To sum it up: we had a great time again. I'll be putting up a more detailed and photo-intensive trip report on my own webpages eventually.

Getting there: we flew Continental, Boston to Houston, then on to Bonaire. Not the most pleasant trip ever - they really jam you up in coach (we decided to save the money for other things and not go First Class). However, we got there on time, left on time, and all our luggage arrived with us on both ends, so that's what matters.

We rented a truck only for the last week so we didn't go out and about much the first. We were content to dive right out front of the Habitat, and eat at Rum Runners for most of the time.

We only ate out a few times:

We went to Pasa Bon and had a wonderful Mexican Fish Pizza - fish, jalapenos, sour cream... who (besides Joe and Lisa) wouldd ever have thought such a combination could end up so wonderfully tasty? Thank you again, Lisa and Joe!!

We went to (and LOVED) Cactus Blue - it's now our favorite place on the island. Go to Cactus Blue - you will NOT regret it!

I had the tuna sashimi; Geoffrey had the goat stew. They were both really wonderful and cooked to perfection. The tuna was incredibly delicious, pan-seared to perfection; the goat stew was wonderful, with a little southwest flavor to it to make it uniquely "Cactus Blue".

Corinna is a sweet and vivacious darling of a hostess, and the service was amazing - prompt, courteous and pleasant.

We also went to Croccantinos, and to be honest I wasn't that thrilled with the food - it seemed a bit overcooked to me. I got a shrimp special; Geoffrey the red snapper special. He liked his snapper, but we both decided we really preferred Cactus Blue. It wasn't bad - but we probably won't bother to go back.

In Rincon, we ate at Rose Inn - and also had great food there. Geoffrey had the goat and I had the chicken stew. This was after the trip through Washington Slagbaai on our last day (I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here, though) and the ice-cold beers washed the stews down perfectly. Another great meal.

We met BTers Brian and Sue and Patrick at the Habitat. Brian and Sue are a delight, and Sue won the weekly photo contest both weeks with a couple of great photos. You guys have to stop entering, let the rest of us inferior photographers have a chance at winning!!!

Patrick, it was great to meet you, big guy!


For the dives:

Mostly, in front of the Habitat. For shore diving we went to Angel City, Alice In Wonderland, Andrea II, and Hilma Hooker.

Something that was pretty distressing: particularly at Alice in Wonderland, but also at Angel City, the coral was simply not in good shape - there, but dead - and much of it was covered with a reddish algae. We think it may be caused by something the cruise ships may be dumping, but who knows? The northern dive sites had some red algae, but it wasn't like what we saw further south.

We also dove with Wildside Larry which we really enjoyed. We saw eagle rays, lots of tarpon, turtles, and even had a bit of theatre on the boat: a couple (I believe they were Dutch and from Curacao) arrived late and the woman, who had gone out with Larry before, proceeded to do everything she was told NOT to do on the boat, primarily because she gabbed through all the briefings.

This culminated with her ignoring Eddy (the divemaster in the water) when he told everyone to start their safety stop at the end of the drift dive, then zooming to the surface, where Larry ended up having to move the boat with divers in the water (and her head about 10 feet from the engine).

When we were all back on the boat Larry was livid. She sat and joked and blabbed some more while he started the second briefing, and he finally kicked her off the boat.

Her pal left with her, with them both acting like THEY were put-upon, and yelling threats at Larry (of the "ruining your business" type, not the physical type )

The second dive, at the Blue Hole, was peaceful and quite enjoyable, especially after they were off the boat. The others with us agreed that that couple were chaotic and annoying, and we all commended Larry for his actions towards them.

We met up with a couple of cowgirls from Arizona named Leslie and Lauren, and I went with them to ride with Marion, after which we visited the Donkey sanctuary.

The girls were a blast, and we all enjoyed ourselves. The horses hadn't been out in a while and were a bit wild, so the trail ride was the shortest on record going over to Lac Cai to swim. I liked Marion and the horses, but I wouldn't put a beginner on them. As it is, I had blisters on my fingers holding Palomina back: her hackamore wasn't fitted right - Paso Finos have small heads - and it really didn't do much. But I was told she had to stay behind Nicole, who was being ridden by the trail guide Charlie, who was having his own problems controlling Nicole.

