a cross post from the gen chat but just realised it might be better here - we had our camera stolen (in the park) a few days into our first holiday here, so lost all our pics and can't take more - if anyone has any general views of the island, and especially the park (and the lizards and iguanas) then please contact us (ruthyf@blueyonder.co.uk) - back in uk on 23rd feb - despite the theft we've had a brillianbt time - cheers, Ruth and Paul

Ruth, I'm so sorry to hear about this incident. I love photography so I know how you feel. What a disappointment not to have your pics and very frustrating that you became a victim of crime on Bonaire. What were the circumstances? I do hope the rest of your trip was fine and that you will give Bonaire another shot for a vacation/diving spot.

I will check my PC (digital shots) when I get home from work and will pass some shots over to you to enjoy, OK? It might take until this weekend, but I will look for you. Ayo. Carole

PS I have a feeling you will receive a lot of responses and will be flooded with great shots from Bonaire! cb

thankyou carole just to fill you in on what happened, we had hired a jeep (to visit the national park) as it was my birthday and we wanted to take some photographs of the natural fauna and flora of Bonaire to show everyone on our return. We were snorkelling on Playa funchi and had left the stuff in the jeep (parked on the beach) we snorkelled for about half an hour and then had lunch on the beach (and were pestered by hungry lizards). On our return to the jeep, Paul first noticed that his shorts were missing, the shorts had the wallet in them, so that was gone too. We set off for the exit pretty quickly in the hopes that we could catch the culprits red handed but as we went along we thought about the camera, binoculars, sunglasses etc that we also had with us. We stopped the jeep and had a hunt around but found that everything was gone. The camera had a case with the memory card, spare battery etc in it so we lost a lot of important gear. It hasn't spoiled our holiday, or our appreciation of Bonaire, but we would hesitate to take expensive equipment into the park in the future, or warn others not to leave stuff and go off snorkelling as it clearly is not a safe thing to do. We were under the impression that the park would be safe as there seemed to be only one road in our out through the gate house, but we had of course forgotten that access via the sea is very possible also... bye and thanks again. Ruth

Also there roads in down at BOPEC and bicycle trails. Bonaire Reporter this week says that the police (in Kralendijk, I believe) have a collection of apparently stolen material recovered from the group of teenagers caught recently. You might want to check with them.

Thankyou Glen, we did try the police but we were flying home that day, plus it was a carnival day, so there was only a skeleton staff on at the police station so we weren't able to look at the stolen material, perhaps they will let us know if it turns out to be ours. we are now back in Newcastle uk where there is 6 inches of snow. Hopefully a new camera is on its way from the insurance people so all we have to do now is have another holiday on Bonaire and take some more pictures!!
Cheers, ruth and paul

Ruth, were you able to open up the pics I sent over a while back? I also sent some links for you to enjoy with photos in them. I hope everything arrived (emails) OK. Thanks! Carole Baker

Yes, thank you so much Carole, I now have 90 photos in my iphoto album on Bonaire and most of them came through your email and links, it has taken me this long to organise myself to do it, as I needed a weekend, now that my holiday is over and I am back to work (sigh). Ah well the more I work, the more I can save up to come back to Bonaire in a year or two. I intend to get a waterproof housing for future cameras so that I can take it in the water with me. Once again, I can't thank you enough and thanks also to the photographers who you linked me to, they have taken much the same shots that I had on my camera before it was taken,
cheers, ruth

I'm so glad we could help you "refill" and replace your lost photos, Ruth! I know how "a picture is worth a thousand words" really is true. I'd go nuts if I lost my photos. The underwater housing is a great idea. You will have so much fun in the water as well as on the land this way. Keep the camera in your hands at all times, tho! Keep saving your money for the return trip....something to look forward to...makes work a little more bearable that way! Glad you have some photos to enjoy now. Ayo. Carole