BonaireTalk Discussion Group
Everything Else Bonaire: Biking in Bonaire
Bonaire Talk: Everything Else Bonaire: Archives: Archives 1999 - 2004: Archives - 2003-04-30 to 2004-02-25: Biking in Bonaire
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Carter (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #8) on Thursday, October 9, 2003 - 5:58 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Has anyone rented any of the mountain bikes and done any biking around the island? If so what condition were the bikes in and how was the biking? Also has anyone tried sending small packages back to the US via Fedex or UPS if they exist in Bonaire?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By C. Kritagent (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #190) on Thursday, October 9, 2003 - 8:31 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Bonaire is great for mountain and road bikes... Capt Don's has TREK MTBs and they were in excellent shape when last seen.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By C Poteet (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #150) on Friday, October 10, 2003 - 10:15 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

John -

I am a bicyclist, but have not bicycled on Bonaire.

I realize that wind is not much of a factor for mountain biking, but be advised that there is usually (except perhaps September-mid October) quite a healthy east breeze all the time.

I would think dirt-road mountain biking in Washington-Slagbaai park, especially, would be a great deal of fun. The desert vegetation and scenery set in the gin-clear waters of the Caribbean is quite a sight.

The sun at Bonaire's latitude is more intense than anything you might have experienced unless you have been that close to the equator. Take and use liberally sun protection. Skin cancer is not as funny as it sounds.

Do give us a report if you get to try it.

Charles Poteet
Dallas

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Linda Richter - NetTech (Moderator - Post #1511) on Monday, October 13, 2003 - 8:39 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Fedex is done with Rocargo. They do a good job sending and receiving. They are located on Kaya Industria near Lisa Gas.

UPS and DHL exist on Bonaire but they don't have store fronts or offices. The local representatives has switched hands a lot in the past so it can be hard to track them down if you are on the receiving end.

The post office can send packages as well. I don't know about delivery times or prices.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Carter (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #9) on Tuesday, October 14, 2003 - 5:05 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

C,

Thanks for the info. I thought it might be nice to try cycling around between snorkeling. I sued to do a lot of road biking but never tried mountain biking. The important thing to me is the bikes be in decent shape. Not much worse than trying to ride a beat up bike.

Linda,

I thought with all the hassle of worrying about getting picture film through security it would be easier to just FedEx the negatives back instead of worrying about the xrays damaging the film. Several I know from other locations have done this very successfully.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Linda Richter - NetTech (Moderator - Post #1517) on Tuesday, October 14, 2003 - 10:09 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

You might want to check the rates on film development first. Locally it can be quite pricey. Although the local Fedex is very dependable.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Carter (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #10) on Wednesday, October 15, 2003 - 4:55 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Linda,

My thoughts were to send the undeveloped film back to the states. I typically use 10 to 12 rolls of regular film and 5 to 10 of those disposable waterproof cameras. I haven't had any problems with my mini CD's that my digital camera uses.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By seb schulherr (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1044) on Wednesday, October 15, 2003 - 7:44 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

John, I know some folk have posted they use lead lined film bags, which forces a hand check. I used to use them myself before I went digital, which is unaffected.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Carter (BonaireTalker - Post #11) on Thursday, October 16, 2003 - 9:36 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Seb,

Never used the lead bags but usually you can ask to have it hand checked and they will comply. If you have 20 or 30 rolls though it can be a pain to carry in a carry-on. My digital camera uses mini-CDs. I have asked the aviation security folks about the affects of the scanning machines on recordable CD media and so far no one seems to know. I haven't had any problems yet but......

I have seen talk about using credit cards while on Bonaire but have seen nothing regarding using traveler's checks. Anyone have any comments about using traveler's checks?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By C Poteet (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #155) on Thursday, October 16, 2003 - 9:56 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

John -

We have used travelers' cheques a couple of times.

We exchange them at one of the banks in town. Very easy.

You don't really need to exchange dollars to NAFs (Netherlands Antilles Florins) unless you want. We never ran into a place or person that wouldn't accept U.S. dollars.

The last time we went we took, but never cashed travelers' cheques. Seems as if every place a tourist normally would go takes credit cards and they are ATMs on the island that dispense (so I understand) U.S. dollars or NAF.

Charles Poteet
Dallas

 


Visit: The Bonaire WebCams - Current Bonaire images and weather!
The Bonaire Insider - the latest tourism news about Bonaire
The Bonaire Information Site, InfoBonaire
Search Bonaire - Search top Bonaire Web sites


Topics Last Day Last Week Tree View    Getting Started Formatting Troubleshooting    New Messages Keyword Search Contact Moderators Edit Profile Administration