The swimming in the ocean made up for it though: Palomina really loves to swim, and would turn back out into the deep water on her own every minute or so. I was grinning from ear to ear.

In the Donkey Sanctuary we visited them along the road. Every time you stopped, some would come ambling up and hang out. One of them fell in love with Lauren - he followed her all around and wouldn't let other donkey's near her - it was a hoot.

We also met up with Karen Pearson, who had been working at

Habitat was great as usual. Our room was lovely with a great view and Janice Huckaby originals on the walls. We bought some Douwe Egberts coffee and made our own in the morning, then would go to Rum Runners for the breakfast buffet: eggs (scrambled or cooked to order), pancakes, waffles, fresh fruit, yoghurt, ham, cheese - a great start to the day.

The resident kitties, especially the black and white Buddy and the pudgy small all-black one I call Chubby (not his brother who I call Floppsie, who drops and rolls onto his back everytime there's a chance for a pat) hung out with us for the duration. That may have been because I was trying to help Margaret capture a really skinny and injured all-boy feral kitty by enticing him with his own bowl of cat food - they had to have their own bowls too, of course.

We eventually trapped him, and his injured leg was cleaned up and he was "tutored" and brought back - still feral but ending up a bit more civilized by the 2-weeks end.

This is getting kind of long, so I'll put up a couple of photos now. I didn't start taking photos until September 12th, and then it took me a few days of fiddling with the settings until I liked what I got almost every shot. Geoffrey didn't even start until September 16th. The visibility was a little compromised - the coral spawning and all (none of which we photographed - Brian and Sue got some GREAT photos of it though). But the fish were extremely active and up in the water column a lot, which was great to watch.

All these were mine. I'll post Geoffrey's in another posting.

Our Steve Irwin moment:




Other random photos:

More later...

Oops... I accidentally deleted a bit.

It should have said:

...Karen Pearson had been working at the Habitat, but is now at Caribe Inn. We visited with her at her kunuku, and I reaquainted myself with her horses. It was a nice visit, and I hope to do it again next trip.

We also stopped by Chat N Browse a few times, chatted with Michael and browsed his store, buying a few things. Michael very kindly allowed me to use his phone to call my dad a couple of times - I'm in the habit of speaking with him every day and although he knew I'd not be calling him so frequently, I did want to check in. Thank you, Michael, you're a gentleman and a scholar!

Michael introduced us to Artie de Vries, who let Geoffrey rent a sunfish and take me out on it to teach me to sail. After dumping us once (it HAD been over 20 years since he'd sailed, and he hadn't gotten more agile over the years. ) and after my whimpering through the first half hour or so (a sailer I wasn't! ) I finally relaxed enough to enjoy it. Next time - and there will be a next time - I'll take a lesson with Artie and let Geoffrey go out on his own, though! :D

Thanks for sharing Susan !!! Looking forward to seeing lots of pictues on your web page. Denise

Great report and I LOVED the photo's! Glad you had a wonderful time, I'm missing Bonaire like crazy right now!

Great report and photos. It's making my PBE go a bit crazy as I leave in a little over a week!!
Be sure to post a link to your webpage pics and report when you have it finished!

Susan, loved your trip report..HUGS

More here, for now...


\image{littletrunk}





I know this one has lots of backscatter, but I like it...

Same with this one...


(Message edited by susanf on September 24, 2006)

Oops. Here's the little trunkfish:


Thanks everyone for you comments, too!

Susan - great trip report & pic's!
Thanks for posting
Looking forward to more

Thanks, Judy!
Some photos from the Donkey Sanctuary:



This guy looked like he'd had a hard time with some dogs.


One for CuteOverload.com:

These are great pictures! Thanks so much for sharing them with us.

Great pictures. It was my pleasure meeting Geoffrey and You. Glad to hear you had a great time. Now more pictures please.

great catch of the two juv spotted drums :-)

One of our boxers does the same move as the first donkey, we call it "tummy up" . Did you give the donkey a treat for its littel trick ?

Sue! Great trip report and awesome photos!!!!! You did a great job with the settings on your camera!! You had lots of great sitings too but of course in Bonaire you usually do! I love those little dice and the close up of the Eagle Ray is awesome!

