First off we are absolutely in love with Bonaire.
We are really considering retiring there in a few years (depending on how fast I can make Sundance Boats really big and sell it for alot of money).

Secondly, Eva now walks around the house with her Bonaire purchsed straw hat on anytime she is blue or life becomes annoying/aggravating.

We stayed at Eden Beach Resort. Eva is a (was) a new diver and we wanted to find a place that wasn't too big or too crowded. She was worried about stumbling around a bunch of experienced diver. I knew that wasn't important but I just don't like big places anyway. Eden was perfect for us. Cool little studio, even mix of Dutch and American families...really nice innkeeper.

Plus we had the Wanna Dive folks, nearly as laid back as me. Bart, Bob, Karin, Johan and Maneo...they just looked after us so well. Good folks.

Next we had Bongo's right there...what a treat. Hank (that's the US version of his dutch name) was the consumate bartender host/friend. Marluse and Joan were cool and fun and introduced us to all their friends and gave great advice on where to go for eats and such.

Well, heading out to my brother's farm for an oyster steaming so I will finish later...I said it would be random.

But wait, there's more...I learned how to upload pictures
VOILA (I hope)

Kewl,Wally and Eva! Lovin' it so far. Looking foward to more. margarite

Great pic of the two of you...you couldn't possibly look any happier than you do in this picture! This is what Bonaire can do to folks. Wish you luck with the business and can't wait for more installments.

Wish I could be there for the oyster steaming party, too as it sounds wonderful. Carole

THE BORING FLIGHT STUFF...ONLY FOR FIRST TIME TRAVELERS
Our fly day down was christmas day, figuring the traffic would be light....and it was. We booked our tickets through expedia.com about 6 weeks in advance and it worked without a hitch, paper tickets arrived about 8 days later.
We flew AA from Jacksonville, FL to Miami to San Juan to Bonaire.
The Miami leg and the Bonaire leg both ways was on an ATR72 Turbo Prop. Our legal size carry-ons would not fit in the over head bins on the ATR. I had heard about this ahead of time (courtsey of this board), but it was really no hassel. Both places we boarded by staircase out on the tarmac so you just hand your bag to a guy as you board and they toss it in the forward bin.
NOTE on check bag size. The new size for checked bags is 62" (ht. x wd. x lg). We needed a new suitcase and I pushed it a bit on the purchase (it was a bargain at the Dollar General. It measured 68" not counting the wheels or handle. The counter people spotted it the second I tossed it up. The lady said it SHOULD be $80 extra each way and that was an old rule that would become a firm rule on January 1. I played my best "sweet dumb self" and slide by with no extra charge. On the return Bonaire side no one even batted an eye (course the poor fellow was still embarressed going through our things...being every trip is a honeymoon for us). I bet we can't do that again so the oversize bag is out.
Having said all that,
Eva's carry-on was a 2 day supply of shorts, shirts, suits sandles, toiletries etc. and her purse.
My carry-on was mask, snorkles, wetsuits, boots etc. (not BC's) and my purse was a reg bag rith the regs and computers.
Having said all that, everything went off without a hitch, every landing and departure was on the numbers, no bags lost. I secured the zippers with split rings (Transportation Security can check...but it slows down plunderers (sic)).
Remember that PR and Bonaire are not on daylight savings time. I thought our layover in PR was 2-1/2 hours...it was 1 1/2 (close enough).

Finally we are in Bonaire. Some lady had missed her cruise ship with her mother on board and was chasing it from Miami, so we shared a cab with her.
Since we landed at 11:30PM, by the time we got her settled and got to Eden it was midnight.

Here's why I like Eden and Bongo's. The cab drops us off out front..some old Bonairean guys shows us our room and gives us our keys. Check in tomorrow is communicated by hand signal and head nodding (he did say Mr. Bell). Nice and laid back.
So we toss the bags down and walk down to Bongo's. They are closed and the cash register is put away...so Marluse gives me 6 beers (4 1/2 for me..1 1/2 for Eva)...says come back friday (it's weds) and pay.
Like Wimpy sez to Popeye "I'll gladly pay you tomorrow for a beer today".
I can already tell we are really gonna dig this place.
Next stop Day One

GOOOD MOOORNING BOOOONAIRE

Does Eva know you're posting morning in bed pictures of her on the internet Wally?

Walley
Glad you enjoyed your stay. Run that formula for the checked bags by me again.
62" (ht. x wd. x lg) If the bag was 20"x16"x10" it would be 3200 sq inches? Could it be height + width + depth? That same bag would add up to 46 inches.

