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Trip Reports: My on island report
Bonaire Talk: Trip Reports: Archives: Archives 2006-2008: Archives - 2006-08-31 to 2006-12-31: My on island report
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Becky (Don't hate me cuz I'm in Bon) (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #840) on Wednesday, October 4, 2006 - 2:59 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi all,
Got in yesterday with a little help from my friend Tribs:-) She was gracious enough to get up at 3am (also known as the butt crack of dawn) to get me to O'hare. I flew ORD-MIA-CUR on AA with no trouble, then Divi Divi to Bon.

It got interesting at the Divi check in desk. I "thought" I was on the 5pm flight... nope - I'm on the 3:30. Glad I went right to the desk to check in!

So, I'm getting to Bon 90 minutes earlier than anticipated, so my meet and greet from the Golden Reef didn't know, Jane and Alex who were meeting me with ice cold brights didn't know... and I didn't have a cell phone or any phone numbers to call. Oh well, time to sit and relax and get on "island time".

Had a great dinner with Jane, Alex, Susan, Lisa, and Melody on Jane's porch (with that wonderful view:-)) and hit the hay early due to the many hours of travel.

This morning Susan Porter and I did a few nutrient collections dives for STINAPA - enlightening! It was so cool learning about what they are researching.

Susan gave me the "royal tour" of the island by back roads - I'll never find anywhere she took me again, LOL! I swear though, I was trying to pay attention!

This afternoon (in ~30 minutes) we are heading back out to test out new camera housings (dry run...don't want to ruin my new camera).

That's all for now... I'll try to report daily, but no guarantees:-) Lots of dives to try to do!
Cheers!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mare (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1530) on Wednesday, October 4, 2006 - 4:00 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Well, try as I might, I DO hate you because you are in Bonaire!!!!
Oops, was that was my inside voice being heard again! Sorry about that.

Glad you made it and glad that you are having a wonderful time.
Please fill your pockets full of sunshine for all of us.

Mare

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Debbie Babcock (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #4411) on Wednesday, October 4, 2006 - 4:25 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi Becky! Glad to hear you made it safe and sound and even a little earlier! I am so jealous of you right now, you have no idea, but it will be my turn soon... Is it November yet????? :-)

Have a great time and take lots of pictures for us on the other side!!!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tom (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3557) on Wednesday, October 4, 2006 - 4:28 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Becky, I can't hate you for being where most of us want to be:-) I am happy your flights worked out for the better too:-)

I look forward to reading all about the great times you are having and seeing the photo evidence too. Enjoy!!

Mare, does Jessica play nice when she is on Bonaire?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mara Mara on the wall (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #811) on Wednesday, October 4, 2006 - 4:37 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Becky - you just have a great time. Don't worry that some of us are stuck here...reading over RFP's...and TRYING not to read BT too much. Enjoy the diving, friends, food and sunshine.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mare (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1531) on Wednesday, October 4, 2006 - 4:58 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

TomBeau,
Jessica is not allowed on Bonaire. That's one of the conditions I must meet when we go.

tee hee,
Mare

P.S. Jessica says that you're just jealous because you can't hear the voices in her head.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By David Johnson (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #224) on Wednesday, October 4, 2006 - 10:33 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Becky:

I can relate. I just got to Bonaire tonight -- and that was with everything going fine.

Time from leaving my house to walking into my hotel: 21.5 hours.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tom (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #1) on Wednesday, October 4, 2006 - 11:20 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi,

I'm new to the board and getting antsy for my first visit to Bonaire in early December! Can someone fill me in on what "STINAPA" is? My wife and I are a couple of biologists and something that might let us combine our love of diving with our inner "biology nerd" instincts sounds like fun! Maybe we can help out?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mare (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1532) on Thursday, October 5, 2006 - 8:11 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi Tom,

Welcome to Bonaire Talk!

I googled STINAPA and here is their website:

http://www.stinapa.org/

Mare, the critter nerd

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cecil (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5105) on Thursday, October 5, 2006 - 8:19 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Welcome Tom, STINAPA is the Marine Park umbrella group which controls and enforces the park regulations. Set up back in the 70's as one of the first Marine Parks in the Caribbean.

All that is from memory, now I'll look it up and see if I should up the Alzheimer's meds. Here's a link to their page.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mara Mara on the wall (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #816) on Thursday, October 5, 2006 - 8:53 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Tom - welcome to BT and welcome to Bonaire. I hope that you find Bonaire the kind of place that you can't wait to return to.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By DARLENE ELLIS (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #2250) on Thursday, October 5, 2006 - 10:43 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Becky, Glad to hear all your flights went fine. Enjoy your time in paradise!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tribs Loves Bonaire (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3380) on Thursday, October 5, 2006 - 10:51 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Glad your trip is going well. Have a great birthday celebration!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Becky (Don't hate me cuz I'm in Bon) (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #841) on Thursday, October 5, 2006 - 10:55 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

OK,
Today's partial installment:

Dinner last night, Wil's Tropical Grill - Caesar salad, Tuna, and the best dessert I've ever had - a chocolate chip cookie thingie... sort of like a "box" for those of you who've ordered the "box" before... had a spoon full of melted chocolate, a tall shot glass of milk, a small dish of icecream and a piping hot still gooey chocolate chip cookie. Mmmmmmmmm.:-):-)

This morning's dive was Salt City - great vis, tried out the new camera. Got a few passable shots. Saw the biggest cuda ever and my first chain moray.

