the new number….. CRIME Didn’t experience any. We lock things away, lock up the house just as we would our home here. Didn’t leave valuables in the car etc…. THE DOGS Sadly Bas and his Mother had to put Jack down whilst we were there, Jack was not improving and was suffering, this was a very sad time but I’m so glad we got to meet Jack before he was put to rest. Bas’s new puppy Billy is absolutely adorable; I looked after him the morning that he and Hugh dove the East Coast. Such fun…. We also met the rest of the dogs… My special thanks to you Bas for spending time with us. And again, you know where I amJ THE DONKEY SANCTUARY Again, some tears were shed here. When we arrived and introduced ourselves to Marina, she was caring for a badly beaten donkey, the blood was still dripping from her. It was shocking to say the least, but thankfully the donkey and her baby are in the care of Marina now. And to the Dutch girl that called Marina, THANK YOU. I got to feed a baby donkey with a bottle, this I thoroughly enjoyed along with meeting “Sarah”. Marina is one heck of a woman; she works so hard and gives the donkeys so much love and attention. But, she still needs your help folks, so please go see her if you can. I must be missing a bunch of things here, so Bas, jog my memory if necessary! We return to Bonaire in December through January 2003. (our 7th trip)! Pics in Part 2. |