Sorry...you are right width + length + height.

DAY 1 Get the lay of the land

Still being on boat builder time I'm bouncing around at sunrise. Hungry, I go snooping around. The Eden innkeeper isn't in...but his dad is. He doesn't speak much english but understands I want to find the grocery store. He takes me to the family's apartment and loads me up with a loaf of bread, a bag of sugar, some butter and jam, a little coffee, and a carton of milk. Like being home from college at mom's house.

Eden is cool Reason No. 2...dad is a pretty neat old guy.

After breakfast, I wander over to meet the guys at WannaDive. Bob's just opening up so I help out, get our paperwork for the park tickets, shown the secret hidden key to the dive locker, and generally enjoy Bob's banter.

The innkeeper calls for AB Carrental to come fetch us, calls twice because he thinks we are waiting to long...chill out dude, I'm on island time (innkeepers working though). We pick up our Toyota Rav (at the quoted internet price..we quoted no extra insurance and were charged NO EXTRA INURANCE..more on that later, but don't buy it) The RAV is a great little car for 2 diving or for 4 riding. We got it with AC basically because I'm from south Georgia on the edge of the Okefenokee swamp and I believe cars should have AC. Super cool little car though...Eva wants one, sorta of a Bonairean SUV. I think it would fit in the back of my pickup truck.

So off to the grocery store named Cultimara (that's close to the correct spelling). From the dive resorts head south to town and it's 2 blocks past the bend for the shopping district, on the left. Good store.

Tip 1 for USA: Bring your own bags or box or knapstack for your purchases...bags cost money, cheap but you look like a tourist because you are the only person buying bags.

Tip 2: For smokers you have 3 choices on the island (1)Marlboro in the box, (2)Nevada..a really excellent menthol, or (3) Richlands ...a Marlboro knock off. As we both smoke (I know..I know) we immediately switched to the local brands and actually brought some home..they are really good smokes.

Tip 3: Buy Amstel by the case..save the case and the bottles..they are returnable for 6 guilders (US$3.36) I left all my cases at Bongos for Hank.
The other choices in beer are non-returnable ...adds to the trash problems...etc. Be advised, the bottles are 8 oz. instead of 12oz. I accused Eva of drinking from my beer for 2 days..they do go quick.

Back at Wanna Dive, Maneo gives us a good little orientation talk, clipped on our tags, and we are off. Almost..my 1st stage is leaking...turns out the DIN to Yoke converter O-ring is leaking (we didn't bring our DIN steel tanks). I snag an O-ring out of my bag...give a few to Bob for his stash (it's an odd duck O-ring) and we are off again. HeeHee..always good to give the dive shop something they don't have for their supplies. Extra brownie points.

The reef off Wanna Dive is better then anything I ever saw on Caymen and just average for Bonaire. There is an old sailboat at about 60ft. to look at. This was Eva's first saltwater open water dive and only her 2nd dive after being certified. She nailed bouyancy..you go girl. She was at 50 ft. before she knew it and was really digging the view.

By now it's 3:30 so it's off to Bongo's...I'm done. A heavy month at work to shut down the boatbuilding season and the factory for the holidays ...do the stockholders meeting...doing all the Christmas stuff..visiting all the parents..then all the kids at our house coming and going (we have a pile of kids)..then flying all christmas day...settled in Bonaire with 1 dive in. Stick a fork in my butt and turn me over, I am here and I AM DONE.

Hank...I'll have an Amstel...oh, by the way, I owe you for a few from last night. And it's nice to meet'cha.

Great report so far. Can't wait to read more!

Wally,

funny... funny. Am enjoying your anecdotal report...

Karl

Don't lose the fork, Wally! Do you get to the rotissiere (sp?) level soon? Job well done, Eva! Love the layout of the place/photo, too, Wally....you KNOW every man is craning his neck and squinting his eyes to find the 6'3" dutch woman sunbathing....LOL. Carole

wally, great commentary so far...the one thing that we really love about bonaire is the friendly folks and the here's a beer, pay me later attitutde

Great report Wally,

You and your bride have found what has become my favorite retreat on Bonaire. Everyone I know who has gone to Eden, dove with Bart and Bob's crew and enjoyed the atmosphere at Bongo's want to return.

I am heading there February 4 with 15 friends. I am glad you and Eva found Prisca's in Rincon, that lady's ice cream is so good.