Susan, what a great report and great pictures. It doesn't make me miss Bonaire at all. Not one little bit...lol! We got home this afternoon and Michael said "you want to go to a Jazz night blah blah blah October 12, I'm like yeah, where? He's like "Bonaire"...some email from Bob B. Bonaire Remax, then he proceeded to look at property for 2 hours...lol!

Your underwater pictures have gotten significantly better over the years (not that they were not good before). Love the 2 juve spotted drums...and the rays. Good for Larry in kicking the divers off the boat. If a diver is putting others including the owners at risk, they need to be booted.

I noticed the red algae as well. It was more at the dive sites in town. I know they are doing nutrient studies. I'm not sure if it's from cruise ships, but maybe from the runoff or from the waste water runoff. Pure speculation on my part, but I do know that the Marine Park is doing nutrient studies so it's being monitored...hope they find out what it is.

The donkey's are soooo cute! Can't wait to see more pictures.

Becky, can't believe you are going back so soon! You are hooked like the rest of us gal!

Awesome report and pics! Wow! Really enjoyed them all.

Susan, I was just thinking of you today and wondered when your trip was! LOL!!
Love the report and pics! Thanks so much for sharing!

Thank you all for the kind words.

I want to mention: this trip I had many zen moments with squid. I would see them and reach out towards them, and one would come to play. As a matter of fact, I believe the most "playful" one may have been inviting me to participate in a romantic interlude - it flashed a bunch of colors, then inserted it's tentacles under a coral head. It backed off, looked at me (I was hovering on the sand about 3 feet away), then repeated the process; twice. Of course, this WOULD have been the day I did NOT have my camera with me...

Just call me the Squid Whisperer!

aha! I just looked for information about it, and that squid was laying eggs. Interesting that it felt ok doing it so close to me...

Squid Whisperer, thanks for the great trip report and lovely photos! Zen dives rule, I am glad you enjoyed many

Haven seen you dive, I am not at all surprised the squid felt comfortable having you around, it is a Zen thing. Geographical divers (a.k.a. reef racers), in their hurry to see everything, don't have dive experiences like yours. Ohmmmmmmmmmmmm!!

Thanks again!

*blush* Why thankee Tom!

Geoffrey likes looking at interesting coral formations so does like to go along faster than I, searching out that cool coral architecture. I'm happy in coral rubble if there's fish behavior to watch. That's another reason why we tend to like diving in front of the Habitat - at this point it's our back yard, and I feel completely comfortable diving there solo.

I did forget to mention that we did a number of boat dives, too - mostly to Klein (Monte's Divi, Monk's Haven, Rockpile, others I can't bring to mind right now), as well as to 1000 steps and Jeff Davis. The boats had anywhere from 4 to maybe 12 people on them I think, and once in the water we just did our own things for an hour or so then came back.

Susan, great trip report and I love the pictures. Those donkey's look so cute in your pictures.

Susan and Geoffrey, great report and pictures. Be one with the critters that's a worthy goal for all of us. Nice to see you guys get back, it's been to long. Hopefully all the new internal hardware worked correctly and without pain.

Susan and Geoffrey it was great to meet you guys as well, sorry we missed you the last few days.

Don't know what to say about Sue's pictures, she was on a roll; I liked Jack's comment at the 'week in review' that "we may have created a monster" - I guess she was just in the right spot at the right time. We liked your entries too, most weeks they would have won easily.

We had a blast at Capt'n Don's and are glad that you did as well. Now where's that booking form!

Great report, Susan. Did you get any pictures of the kitties?

Linda

Cecil, yup - the ceramic on ceramics and metal on polys both performed to spec.

Brian, let me know when you and Sue book -- we'll go some other time! :D (Kidding, everyone!) We had a blast too - and Jack is right, for sure! That's very kind of you to say that about our humble photos.

Linda - not of the skinny feral one (I named him Ichabod) or Chubby - I'm not quite sure why not. I did get a couple of Buddy - here's the best one. You can't see, but he had two little black spots on his nose:

Most excellent Susan. Glad to hear it, just love those new bionics.