Okay, on to the food.
We missed both opportunities to meet some of you at Gibi’s due to prior commitments. Pity. It looks like a really good time. I would love to find out if you guys are as entertaining in real time.
We ate in, utilizing the inn’s way cool open air kitchen half the time for dinner. Most lunches were in as well, though we did discover Bongo’s and loved it. I must confess we had web cam phobia, an affliction not shared by our trusty travel companion Little Guy, aka Chiquito when in Bonaire, who achieved internet stardom by insisting on a reef cam appearance. Thanks for the capture Annie!
Dinners out consisted of; Richard’s, uncharacteristically not up to previous visits, perhaps an off night: Le Flamboyant, where Beefeaters used to be, okay, but the setting is the better part and we really miss Beefeaters habenero sauce; Rains Fishes, always a winner, order the house white for the best value on Bonaire; Mona Lisa, excellent food, service and atmosphere; And the winner is.... La Guernica., a new one (at least to us) that we liked so much we went back twice. The drawback is that its very close to the promenade, so that as the local Einsteins cruise the strip on their motorcycles, it can be annoying as they destroy their valves and camshafts impressing the tourists with their originality. The upside is the best food hands down on this trip, good prices, wonderful service and a great place to watch the world go by (other than the mouth-breathers).
And then... there was the trip home. To accentuate the positive, I’m alive and will be well sometime soon and at least I’m hunting and pecking on our own keyboard, all our gear is with us, and we scored emergency aisle seats again. I think that pretty much covers it .
AJ was only an hour late out of Flamingo, which is almost early for them. Theoretically we had enough time to get to Jamaica and make the connecting flight to Boston. Anyone remember the decidedly risque joke about theory and reality? We arrive at Mo Bay ½ hour late. Shoot heck. The good news is they held the flight. The bad news is we’re stopping in Philly. Okay, no biggie, we figure maybe tack on 45 minutes. Oh no, you have to clear customs in the city of brotherly love. Okay we say (like Pollyanna), we had to do it anyway, why not here rather than there? Why? Well I’ll tell you why you nitwit, this means that EVERYONE has to clear before ANYONE can pass go and collect 200 dollars. Okay, Okay, so it is conceivable that we would have been the last ones to go through customs, what’s the difference? Ah, that is before the connecting baggage conveyor won’t turn on because it’s midnight and the crackhead that controls the conveyor override can’t be found. Fast forward an hour and the bags disappear down the gullet of baggage handling. The crowd is now, to put it politely, testy. A word here on the clientele. Remember someone’s trip report of another AJ faux pas involving New Yorkers who became obnoxious when faced with adversity? I would put these passengers (who were to a person fresh from the all inclusive resorts of Jamaica) up against those NYers any day and spot them the first twenty expletives. Why they felt compelled to rail at the hapless gate agents who were unfailingly polite (do they think they are doing the WORST job they can?) instead of a coherent complaint to management is beyond me but then I did pass sandbox. But wait, it gets better.
After an uneventful flight to Boston (if you don’t count landing in a snowstorm) we deplane and trek through the bowels of the international terminal to confront a locked glass door with the AJ agents on one side and the increasingly potentially violent passengers on the other. The kicker is; No one can unlock the door and there is no way out. Remember, these people are now 5 ½ hours behind schedule, its 3:00 AM, and the largest, scariest of them are advocating the angry mob approach. 15 minutes later a couple of tough looking Massport guys get us out of there, there is another 20 minute delay for the bags, and we beat feet for home.
My point (Plea?) Is this; Can’t someone do a better job? While on the Island we looked into BonaireExel through Aruba but boy, does it look like ALM with a different logo. I have always worried about an airline that only accepts cash. Ann Phelan save us, because for the last eight years its only gotten harder to get there. Of course the memory will fade and I have had worse travel experiences but at the moment I’m not going to look farther than my own back yard to find Oz, thank you Dorothy. But I don’t intend to put anyone off, no really.
To conclude, to both of you who have gotten this far:
If you have never been, go now. Bonaire is a little slice of the old Carribean which is, for better or worse, changing more and more rapidly. We did not have, nor have we ever had, any problems with crime but then again we tend not to leave Rolexes on the dashboard of a locked vehicle. Sandy did once leave her purse on the AB counter with all her jewelry in it and guess what? It was all there when we figured out where it was an hour later. The locals are truly honest, kind decent people. Are there lowlifes? You betcha, just like everywhere else, but I think there are less in Bonaire than almost anywhere else. I know I’m preaching to the choir to the regulars but if you’re a newbie who likes to dive, snorkel, windsurf or birdwatch, check this Island out. See you next year.
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By Toby and Sandy (BonaireTalker - Post #15) on Thursday, March 24, 2005 - 6:28 pm: 