Wish you had a telephoto lens though as I hurt my eyes trying to see the tall lady;-{)}

Still on Day 1
Forgot about dinner. We were hanging at Bongo's asking about a good place for dinner when...poof...the lights went out from Eden back towards town. Johan, a DI from WannaDive, was with us and invited us over to his place for dinner.
Johan is a young dutch bachlor on a 9 month hiatus from his pharmacy studies in Holland. No one in his family, including his girl understood why he took the break in his studies to hang out in Bonaire...except for his Dad (also a pharmcist as was grandpa). From our vantage point, south of the age hump, encouraged him to get it while the getting was good. Plenty of time for work, houses, kids and the daily grind.
He whipped up a great little meal for us. Classic college kid meal..sorta of a seafood medley over pasta 1 dish recipe. Now where is that alfalfa sprout chia. To show my appreciation I managed to back the Rav about halfway through his garden on the way out. He was funny hopping up and down, laughing and yelling "Stupid..your car is in my garden"

Day 2 Dec. 27
Probably going to have to start free associating here because Bonaire is blending into this fuzzy smile. Off to dive Andrea II. Eva goes to 75 ft. and decides thats about her depth limit. It is really stunning at the quantity of fish life. We are swimming around and we look like we are watching a tennis match. Lest I do. She looks like she is watching a tennis with a gauge check at the net. Great Dive
Off to town to call the kids. We went by US Cellular to have our phone programmed and buy some minutes. They said it would be activated at 4:30PM. Back at Bongo's we are pressing all the buttons to activate the phone. About a dozen people have a go at it. No joy.
Meanwhile, I see Johan going to the store. It seems Michiel (of Va Va Voom fame..picture a giant shaved head Dutch music guy)is throwing a BBQ for the WannaDive clan...so I pitch some money in for a case of beer...sorta of invite ourselves (don't you just love those self inviting Americans..just upholding the stereotype). Great BBQ, Maneo is cooking, we get to meet all the other halfs. I was amazed and amused at watching the conversation flow. I would cruise up to a group of people talking in dutch and as soon as I stopped in the conversation would immediaetly shift to english, and as I headed off it would shift back to dutch.
What a totally cool place.
Last note for the night..Eva bought a straw hat at one of the stores. Now, when she is really missing Bonaire, she puts her hat on.
Think I will go put in on now.

Oops..forgot the picture

Absolutely love the lens cap shot! Where IS her hand, by the way.....Carole

Day 3 - Eva sleeps in so Johan and I head out to dive Windjammer. Great dive, we just skim the hull at 150 ft. Johan sees turtles. We circle through Rincon and get ice cream at Prisca's. That's a must do. Eva and I head to town to try again to get the cell phone fixed. She really wants to talk to the kids now. I had heard about NOT using the blue phones. Well

THE PHONE BOOTHS OUTSIDE TELBO ARE "BLUE PHONES" TOO. DO NOT USE THEM.

She made 7 calls tracing down kids, 2 connections and 5 no answers. Take a guess...$40 a pop. We are disputing the charges through the credit card company now.

Anyway, We spend the rest of the day cruising the island

shoring up northern shoreline


Johan told me that if a goat learns how to nibble through the cactus fence...you have to make goat stew out of it quick...or it will teach the other goats how to chew out too...and then all your goats are scampering all about. I suppose it is plausible...but those sure are some mean fences.


Cruising south along the eastern shore, we saw a sign about Indian Rock Art. Wheeled down to have a look.


We decided to do a night snorkle off Bongo's. This tarpon apparently knew the drill. It would stay directly under me (water depth about 10 ft.) and as I drifted along I would put the big light on a small fish. The small fish would stay in the light circling and as we drifted by the tarpon would nail it. The tarpon seemed to prefer the yellow ones.

What a cactus fence needs is a colorful gate.



Forgot the "There is a donkey" picture

I feel as if I am cruising the island with you guys! Nicely done and very entertaining. My kind of trip...simple and fun. Thanks, Wally and Eva! Carole

Thx Wally & Eva.... keep it coming!

PHONES: If you go into Telbo you can buy a phone card to use in the outdoor phones..SUPER cheap and easy. Telbo is closed for lunch!

Also, Telbo has free internet access for 15 minute for anyone waiting for someone while they talk on the phone.

