"OVERALL, a great vacation. THE vacation we waited for all year."

Those are the last words of my August 2000 Trip Report, and they might as well be the first words this year.

(Links in here are mostly for the benefit of non-regulars (my friends and family) so when I direct them to this report, from here, they can find the other WebCam captures.)

The Scene:
We stay at Sorobon Beach Resort, on the windward side. A transformation of lifestyle so complete that we immediately leave the stresses of home/work behind. We have to. Nothing is the same. No phone, no TV, no radio, no computer. The rushing wind, the ebb and flow of the bay, the ever-changing sky, the daily activities of sea birds and iguanas. Simple basics. Stare here. Eat. Stare there. Stroll. Sip. Read. Snooze. Dip. The life!

We went for three weeks instead of two! I wish that meant four weeks next year...!

The Diving:
We shore dive entirely, with a rental truck and tank fills from Carib Inn. Reorientation dive, first thing off their dock -- without camera, so naturally we saw many cool creatures, including a huge grouper and close views of southern stingray and queen angelfish.

Next, we took ourselves to The Lake, where divemasters had been showing people frogfish, but of course, we didn't find them. I enjoyed watching the garden eels. Located the return to same entry point by recognizing a huge dead lobster longer than my fin.

Then came my dive number 50! Special care taken to do something significant: Larry directed us to the seahorses at Oil Slick Leap (a cliff-top, giant-stride entry). I located them by spying on a diver who was clearly focused on something for a while. I even saw him standing on his head with his arm extended down into a hollow, and saw a small flash from his hand. I knew if I kept track of this location I would find them... And it turned out there were two seahorses there, but he had only seen one. Later, divers with a big camera came by and were extremely grateful when I pointed out the seahorses. (Barry Gilbert: if you're out there somewhere: pleasesend me seahorse photos from that day if they turned out! It was a big day for me!)

This is our first appearance on the StreetCam, right after the seahorses at OIl Slick Leap:



We introduced ourselves to Eric at Green Submarine while browsing dive shops and checking on the status of the once-a-month clean-up dive. We snorkeled out where he pointed and saw a yellow longlure frogfish, about 3 inches long, sitting on an engine block in about 5 feet of water. This was great because we were always diving without a guide, and really unlikely to ever spot one of these bizarre, camouflaged creatures way down on the reef, so un-fishlike is their shape. Eric stated that all of a sudden frogfish seem to be everywhere you look!

The next dive, Windsock, turned out to be my only turtle sighting of the whole trip. You never know... By now, Bob was carrying his camera and we were looking forward to the second year of video! The turtle came by when Bob was busy shooting something else. Naturally. But we were optimistic then.

We dove sites we hadn't tried before. The Cliff, in front of Hamlet was a nice wall. Eels posed and swam photogenically. So did spotted drums, one of my favorites. Bob eventually discovered the video camera was not working. The take-up wasn't taking up. Despite having videoed a walking brittle star in broad daylight, among many cool things in the early dives, we ended up with nothing. Not one decent frame past the test shots in Oregon right before the journey. Couldn't blame the airlines? It never left Bob's hands. I felt really bad for him. The silver lining: he dove the rest of the time hands free and seeing far more than he ever sees with that heavy housing in his face. The silver postscript: he bought a replacement camera on eBay when we got home. I just hope it likes Air Jamaica next year....

Next, a return to a favorite dive site: BOPEC is always a beauty. The tide was way out, no water on the boat ramp, large swells. Scrawled filefish, just like the one we left sleeping there last year. (How long do they live?) Many beautiful angels and squirrels. A 5 foot great barracuda passing through, shallower than I was. After this dive, we drove to Nukove (old favorite) to find it so damaged, I don't consider it a shore dive any more, certainly not from the former entry. The pile of coral there is mind-boggling. New favorites come along, right?