Off for more island fun...

David - where are you staying??

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By seb (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #2940) on Thursday, October 5, 2006 - 12:56 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Tom check out reef.org for other ID nerds; they have a presence on island as well.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Judy Traff (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #2297) on Thursday, October 5, 2006 - 3:01 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Becky - glad all went well getting to Bonaire :-)
Hope you're enjoying your B-Day today
Thanks for checking in
Sounds like you've already had some good dives & great dinner/dessert!

Tom - A Big Welcome to BT

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By David Johnson (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #225) on Thursday, October 5, 2006 - 5:00 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Becky:

I am at the Carib Inn. I also sent you an email. Well, off for my first dive...

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tom (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #2) on Thursday, October 5, 2006 - 5:44 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks for the tips everybody! What a nice welcome :-)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mare (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1534) on Thursday, October 5, 2006 - 7:58 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi Tom,
A resource I forgot to mention:
Caren Eckrich, who lives on Bonaire and has a masters in marine biology. Her website is
http://www.bonairenature.com/seandiscover/

Mare

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mercy Baron (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #261) on Friday, October 6, 2006 - 2:54 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hey Tom welcome to BT. I'm an archaeologist and am going to be on Bon also in Dec. Check out the thread on Everything Else Bonaire for the Dec/Jan thread. Add yourself to the list and if you want..you might have more friends to hang out with on Bon then you want! Go to Gibi's any Tuesday night and meet many of us BT'ers.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Roy Wickham (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1145) on Friday, October 6, 2006 - 12:51 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi Becky, nice to see you having a great time :-) I like these "on island reports" :-)

are you going to make an appearance on the WindsurfCam ? :-) :-)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Becky (Don't hate me cuz I'm in Bon) (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #843) on Saturday, October 7, 2006 - 10:57 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi Roy... not sure I'll make it to the windsurf cam :-(

So back to the report:

Thursday night was to Casablanca's for steak with mushroom sauce (yummy).
Friday did a few dives - Ole Blue (waves were pretty kicking!) and Bachelor's Beach. Did Bobbiejans for dinner - now I know what all that fuss is about. The food is awesome and resonably priced!

This morning we dove in front of Yellow Sub. I saw not 1 but 3 juve french angels (and got pictures to prove it!). Also saw a little dice:-) and a great cowfish.

Not sure what the rest of the day holds... I never plan too much in advance - I'm on holiday:-)

Cheers, and stay tuned!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tribs, RD (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3389) on Monday, October 9, 2006 - 6:20 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hey there Becky! I sure do wish I was with you on this trip. Sounds like you are having a blast. Keep the report coming for those of us stuck at home diving in 63 degree water. Yuck!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Becky (sadly leaving Bon) Hauser (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #846) on Tuesday, October 10, 2006 - 9:09 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Sadly, my plane leaves in a little under 3 hours. (Divi to Curacao, then a 3 hour layover until Cur-Miami).

I dove some great, mostly unmarked sites, got some great pictures (I hope) on my first underwater photo foray (at least some of them look good in the little LCD screen:-)

I had great food at Wil's (twice), Casablanca, Lost Penguin (which is sadly changing owners the end of the month!!!), Pasa Bon, and Bobbijans (twice - I liked it so much I got take out). All are highly recommended.

The winds were high, regatta was on (I don't think I'll come at regatta time again - too hectic for my taste), the diving was great, and the company I kept was awesome.

Unfortunately, I have no idea when the next trip will be... so luckily I shot over 350 pictures (thank God for digital, :-)) to help keep PBD at bay!

Signing off!

PS: there will be a trip report in pictures!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Debbie Babcock (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #4432) on Tuesday, October 10, 2006 - 9:34 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi Becky! Can't wait for your trip report! I heard about Lost Penquin, sad news indeed, do you what type of food the new owners are going to serve there? Curious, as I will be there in November.

Regatta is one time of year I try to avoid myself. Fun time, but sure busy.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tribs, RD (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3399) on Tuesday, October 10, 2006 - 11:59 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

NOOOOOO!!!!! Not the Lost Penguin! ARGHH*^(@%!%!$) Bummer. :-(

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cecil (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5123) on Tuesday, October 10, 2006 - 12:35 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

This is not good getting distressing news the day before we leave. The polyanna in me says, at least we can still eat at the Lost Penguin while Renota and Ton are still there. What are Renota and Ton going to do? Jeeze, am I going to miss those two. I fear they are moving on.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Vince DePietro (Bellevue Condos # 9) (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #473) on Tuesday, October 10, 2006 - 6:02 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Whoever the new owners at Lost Penquin are, I sincerely hope they use the same recipe for the eggs benedict. Don't change a thing!! Last time I heard the cook whisking up the hollandaise sauce right before he served it to us. Wonderful..This will be the standard we judge them by.

 


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