Annie

Detour for the Phone Report.
Annie is right...do that.
Since we arrived Christmas (weds) and the next day was Boxer Day (thurs) the first day of business for Telbo was friday (they close for lunch from like 12ish to after 1 late-ish and at 4:30 sharp)...so we kept missing them being open. I called Telbo yesterday and some fellow told me the company billing for the BLUE phones was Global Link something (and not Telbo) and to handle it through my credit card company.
So, here is my story and I'm sticking with it. My credit card noticed the weird out of country calls on my credit card on Friday afternoon and put a block on it, and then called our house and left a message to call them. We finally got ahold of them on Monday (I carry 4 credit cards, so 1 locked up card doesn't slow us down much)and explained we were traveling. The credit card company told Eva that some $10 international charges triggered the block. Naturally we assumed the calls cost $10, pricey but we can live with it. When the bill came in each call was billed at $39.91.
So I have sent a dispute letter to the credit card company and expect to get the charges reversed in short order.
Once the rip-off company has none of my money, I will call them to find out what they want to do. Negotiations from a level playing field are always more fun. Sounds level to me if I'm home and have my money and they have calls and no money.
Is seems strange that the POWERS THAT BE want a huge liscense fee for Jake to have a wireless network on one hand (over cautious/protective) and on the other hand let a (non-Bonairean) company rip off the touristas.
I'll try to do the right thing...but have been known to pop my cork...go a little redneck and just stick it to them. Oh well. Back to the trip report.

Day 4: Wally and Eva hit their Groove.
Up early, we finally finished the scrabble game we started the night we arrived. It was a walk-by game. You know, if you walk by and the board is turned to your seat…it’s your turn. The trouble with a long running game is you have to keep up with your story of dubious definations and spelings for quite a while. I finally won the game by a score of 276 to 264, the victory only slighty besmirched by accusations of bluff and puffery.

Today we head out to:
(A) do 2 morning dives thinking Bopec and 18th Palm and knock out a little gift shopping on the way south.
(B) make it to Lac Cai in the afternoon for a make shift dance-in-the-sand “only open on Sunday afternoon” party club place by the conch mountains.

*This is a much better day’s plan than just about any day at work you can imagine.

********************
Note to the Accidental Tourist
Every morning for our excursions I wore my fishing shirt (lots of pockets). Back at the Eden I would hang it on a nail by the door. 3 days is OK for 8 on the back and 16 on the nail…but 4 days might be stretching it. We were in the gift store and some old ladies from the cruise boat were standing in front of me. Wrinkling their noses, they commented that the store smelled sour. In the interest of fostering international trade, I left Eva to pay, and stood by the door

********************



We headed to 18th Palms but after looking around decided to head further south. The salt ponds have some pretty wild colors and the salt piles are referred to locally as “the Bonairean Alps”. We drove to the tip of the island and started back up, stopping at Alice in Wonderland. We swam out to the end of the first reef and dropped to 65 ft. Eva dove like a champ. Cruising along the reef I saw 2 puffer fish circling each other in a tight circle. One was about 18” and the little one was about 14”. Nose to tail…..some sort of courtship behavior. I watch them for a ways before Eva looks up.….we are swimming along holding hands by the way (that’s Eva's version of buddy diving)……she looks up

Ever see somebody’s eyes fill up a mask.

We watched them for a while and as we cruised by they seemed to cruise along with us for a bit.

Heading north we stop at Margate Bay. Glad I was wearing my extra fat flip flops…I finally stepped on one of those wicked thorns. I had heard they can flatten a tire and now my flip flop was nearly stuck to my foot as proof.
Great dive …40 dozen corals and sponges,
half a zillion fishes (according to a silver king I met, the yellow ones taste like chicken),
a fat and happy barracuda (does that guy have it easy or what)
I cruised up to give him a look…I swear he gave me the same look my dog gives me when he is laying on the porch… “the don’t make me move OK” look.

I have now been accused of bluff and puffery, been smelly around some old ladies, stomped a thorn, seen my wives puffer-startled eyes, reminded to add some courtship behavior to the day’s plan, and found my dog’s fish-alterego……time for a party……but that’s another post.

Applause for story and pictures. We're tuned in for every installment. Thanks, Wally. :-)

So Wally, what if someone creative reading your (and Karl's) Blue Phone stories designed a nice, eye catching something that said something like:

Hypothetically (of course), what would be the fine for some fer'ner caught putting some such sticker on said phones? And would it be good (again, hypothetically of course) to have such labels also in say Dutch, German, Spanish, ???