Company! Dara arrived and dove with us at Eighteenth Palm. After a free-flow on entry knocked some of my air off, we toured the first reef. A big crab was eating something; an arrow crab and a crinoid were a beautiful combination; anemone with the purple tips, tiny spotted drum, and fuzzy pillar coral with daytime polyps extended were other highlights.

Weber's Joy brought back memories of the car break-in of 1998, so we peered all about the Hut... but we never bring valuables anyway... I noted seeing black and yellow tip crinoids and another arrow crab. Also a trumpetfish trying to hide parallel to the back of a parrotfish, which is so humorous to watch. Hmm. Maybe they won't see me... Hermit crabs down inside sponge. Flamingo tongues. It's always so beautiful...

Felt like exploring another new place, so we leaped off Sabadeco Pier. Didn't see anything especially new, but the scenery was very nice and creatures plentiful!

Next we dove Small Wall by arrangement with Jake and Linda. Swam close to tarpon, barracuda, angels, and many creole wrasses, to name a few. (Linda goes out and remembers 50 to 75 species on a dive, so that list of 4 is pathetic.) Very nice topography at the small wall, and of course the world-famous live reefcam that confounds your best efforts to pose properly.

[ -- Here’s the thread that was going along before we dove the ReefCam on 31 May. Then we show up. Includes BeachCam shots of our water entry and exit, and the funny remarks that went on about the license plate: Niki and Bob on ReefCam. This other thread ends with larger captures of our dive, 11:24 -11:28am: Larger Versions -- ]

I racked my brain to come up with something unique for the reefcam. Impulse landed the license plate in my hands half an hour before the dive. (Old license plates are sold as fundraisers for Klein Bonaire Preservation and other causes. I was amazed to find one with the same numbers as my Oregon license plate at home!) I'm just glad someone saw humor in it and asked, "Did anybody get the license number of that diver that hit me?" (thanks, Richard D.)

Here we are perfecting the luckiest wave. The camera captures one frame every two minutes, and I had no idea when that instant would be. I just walked over and waved hi to everyone and got back into our rental truck, seen behind with Bob inside.



The winds died down a bit one day. When I woke up at dawn and noticed it was much quieter than usual, I realized the East side surf was calmer too. (Bruce's orange zodiac, I think, arrived in view of Sorobon and I’ve wondered about his dive that day.) Further down the coast, some guys made shore dives at the pullouts where normally the ocean is looking really mean. I didn’t think it looked all that easy regardless. The wacky thing we did that day was to take scuba gear out on a kayak and shallow dive the reef on the inside of the breakers. There's too much coral to actually pass over to the outside there, but I think a snorkler made an assumption that we had done so when he saw us on scuba in the bay and that empty zodiac bobbing over the blue! I was expecting to see great stuff this way, but even the big porcupinefish was so shy I couldn't get a decent look. The juveniles in Lac Bay are awesomely beautiful, especially the baby smooth trunkfish. I followed a flounder around, and played hide and seek with a very shy tiger grouper. I probably will stick to snorkeling my immediate front yard (Sorobon) in the future.

We dove Bari Reef, entering from the end of Sunset Beach property. Tried to find octopus, but instead found a big brown donkey dung sea cucumber, a fine landmark, by the way. There was a very strong north-to-south current that day. I kind of enjoyed the way it slowed us down as we swam into it, and then picked us up for the return flight. Spotted eels swimming from place to place. Two viewings of a good sized spotted scorpionfish. Pectoral fins were green-yellow-black-patterns, flashing when it swam. In the sand, box crabs were burrowing and goatfish were getting into the act. Plenty more stuff!

