we are traveling to Bonaire in August and are taking the grandchildren. we were wondering if customs would allow us to bring in food staples ie hot dogs or hamburgers. We normally take a cooler into Cayman.

We usually fly down with a cooler full of frozen meat and never had any problems. We will be landing July 31st for a two week stay with cooler in tow.

There is no restriction on bringing in food, but Hot Dogs and Hamburger is the same price or cheaper here, and you don't run the risk of delays and thawed out food. Now, live Maine Lobsters in a cooler is quite a different story...eh Jake?

I had a friend at WHOI who used to fly from MA to NYC in a surplus P-38 loaded with lobster. Now maybe Jake could convince Cliff to....

How's fresh New England scallops and shrimp sound? We usually don't have a problem with stuff thawing even though it takes us around 12 hours out of Boston. This trip we will try dry ice to lighten the load. Can't wait! Arriving tomorrow.

Last I heard dry ice was a no no as far as the airlines are concerned...

Jyl....because dry Ice emits Carbon Dioxide the airlines will levy a $50.00 "oxygen fee" per flight. I left an chest full of sausage and dry ice in the New Orleans airport once because of that rule.

I think it is also against Bonaire laws, too. Michael, does my memory serve me correctly this time?

I can see that there might be a danger from a 'commercial' quantity of dry ice on an aircraft, but the amount needed to cool a pound or two of food??? More important now that smoking is banned on aircraft, I suppose. :–) It sounds like one of those rules made 'because it might...'The lawyers/insurance people strike again??? I know the rule is there somewhere, di is also illegal in shipping.

Our friend traveled with a cooler filled with dry ice and frozen steaks to Boniare...thought he would save some $$$
but the airline charges him $ 30 or something like that and then the cooler was put in a seperate place on the plane and then arrived a day later..luckily the steaks had not spoiled...but it was alot of hassle for the financial savings...go on vacation and eat what the locals eat..HONESTLY the goat stew and funchi, conch fritters are great...my comments are reserved for the iguanna soup I tried.,,,.it was that little leg sticking out with the scaley skin still on that got me.. enjoy!

Folks. The steaks (Lomito, filet mignon) you buy at warehouse Bonaire, are cheaper and just as good as the US stuff. It is a waste of time and space to cart food to Bonaire unless it is H & H Bagels, of course. Diver Debbi, How about Kabes Ku Higra or Sanger, Snai Bonchi or yambo?

Where are the best local spots?? I prefer this sort of dining by far..also fresh local fruits..

Annie

Ann, check out the 'Dining' thread entries. Also you can do a search for 'local' under the dining thread. Just scroll down to the bottom and click on 'keyword search'.

Michael...Yambo bambo whatz up ? So will you translate those delicasies for me ? Can I get them from Christina @
Snack shoppe Cafeteria across from China Nobo... What is that place called again ? I will bring you Vermont Stuffed Pretzel in Feb...they are the local treat ( besides maple syrup and blueberries)

Okay,,,Kabes ku higra is a stew of goats brains and liver, Sanger is fried blood, Snai Bonchi is green beans stewed with goat meat and sometimes pigstail. Yambo is like Gumbo, but really is slimy since it is cooked with lots of okra to within an inch of its life! Great local restaurants include Bon Bini Terrace in Antriol, Maiky Snak, Rest San Migual (across from China Nobo), Bon Awa Grill and Josnara Snak. I will try to have a map made for all the local spots as an addition the Dining Guide.

Good Grief !!!! goat brains ? I did'nt think they had any ..and they donate their livers? Fried blood ? really ? I guess I have heard of blood sausage, but it sure gives me the willys nowadays to think of ingesting blood... guess I would go with the Yambo if anything..have you heard of this new television show called Fear Factor ? they pay people $$ to do weird things like eat worms etc...maybe they should get the recipe for Kabes Jabes ! I'll stick with Priscas..would look forward to seeing a map of the local snak shops ...can never find that one out by the ballfield..say hi to Christine @ San Migual for me (tell her the tall lady who paints woodenware )

Have you ever eaten head cheese, hagis, kishka, etc? I guess if you are hungry, you eat anything. Now I did draw the line at Zebra and Gnu (wildebeast). I opted for the pumpking soup.

As a kid growing up in Texas, we ate brains (cow) and scrambled eggs. Don't know if I could handle them now or not.

When I was growing up in England, beef tongue was a delicacy -- I loved it. Also, we English love our kidneys (American's don't know what they're missing when they turn up their noses)-- lamb and pork are the best!

Michael, it'll be great to have a map for the snacks. How about adding the local BBQ options also, indicating days available?

See you real soon. I won't forget the New York Times.

Clay...thanks for the brains and scrambled egg post...Now I know what happened to Bush and his position on the environment - scrambled brains.

Barry Barry Barry..I bet you say the same thing about what's his name? (the president who just quit).

Ah, steak and kidney pie. And mixed grill. And sweatbreads. Good stuff.

I also pass on the eating of brains. Does that mean we have fewer brains than Texans, Barry???

Michael....the last guy had smaller brains...they say the brain is proportional to the head its in.

Glen...wow, never thought of it that way! Texans must have more brains, but as our Texas friend said, the brains do get mixed with scrambled things. So, I guess they have more scrambled brains? Maybe, maybe not?

I wouldn't know - Of all the the things I miss, I miss my brain the most.

In Boreno they call eating monkey brains...monkey la la
went to Anthonys Key to dive..they had a happy hour drink there named Monkey La La...I opted for the cervesa instead

Sorry I didn't have the chance to respond on the dry ice thing. You can fly with dry ice but only 3.74 lbs and yes there is a fee. I would check with the airline you intend to fly with first. What we did was let our food sit on dry ice several hours before we flew and then dumped it. Everything was at -40 degrees and still hard as a rock when we landed. We usually have our cooler as a carry-on as not to lose it. Very little dry ice is need to do the trick.

Cool, Jyl, way cool!!!