I woke up at 7 am and sat out on our porch area at the Belmar and was just sitting on the whicker couch and saying I cant believe we are finally here and I wonder who is here. Woke hubby up at 8 am and told him we needed to get up and see about our luggage and get to the caltemara to buy groceries so finally we made it out around 9:30 and left a note to our little sleeping beautys to tell them that we were going to get food and found out about luggage. First stopped at the dive shop and met erica and she told me she thought the plaza dive shop might be open and we might find suits thier or the divi. So we stop at the airport to see if luggage was there and the girl after 1/2 hr said sorry cant find luggage and I said Do you know where my luggage is and she gets this glazed look in her eyes and says yeah it will be here at 2 come back. So off we went to the dive shops and at the plaza all they had was bikini and I am telling you there is no way you are getting this body in a bikini and for men they had speedos hubby looked at me and says it aint happening. So we went to the divi and thier shops were not open on sunday. So we went to the grocery store and found things to eat brought them home and made sandwichs with fresh bread and gouda cheese and I got my brain power back and said honey why dont we go to that captian dons dive shop I bet they have suits there. So off in the car we go and we see the donkeys by this time I started thinking of names for them. We got to captian dons and sucess they had a one piece bathing suits and had them in my size but my poor little honey had nothing so I said honey lets go to the art show and see the richters and I bet Jake could tell us where we might can find you trunks because if Jake doesnt know where then it aint happening. So I would look through the crowds for a tall man and a nice petite blonde and I saw a few blondes but I look at the back and thier is Jake and Linda and the kids and spirit shooshoo. Went up to them and introduce myself and we talked for a few minutes and Jake said keep looking in dive shops so while I visted more Hubbby took off and he later told me he had two options one was to find beer and get drunk or look for dive shop so he went wandering around town and found the wannadive shhop and guess what they had shorts and the proud hunter warrior type hubby came back with shorts in hand and said its time to go. So we got directions to gibi for tuesday night also heard phil was looking for us so told them to have phil and family meet us at the belmar. So off we went it was funny before we found suits I told hubby since we had shortys I was willing to snorkel with shortys and in my bra and underwear he said forget about it. But thank goodness we didnt have to resort to that. Anyway we get back to the belmar put bathing suits on and got our snorkel gear and we were off to dive the house reef which was great. We saw blueparrotfish stoplight parrotfish blueheads and yellowtail damselfish. we drift snorkeled and we found where underwater thier were whole pier structures frames that were just left there and it was amazing the sealife that was aroundd it . We snorkeled for about 2 hrs and went by the dive shop to see about renting weights and saw they had tshirts so bought hubby and I one figured if nothing else I got 2 souviner shirts . So we showered went to the airport at 2:30 while we were there the dentons came by and met my daughters and said they would come by on monday sometime. After and 1 hr and insisting on a lost baggage form we heard flight was coming in so we waited till 4 and I the jjoy that I felt on seeing my bag on that carosel could not be explained . So I see a tag on it that says rush and I could not believe it had a airsticker from papaua new guiena oh if only my luggage could talk to me and tell me the adventure that it had been on. So made it through the screening process and off in the truck we went. This is a suggestion that I have before you leave make a list of things you packed because when we made the list there were a few things that we forgot that we had packed. That said we start to unpack our suitcase and hubby had packed a carton of cigarettes well thier was half a carton missing so thoughtful of them to leave him half. Some how they must of picked the locks because before we left I had bought 2 packs of underwear and 6 shirts and the nice people who stoled from us left me one package of underwear and took all my tops. So I know ewwww she did not wash them clothes before she was going to wear them gross so let me say in my defense I was running late and threw bag in suitcase and figured the belmar had washing machines and could wash them there. Fyi belmar does not have individual wash machines in unit but they were kind enough to say could use the washing machines they had which I thought was nice. So we drove around to see the island and the girls decided that they wish to get subway and take it home to eat on back balcony and watch the sun set and that we would play spades afterwards where it was daddy and the baby and mommy and the brainiac child. We had the best time one of my favorite moments of the trip watching sun go down and playing cards and laughing. We played till 10 pm and we were off to bed. Woke up on Monday and had cereal and milk and then it was off to karpata. After reading the warnings we had a set of old shorts and shirts that we would wear to the dive sites and left windows down and doors unlocked. Then we walked down to see how conditions were and it looked rough so we said no lets dont go here and we drove through till we got back to town just for other newbies when you go on this road start at the bottom site and work your way up because after a certian point it becomes and one way and you have to take a 20 min ride to get back to town. So we went off to the salt mine area and we dove a sight that was called torys reef which was a nice sight saw lots of fish kids were saying they were hungry after an hr so we went back ate lunch and we tried to stay out of the sun from 1 to 3 so we wouldnt get burn with our light complexions. So we took a little siesta and woke up and hubby and I decided to walk about 10 min walk to bachelor beach and then we drift snorkeled back to the belmar which was very nice saw trunkfish some blueheads kept seeing fish that looked like charlotte fish and said aw rusty would be so happy. So we rinsed our gear took a shower never took so many showers in my life. Or drank so much water the water on bonaire is so good . Was laying on the couch reading a romance novel and hark I think I hear someone knocking and sure enough it was Coral and her father Phil. We sat on the back patio or porch as we say in the south and visited and made the girls go inside to get to know each other and those wonderful little birds at the belmar and phil told us that if you put sugar in the bowl and set it on the railing they would come so got some sugar and sure enough they came it was so neat. At this point I was missing my two parrots sitting at home. So it was nice and then we discussed what we were going to go to dinner and we decided to meet the dentons in a hr at the city cafe . So we met them and the denton family got chicken sate for those who dont know that is chicken on a skewer covered in a peanut sauce. I got a beef stirfry, Magen and daddy got chicken saute and Autumn got a cheeseburger the food was good and the staff was very friendly. Afterwards they had a macaw by the bars and the girls had to go see it then we walked along the pier and you would not believe what we saw Coral pointed out eels, blowfish, and a few other things cant remember so we said goodbye to the dentons and said would see them at gibis. We got home and was sitting on back patio and saw the guard and said I have heard about you on the internet and the guy looked at me was like I was crazy my hubby informs me not everyone knows about the internet and I said something is not right because on the internet they talked about the guard and how friendly he was and how he parked cars for people who were too drunk and hubby looks at me like sure he does. So we are off to bed as we have to get up early because the belmar was so nice and got us a snorkel trip booked with the woodwind and we had to be there at 8:45. And the saga continues what will we see , what will we do, stay tune for the next installments of the hillbillys go to a foreign country