Bob and Dara went on a night dive at Bachelor’s Beach. I was babying my ears and sinus which were giving me trouble. Anyway, they saw all the stuff I wanted to see, but that’s life. Turtle. Octopus. You name it. Good stuff.
(Continued)

The Long-Anticipated Saturday Clean-Up Dive, with Green Submarine: About a dozen of us went just to the south of Town Pier. Two uncertified divers, Tom and Amy, snorkeled above and helped with the dive flags and other support. We hauled out many collection bags of trash, not with lift bags, because Eric was in the process of acquiring new ones. It was a lot of work. I discovered that I'm not comfortable carrying extra weight dangling off my arms; it was really awkward. But Bob can do such tasks on scuba, being a former search and rescue diver, and he made a great contribution to the clean-up. The creature viewings on this occasion were wonderful. Octopus! A school of 19 squid! Intermediate Queen Triggerfish! Surprisingly, a baby octopus wriggled out of the bags onto the sidewalk and I got to carry him/her back to the ocean in my hands.

I've gotto tell about the really unusual dive we made with Tom and Amy. First of all, their live-aboard 34 foot sailboat was a big lure for us. We have a 25 foot MacGregor, and are fascinated by the sailing cruisers. If we could give up repeating our Bonaire dive vacation every year, we'd probably be figuring out where to do a sailing vacation. Anyway, Tom and Amy were really friendly, so we offered to assist them using our pick-up in some outboard motor repair and other tasks, and then arranged to go diving together. They knew that we were shore diving and had not seen the reefs off Klein Bonaire. They hadn't seen anyreefs because they just finished PADI OW. So it seemed perfect. Take the inflatable dingy, the freshly resuscitated 3-horse Mercury, and four divers and gear, over to Klein. There were storms flitting by all week, and the water was not flat. Eric, who just the day before had finished certifying Tom and Amy, told us he'd keep the radio on. We attached the tanks to our vests, inflated them and ran a line through them (not on us), and we had our suits on. From shore I don’t know if the dingy was visible or just the four divers... We had the wind at our backs on the way over, but the swells, which hadn't been white caps at first, got bigger and bigger. At Klein, there are very few passages to reach the beach, I gather. We didn't know exactly where the Sea Cow beaches itself, but we saw a little opening sooner and went to shore, mostly to stop being tossed about. We geared up and waded back out to the drop-off. My best estimate of where we were: Ebo's Reef. We walked carefully, knee deep, and then stepped off the edge into blue water. There was a rubble slope at first, but just a short swim southward and a gorgeous reef appeared with many soft corals and sponges mixed together as though a designer was at work. The fish were all familiar and wonderful. But the garden of corals was spectacular. I was really thrilled at the scenery. The newbie divers were great. They had fun. Didn't suck air. Didn't crash into things or bob up to the surface. I was proud of them, and I wasn't even their teacher.

The return into the waves and wind was wild. I had my mask on because I wouldn't have been able to look forward if I hadn't. We bounced over the waves and they bounced over us. We bailed furiously all the way back. Adventure dive.

Lastly, we proceeded directly from that excitement to our final dive of the trip: A Small Wall dive organized by Jake. (WebCam pictures.)
[ -- The only pictures I am in are 14:46, peeking over Gary's shoulder, and 15:40 water exit (I'm third from the right). -- ]
I don't think anyone ever posted an answer to the question of whether we saw the eagle ray or not. I, for one, missed it. Tom and Amy saw it. Beginners’ luck... There was surf and surge big time (by local standards). Visibility was not the best. I was fussing with a foggy mask. After I used up enough air and struggled back in, Bob saw a great show. A swimming spotted moray, going here and there, stuck his head into the wrong place: another eel's hideout! There was a long, vicious eel fight right in front of Bob -- the guy whose video camera was broken, and packed in its case.
(Continued)

The Park:
Washington-Slagbai Park is an all-day excursion. We photographed many birds, picnicked at Boca Cocolishi, and toured the long route. We had been putting off going there because previous years were wetter (more bugs and messier roads) but this year being so dry, we went for it. I know it was beautiful and worth the effort, but make no mistake, the passenger in a small pickup is bounced around the potholes like a sack of potatoes for many hours.

