|
|
|
||||||||
Subject:
Bonaire Trip
Our
Trip to Bonaire
We left Michigan and its 15-degree weather to land on
a diver's paradise with 82-degree weather. We rented a pick-up truck (the mini
van we were supposed to have was in an accident the week before) and headed out
to find our hotel. After a couple of wrong turns, we finally got to our
accommodations that were very nice. We had a complete kitchen and made our own
breakfast and lunch everyday.
The hurricane that went through 15o miles to the north
in November 1999 caused a wave surge that destroyed the dive facility and the
Green Parrot restaurant that was on the waters edge. Therefore, instead of
waling out of your condo and walking onto your dive boat, we had to be taxied
down the street to the marine to catch the boat. The dive shop provided
transportation for those in need. One restaurant right next door served what
they claimed to be the BEST seafood on the island. I think I would have to agree
with them, everything was delicious.
The dive sights are all marked with buoys in the water
and along side the road, they painted large rocks yellow and wrote the dive
sight location on them, so it was very easy to spot There was easy parking at
every dive sight also.
Some islands require a long swim or necessitate a boat
trip to get to the reef. When you step in the water anywhere around the island,
you are on the reef, which made shore diving a joy. Snorkeling was
fantastic also. Lots and Lots of fish and the island does have one shipwreck
(which the divers visited).
Besides diving, the island has many other attractions
such as sea kayaking, wind surfing, nature discovery and of course shopping. The
shopping is limited compared to some other islands but there was plenty to
choose from.
Bonaire is a dessert island and usually receives approximately 22 inches
of rain a year. The hurricane has messed up the weather and so far this year
they have received 86 inches of rain. We teased our dive master that this sure
acted like a tropical island and not a dessert island. It rained almost every
day, but it never stopped us. It would be raining a nice warm rain one-minute
and then the sun would come out the next. As with any vacation, the best day was
the one before we had to leave. Because of all the rain, the entire island was
green and all the plants were in bloom. I met a lady who had lived on the island
many years ago and she said she had never seen the island so beautiful.
While the boys were off diving, I kept busy learning how to sea kayak,
and going on guided snorkel trips and nature trips. I saw upside down jellyfish
that were many different colors because of the algae they collected in their
tentacles. On our nature trip, we saw a beautiful butterfly that only lives in
one small area on the island. Our naturalist is trying to determine if it is a
new species of butterfly1 as he can not find it in any of his
identification books.
On Thursday, I had a frightening and wonderful adventure. Mother lady on
the trip suggested that we rent kayaks and go over to the small island a little
ways off our shore. I had nothing better to do and really needed to practice
what I had learned on Monday as I think I did everything wrong that you can do
wrong on a kayak. We headed off and in about 10 minutes were over to the island.
We had a very strong off shore wind that day so we made great time. We went a
short ways around the island to a sandy area to beach the kayaks and walk around
and then headed back from there. Because neither of us had studied the map, we
did not realize that with the wind we were crossing at the widest possible spot
instead of the shortest (like we came across). By the time I figured out that it
was a lot farther than it looked, we were committed. (Or maybe we should have
been committed. I'm not sure). My partner was not keeping up and was falling
further and further away from me as she was tiring and would stop paddling. I
stopped paddling once and lost as much ground as I had covered in 5 minutes, so
I kept paddling I did not want to have to tell her fiancé that she was lost at
sea because that was where she was drifting to so every time I Iooked to see
where she was, I paddled harder. I finally made it across and flagged down a
dive boat to go rescue her. They came back to pick me up and kidded us about
charging us $100 each to take us back to Sand Dollar Resort That was fine with
me, at that point I did not care. All of a sudden, one of the tourists on the
dive boat said he saw a whale. The dive captain started teasing this man as
Bonaire only sees whales about once a year when the whale surfaced in front of
the boat. Well then we were whale chasing. There were at least two whales and
one whale shark. WOW! 1! I asked the captain if our debt was paid because if
they had not turned around to save us, they would have been in the marina and
missed all the excitement. They did not charge us!!!!
This island is very easy to visit. Every place will accept American
dollars and everyone speaks English. I have to admit, I was envious of the
island people who could speak 4 or 5 languages because of all the tourists and
people who live there. Approximately 90% of the dive sights are easily
accessible from the shore so boat diving is not necessary. A vehicle is a
necessity if you want to see something of the island though. I am very glad we
rented one.
This island is definitely on the return again list. So many islands and
so little time! !!!
Barb Postill
4/8/00