Hypothetically thinking, speaking and pasting, only...of course! We could all then "hypothetically" read the hypothetical warnings and hypothetically NOT pick up the blue phone to make that call back to the States....hypothetically speaking, and thinking, of course.....Carole

PS We could all chip in for the hypothetical fine/pentalty for posting the warnings, as well.

Hypothetically speaking, of course, Chet, such a foreigner could say they represent the phone company from the U.S. and are trying to help promote the service since it's well known to tourists that the Blue phones must be a better bargain than calling from hotel rooms... (not that anyone asking said foreigner would likely know any better)

Carole - not enough people read BT yet to inform all the people who visit Bonaire - I still see folks using the blue phones...

Jake

During a hypothetical search online tonight, I was not able to find any waterproof ink for my ink jet printer - darn:-{(}

Hypothetically, the decals on my boats, custom made on various really impressive machines last 17 years without fading in an outdoor marine saltwater environment at speed. :}

We're behind ya, Wally.....hypothetically......and your decal making machine....one could hypothetically "sleep walk" late in the nite and accidentally (or hypothetically) be drawn right towards the Blue Phone and SMACK...on go the hypothetical decals....hmmmmm.....sounds like a great hypothetical plan to me.....Carole

Does anyone know if any hypothetical law in effect in Bonaire would prevent residents and/or visitors from displaying symbolic speech on their car bumper? Hypothetically, if I lived in Bonaire and had a car, I might want to place upon it a nice bumper sticker with the shape of a blue phone handset and a big red slashed circle (probably without an image of a hypothetically nude or semi-nude Wally included, as one can see above in this thread). Perhaps other hypothetical tourists, upon seeing this hypothetical warning icon, would understand it and would avoid being ripped off.

-LS

Considering that there's a local Ford pickup that has seen better decades with a horribly scrawled "Legalize Marijuana" painted on both sides, I doubt the "blue phones - just say no" bumper sticker you propose would raise any legal authorities' ire.

Jake

PS And no, unlike parts of Holland, Marijuana is not legal on Bonaire :-)

Remember the old ship/train cases with all of the stickers from around the world???? Maybe we could all plaster the bumper stickers onto our "new" travel bags/luggage for all to see as it goes 'round and 'round on the carousel as we arrive on Bonaire (and everywhere else in the world, for that matter). LOL. There are all sorts of possibilities for these bumper stickers and decals...could be lots of fun. Carole

Heading off to the International Boat Builder Expo tomorrow...so I will get back on Day 5 of our trip report this Sunday.
Meanwhile, Russ over in graphic arts is setting up for a little small quantity run. Said he only needs blue, red and black ink.
Leif...What, I don't look like a Speedo kind of guy?
Actually, I did swim competitively, but that was in the 60’s.
Speaking of the 60’s, pot is still illegal? I just thought everyone was into a nostalgic retro ambiance thing.

Wally:

Anyone who wears a speedo in public is also brave enough to leave some doubt as to whether or not he would run around in the buff... thus, I drew no conclusion but merely suggested that you were either nude OR semi-nude in that picture before it was enhanced. Now you've gone and spoiled it for all those gals who were fantasizing about what was underneath your handset.

My solution to the blue phones: e-mail! 15 minutes at any of the Net-cafe places in town is cheaper than the blue phones or a rented cellphone, and you don't have to try again if the line is busy or the machine picks up. And if you must have a converation-style exchange, I suppose you could coordinate with friends and family back home to use a given chatroom host.

wally, great report...oh, as i must have missed them when i was on bonaire, are the phones really blue?...want to make sure that if i am sleepwalking next time i am on the island that the hypothetical sticker is placed on appropriate phones

wally, that picture of you is "enhanced?"

Sorry we have been gone so long....after the boat expo we got very, very busy. Building boats like a mad man right now.
BLUE PHONE UPDATE
I called the blue phone company and complained about the cost. They issued a $15 credit on the $40 charges. I then complained to my credit card company...who basically said "we have seen this junk before" and they just wiped the whole deal of my statement.
Decals are made by the way.
We are sending our 2 oldest kids down for June...so I will send the decals with them.

Go, Wally and Eva!!! Persistance....tenacity....relentlessness...works all (most, at least!) of the time. Can you show us on the board what the stickers look like?? Very curious. When in June will the kids be there?? We will be there 5-24 thru June 7...can't wait to see what you have done. Glad to hear you are very busy building boats....good for the soul and the bank accounts! Ayo. Carole