The Food:
I make most of the food. (Bob does the dishes.) This is just an economy measure. Makes the extravagant bill for three weeks in paradise just one order of magnitude smaller. I did pick up take-out from Cozzoli’s (pizza), Old Inn (chicken satay), Mi Poron (keshi yena) when I didn’t actually want to do everything from scratch, and affordable because the servings were generous. We did enjoy meals out at Le Wok and Kon Tiki and of course, Swiss Chalet.

The Travel:
We took the overnight Delta flight from Portland to Atlanta, then Air Jamaica to Montego Bay and Bonaire. Until this year, there was no avoiding United and ALM. There is still no avoiding the huge time we have to spend getting to and from the Northwest. It is exhausting. The advantage of this deal was the quiet at night on the cross-country flight, and the fabulous non-involvement of Denver or Chicago or Miami. You know exactly what I mean.

Returning was a little messy on Air Jamaica. They were late by several hours, snowballing all day, and we were lucky that the Bonaire departure was in the actual piece of equipment that was going on to Atlanta, or we would not have connected. I think others were stuck in MoBay. There were no late planes to Oregon in the first place, so the plan included an overnight in Atlanta, which took the pressure off us.

The People:
I already posted my people essay, after I got home and saw the great pictures Ellen Muller took and and read the fine things people said. I guess I’ll link you there too: Lorraine’s Get Together Featuring Birthday Girls. Plus, here are the pictures of the earlier BBQ with BonaireTalkers and local friends hosted by Newsgroup Moderators Jake and Linda Richter.
[ -- I am in the last picture in Part 1 and the first two pictures in Part 2: PartyCam Part 1 -- PartyCam Part 2 --]

For history buffs only -- the discussion that led up to the BBQs -- rather chaotic, but successful as you can see! How BBQs Got Organized

To meet other BonaireTalkers in person was super. We are a cool bunch who love a place in common. The meal at Swiss Chalet with Jake and Linda, Greta and Gary, and Glen was delicious. We signed Suzy’s guestbook as the ad hoc BonaireTalk Thursday night restaurant review committee, or something like that! And I could easily imagine it happening again! In fact Jake will probably convene another meeting before long. Some of the members will be different, but the spirit will be the same.

More wonderful people are the staff and guests at Sorobon Beach Resort. We always feel at home there, and really enjoy the European crowd. Language note: I kept bringing my French-English dictionary, but this year left it at home because I hadn’t encountered French speakers for two years. Shouldn’t have. We met a lovely French couple to hang out with for two out of the three weeks. I spoke alot of French, but I really could have used my dictionary. There was an English-Dutch dictionary and a French-Dutch dictionary in the office, but I couldn’t see translating two languages I know through one I don’t!

Sorry for the long, rambling report... I even deleted a few asides, but wanted to include as much as I thought you could take!

Especially, thank you Jake and Linda, thank you Dara, thank you Glen, for your parts in a terrific vacation. Thank you BonaireTalkers for all the fun!

Great report - brought back fond memories of our trip this year. We plan to be back to Bonaire and Sorobon in 2003 (have to skip 2002 unfortunately because we are retiring November 1, 2002, taking a refresher sailing course and buying a sailboat - we sold our original one when we moved to land locked Denver in 1990).

Hi Gail! Great plan, sailing into retirement!

[By the way, Gail was in the same chalet two weeks before us, and we wanted to ask her:]

Gail, do you recognize this character?



Did he have you wrapped around his little finger, or his wing, perhaps? He sure got to Bob. All we would do is open the fridge, or clink a glass or plate, and he would show up at the door, "cak,cak!" (feed me!) He even trained Bob to throw him crumbs while he soared above the house. He was very talented, and his cousins never caught a morsel. He was a constant companion!

It wasn't us who trained him by feeding him. He trained us, I swear. The classic example of wild behavior being thrown off by feeding. It might have started years ago...

Niki, as I flit back 'n forth between work and reading trip reports (attention span of a gnat today :-) it seems as tho it were just yesterday we were in Bonaire! Thanks for the memories!

