PART TWO I met a lot of new BT folks this trip and saw a lot I already new! The friendships just keep growing!!! I just can’t say enough of how wonderful BT has been for me!!!! I went solo this trip and between my on island friends and my BT friends, I never ate alone once!! Thanks to Cynde inviting Norma, I had a snorkeling buddy for the very first time to share the excitement of our snorkeling adventures while out with Renee. Ron Gould, his wife Dianne and son Randy stayed at the Dive Inn so we would meet up daily and chit chat about all our great finds. Cynde and Tom organized a Pizza dinner for the Maria Hopner boys and Barbara and I went along to visit the boys which brings much joy to all involved. When your Babness left, she gave me her royal flowers to guard. They really brightened up the room. Thanks Barbara! As most of you already know, the Woodwind had engine trouble (much to my dismay) and had to cancel our BT sail and snorkel. Dee and I were able to contact some but some we could not so I went down to the dock. We were all standing around talking and Dave and Wanda invited us to the place where they were staying to dive and snorkel in their back yard!!! They also served us a great lunch and drinks!!!!! Thanks Dave and Wanda!!!!! Most dinners were anywhere from 6 to 12 people which just meant a lot of fun and good company!! Like I said, I just can’t say enough about BT folks!!! I didn’t do much site seeing this trip but I did get up to Seru Largo the night we went to Antriol Catering. It is my first time up there at night and to see the view of Bonaire all lit up from there is absolutely breathtaking!!!!! And the stars are so bright and appear so close that you think you can touch them!!!! I even saw a few shooting stars while I was there. My first week there was Regatta. I found it to be quite interesting. I loved seeing all the sails in the water. I got to see the parade of nations where every one dressed in their national cloths and carried flags. They had boat parade of the dive and tour boats they all decorated their boats and sailed up and down the coast at sunset. In town at night they close off a street and had food and souvenir stands. I guess a lot of people come over from Curacao and Aruba and the street was very crowded with activity. They also had music on a stage. The Microsoft yacht was in town. It had a helicopter, sail boat, Jet Ski and a dingy bigger than most boats on it!!! It was quite the site! I saw my first wind reversal this trip. I woke up the first morning to a loud clap of thunder. So I went out under the patio and watched this incredible storm go through. The rain was going sideways and the waves were crashing over the walls!!!! It was short and wild!!!! Later I found out we had a reversal. I guess there were several during the couple weeks. It was really strange weather. Another thing I saw were electrical storms that were absolutely beautiful that were in the distance behind a screen of clouds. I have never seen this before in all my trips. Even with clouds most of the evenings there were still very many beautiful sunsets!! I usually split up my morning time with Renee’s guided snorkeling and sailing on the Woodwind but as I stated above the Woodwind had engine trouble and ended up being unable to sail the whole time I was there which was very disappointing. I ended up doing 3 dive boats so I could get over to Kline a few times.. For anyone going in March, I will be planning another BT sail and snorkel on the 12th. More info to come later. I love doing Renee’s guided snorkels and I think her prices are very reasonable. It is like having your own personal guide any time you want one to take you wherever you want to go!!! I call her old eagle eyes!! I know you all think I get a commission, and I don’t, but she really does see things that I would have missed all the time and knows where everything lives!!! When I wasn’t out with Renee’s guided snorkels or a dive boat, I would be snorkeling around the Divi. The cement pier is full of life and the corals continue to grow! The southern pier of the Divi has beautiful corals and sponges on the pillars. Of course I still love hanging above the little boat that they have sunk to the right of the cement pier with all kinds of life on and in it. I also snorkeled down towards the town pier and there is lots of fish life in the rocks along the shore! This was my 11th trip to Bonaire. I have been in January, February, March, September, December and October. I have decided October is my favorite month because the water is so calm and warm. I usually wear a two mil skin with a three mil long sleeve shortie and sometimes even a helmet as I usually freeze, but this trip all I needed was the two mil or a bathing suit!! It is very hot and humid on land during the day but the nights are still enjoyable. The sites I went to this trip were: in front of Yellow Submarine, , Plaza, Tories Reef, Sorobon, Andrea II, Small Wall, Something Special, Sampler, Bonadventure, Joanne’s Sunchi and Calabas in front of the Divi. All sites were great and had their own flavor so I guess I would say they are all my favorites! Some of my other highlights were: I had a few but I thing the biggest is when Renee and I found a first siting in Bonaire that was shared with Norma!!!!! It was a Unicorn filefish!!!! We found it right in front of Yellow Submarine. Upon Renee’s request, I loaded the picture on a CD, and gave it to my friend Sue Porter who revised the great Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy Book and also does a lot of Reef and Coral studies. She then emailed it off to Reef.org and Reefnet.ca. With in an hour it was confirmed by both !!!! I was so excited to be a part of such an experience!!!! On that same snorkel, I saw my very first Flying Gurnard!!!!! There were actually two there and they are absolutely gorgeous when they open they wings!!!! Needless to say we were chatting about this one for the rest of the trip!!!! THEN!! When I went out on the Dive Inn’s Dive boat to Bonadventure at Kline, I got to swim with a Spotted Eagle Ray that was feeding in 10-15 feet of water for 40 minutes!!!!! It was just heavenly!!!! I was out a ways when I spotted him and he zigged and sagged as he led me back to the boat just as the divers returned!!! THEN!! I had a huge school of Big Eye Scad swim through me!! What a rush!!! You see this whole wall of fish rushing at you and it feels like they went right through you because you never even feel one touch you!!! THEN!! I said to Renee that I still haven’t got a good picture of a Rainbow Parrot and low and behold….I was swimming in a school of them at Sorobon!!!! I swear she has a connection with the fish!! THEN!! I snorkeled with three or four huge permits right in front of my face in shallow water also at Sorobon!!! Great photo opps! And…I found a Queen Angelfish just entering adulthood!!! I love the Queens!!! I also saw 6 or 8 huge puffers all together as well as single large ones throughout the snorkel!! THEN!! At Small Wall there was a family of three Spotted Drums. One of each size, right down to itty bitty!!!! I also got to shadow some Tangs for a while. It was really neat that they let me get right in there with them!!! THEN!! I was snorkeling at Calabas Reef and I came across the most unusual fish!!! It was Barbara, Cynde, Tom and Smack diving!!!! I recognized the boys yellow force fins! I followed them for a while playing with their bubbles and saw the same school of nine Barracudas that they did and decided it was time to leave! I had one other first that wasn’t so pleasant. I saw my first Sea Wasp about two feet away from me in the shallows in front of Cha Cha. I did a double take and was immediately out of the water!!! Jake asked me if the tentacles were banded and I told him that I didn’t wait around long enough to notice!! Other great finds were: Several octopus, a Bandtail puffer, a small Tobacco fish, Spotted Drums of all sizes, a Juvenile Rock Beauty, Ballyhoo, a Slender filefish, Green Moray, Spotted Moray. Chain Moray, Goldentail Moray, Sharptail eel, Conga eel, squid and three turtles!!! All the other usual and beautiful characters were there to brighten up each and every snorkel!! I guess this wraps up yet another incredible trip to paradise!!!! I am already anticipating March!!!!! Happy snorkeling and diving!!!!! I haven’t had a chance to do my pictures yet but I promise I will post a few when I do!
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