Hi Christine, your report is great.. I'm so sorry we didn't get to meet up..

ps: my report holds the explanation!

Christine,

The guards name is Butchy.Tell him Marty and family got his letter and Marty & Debbie will see him in about 5 weeks!!He is a great guy and will talk about everything as long as you will stay and chat.

Marty

Christine,
It sure sounds like you were off to a rough start with the lost luggage, but you are in paradise and you will soon forget all the stuff you had to go through to get it back! We had the same situation one year and it took a couple of days before we finally got it. That was the only time that I didn't like island time, but we made the best of it and we didn't miss a snorkel! Love reading the details!!

Hi Christine, Butchy was on vacation to Aruba and you encountered his replacement for the week...we are enjoying your trip report tremendously, it was great meeting you at Belmar prior to our departure...Karen & Roger Huff

darlene as soon as we got the luggage I was over it but you will see from my last day of trip why I will never fly that airline again. But it did not ruin my time on bonaire I loved bonaire would go back again and again but hubby likes to see different places but I might take the week that i have more than him and just take the girls and i to bonaire but I wonder if they have automatics as it has been awhile since I drove a stickshift.

Karen I enjoy meeting you and your family and your friends. Thank you so much for the food and the float. I passed on both to new people as we left on sunday and I talked to the little boy from ireland he was such a delight and plus talked to his father I just loved hearing them talk and listening to thier accent