I read thru my log yesterday in preparation for writing a trip report....and painted a birthday card for my favorite dive buddy.....which is probably why I can't concentrate today! I just want to be blowing salty bubbles in the briny deep......

Dear Niki,,,Hey...we were in Bonaire at the same time you guys were...the picture under water of the two divers...blue fins...and a black and reddish suit..is that you guysss? cause I thought that one was us.....????I could be wrong but it looked like us...(I forwarded them to my family and they were happy!} do you guys have same type of equipment...????? We also had a wonderful time couldnt beat the weather that trip...we will be back in November and again in May...(same time) going to Bahamas for a quickie..in September(hope hurricanes hold out...for our 10 year anniversary!..maybe we will see you next year....thanks for the post...great to hear over and over again....

Your report was long overdue but well worth waiting for. Nice details. It's getting us motivated for our trip next month. Sorry we will miss seeing you guys this August. Again, nice report, it was a nice way to relax at lunch.

Meryl, my dear, what can I say? Lol. :-) Where did you think that license plate came from during your appearance? You have blue force fins? Your man looks like Bob? You were at Jake and Linda's house at 11:30 on Thursday May 31st? Don't worry, I won't tell your family...

Hi Niki, what a wonderful and thorough trip report. Was a good read to wind up my day.. Thanks

Niki,,,,I wasnt talking about the license plate pix...the one with just the two divers....yes I have blue force fins...and the guy in the background does look like my man Steve...watch,shinny head and all....my wet suit is red and black....We entered at Black Durgeon...did not visit Jake and Linda cause we have not yet...been formally introduced but we did see other divers down under that were in front of the camera before us.........just thought it was funny....

OK, Just so I understand, you are still not sure if those are you or not? What about my green snorkel and black beanie on my head? You have these too? We should have seen each other!! It would have been a hoot! The clincher is, however, that the license plate is at 11:26 and the divers are at 11:28. You weren't there! So sorry... Maybe in Jake and Linda's archive they can find you, if you know exactly when it was... Good luck!

so...solly....not sure myself...went back and looked..we were in the water at around the same time.....guess these are you guys...(not trying to steal your glory :}...just looking for the "real Us".....this was us the two days before...when we finally found the cam......sorry if this upset you! but we were in the water May 31st at 11ish.....

Niki,,,I guess we'll ask Jake if he has any other archive pix...dont want to be spreading you guys around as us.....was very coincidental.....fins and time and all.....my snorkle is light blue....and I keep my hair up....but....anywhoo....sorry for the mix up/// your trip report was great.....seems like forever that we were there! hope we can bump into each other for "real" one day....

No biggie, but I had to straighten things out... I didn't send the pictures to my family. They waited a month, and I directed them to read this report today, and follow the links.

You might have to wait for Jake to look it up because this morning he said he was flying away again in 20 hours... Also, when I got home I did e-mail a question whether there were any more pix, and Linda wrote back that these were all of them. Hmmm, maybe she can tell us apart!! :-)

Thanks Niki....my family is happy believing it was us....as we were...they do get pretty bored with our "one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish" pictures...(as they call our dive pix's)so I will let them be with this....I was just reading your report and was surprised to see your pictures..Glad we at least know where the cam is now and will try to get it right next trip....(162 days) Thanks again for the report....

Oh dear, well add a little more confusion to the conversation. I actually e-mailed a friend to see if she had dropped Nik off at the cam for a "hello". And it was you, Meryl. At least if you're the one waving, you're the one I muxed ip. Maybe you are each others "doppelganger". They say we all have one. And if y'all can't tell, and we can't tell, maybe Meryl's really Niki, or Niki's really Meryl...oh my achin' brain...

You guys! I should have known better than to trot you lot out for the extended family. Kerri: I'mwaving. Meryl's blowing a kiss. Now behave! :-)

what a mess!...but hi ! to the extended family from me!...and yes its me blowing a kiss.....behave we will......have a good day...and happy 4th!