OK, here is my first trip report (ever) on our first Bonaire trip, surely not to be our last!

BOOKING: We booked air travel and car rental (Budget, Toyota truck) through Sand Dollar, since that's where we stayed, and while it made many things easier and we likely got better plane fares, I would try to book through another agency or on our own next time, in hopes of checking out Air Jamaica or just getting better timing on AA & ALM.

TRAVEL: We flew AA from Denver to Miami, spent the night there, and left late morning of the 22nd on ALM, MIA to Curacao to Bonaire. All went quite well, but we had an interminable almost 4 hour layover in Curacao, which was planned, not accidental. :-{ We arrived with all our luggage on time!

Now, the return was a little less easy mainly due to 2 bouts of turbulence from Miami to Denver. We did have a brief delay in Curacao, but with plenty of time in Miami for layover, no problems were created. As for the 15 mins. of very bumpy ride descending into Denver, I'll say 1 thing: the AA lunch of 4-cheese pizza didn't help and I know for a fact that my son and I were not the only ones to leave our lunches back on the plane. Now I can LOL. :o) (A dearth of little white bags in the seat pockets meant creative sharing - OK you've probably all had enough of this conversation!)

ACCOMODATION/SAND DOLLAR CONDOS:
We were very happy with the Sand Dollar condos. Mostly very friendly and very helpful staff. Roomy, air conditioning in bedrooms, ceiling fans, open porch. We were not as close to the waterfront as I had imagined, but we did face in that direction, and it was a very short stroll to watch the sunset, get to the "beach" access, etc. Clean beach towels daily, and cleaning service, as well. Cable TV, kitchen - all we needed. (NO PHONES IN CONDOS - had to go to front office to use their phones, but that was fine.) The grounds are not as pretty as at The Plaza, Harbour Village, or even Buddy Dive next door, but they are nice and will grow in. Several of the owner occupied condos looked very nicely landscaped, with bougainvillea all around their back porches (many of those screened in), and I would definitely consider talking to the Zale's about renting from them if we decide to return to Sand Dollar. We saw huge tarpon from SD waterfront viewing, and enjoyed snorkelling in front of the dive shop there a couple of times (more on that later). Convenience grocery store and bank and Lovers Ice Cream being right there were great, though we did majority of food shopping at Cultimara (would look for Warehouse next time and try to find fresh fish to cook).

EATING: Cultimara for groceries and brought a few items from home, so had a few meals in and the rest out. RESTAURANTS: ate at DOCK OF THE BAY at Buddy Dive. They had good food, great wait staff, was very timely with all meals, and the location on the water w/proximity to Sand Dollar was great for us. CHIBI CHIBI at Divi Flamingo was soooo slow with service that it was hard to enjoy the food, which was good. All the wait staff walked very fast, but ignored us at first, was slow to deliver, and then messed up drink and dessert orders. IT RAINS FISHES was great all around - that fish in mustard sauce, mmm mm! MAIKY SNACK for Kabritu (goat stew w/rice and potatoes and veggies) was great (rural, hard to find location, and table needed a good wipe down, but very friendly with very tasty local food). We needed to ask directions 4 times total to finally get there, and the last was a charm - the young guy got off his back yard bench swing where hanging with a friend and got pen and paper to write a map (no street names written!), which got us there. New restaurant at SAND DOLLAR, by pool, was very good!We ate there our last 2 nights. Delicious shrimp in garlic sauce, fish in garlic and butter and white wine, BIG hamburgers, yummy french style green beans w/entrees, and big house salads. Not all items on menu were available yet, as they had opened 3 days before we left. It will be a sports bar, but TVs not in yet, so really nice and quiet for us. :-} Luigi - the chef - puts a nice Italian spin on some of the items. DE TUIN was a favorite for all of us, for atmosphere, food service. DEN LAMAN was good, but we only tried the BBQ buffet night, and no one ordered fish. BBQ was good. Wanted to try Richard's and Mi Poron, but just didn't get to them this trip.... :o(

SNORKELLING, etc.: Sailed 2 afternoons with Karen on Oscarina (loved that pumpkin soup & banana bread!)along w/ Cindy and Beth (snorkel guide), 1st to ANDREA II, 2nd to NEAREST POINT(?) or right by there at Klein. The one at Klein was a marvel for the coral and fish (several black durgon) and saw a turtle (at surface after return to boat). Water was pretty rough out there, as afternoon winds really picked up the last few days. (We had a sailing adventure returning to big Bonaire, which Karen and crew handled beautifully). At SAND DOLLAR coral beds saw eels (golden spotted eel & spotted moray).Easy entry. At a pier (unmarked site) around the Santa Barbara section of town we saw an enormous parrotfish (midnight?), and other gorgeous large fish we hadn't seen elsewhere. OL' BLUE was also very nice for coral and eels, and purple anemones, but visibility a little less than other spots due to rough water, and entry not so easy that day.

Windsurfing at Sorobon was good and hard for my husband, and our son took a lesson - hard for a beginner (that afternoon wind!).

Birding/Nature hike with Jerry Ligon through Sand Dollar Dive Shop was great, only no parrot sightings (tho' he had seen them in this one valley/canyon several times over the previous 2 weeks). Saw orioles (Troupials - many in Rincon!), parakeets galore, flamingos, iguanas, goat and donkeys. Jerry has a wealth of natural and local history to offer. Gotameer is the place to see the flamingos closer up, and I drove w/my family along that way & over to Rincon one afternoon -Prisca's was closed. :o{ The island is raw, scrubby, and beautiful - esp. when you look in the unsettled areas!

Our son did the Aqua Kids program with Annet, who was strong and great with a lot of kids that week.
He enjoyed it very much.

We met Jake & Linda Richter (perhaps earning an unwanted reputation as cookie fiends - but they deserve every cookie offering and more!), and briefly Michael Gaynor. Great to meet some expats! All in all, Bonaire is a VERY special place with many friendly people. One week is not enough! We hope to return before too too long.

Great report Nancy - another Denverite! We head down in 27 days (yes I'm counting:-)) Thanks for the info on restaurants especially the new restaurant at Sand$$. We booked our 2nd week there using Alan & Joan's condo. We are truly looking forward to that. Glad you enjoyed your 1st trip to Bonaire.

Very glad it was a good time. Now you can take your place on the boards with fresh information and new impressions. You did work hard, but things change on-the-ground. Of course Mom had no probs with my bros and I, we were perfect children.(lol). My Dad alternated between threats of bodily harm and pretending he didn't know us. Welcome back. Deepbreath. Now you can plan next years along with all of us.

Welcome back, Nancy. Glad all your prior-planning worked for you! Take Kerri seriously about planning along with all of us - were are starting a revolution.

I love hearing of first impressions of the island, welcome aboard ! Masha danki!

Nice trip report. Glad you had a great time. Can you provide any more info about the new restaurant at Sand Dollar? We're really excited about its opening.

Hi again. Well, you all are kind about your "welcome backs" and the quality of my trip report. My husband was rushing me to vacate his computer, as it took me longer to write that report than I had imagined (OK, the Venus Williams / Jennifer Capriati match on TV distracted me for awhile...), so I may have left out a deatil or 2 I wanted to include (like names of some of those fish we saw at the pier in Santa Barbara area : 1 or 2 Rock Beauties, a pair of French Angelfish (do they usually travel in pairs?), Blue Tang, Surgeonfish, and I think the Midnight Parrotfish). His internet connection is so much faster than mine :-), but he works at home now (new development), so I have to wait for my new laptop and my very own cable connection before I can catch up to him.

Alan & Joan - I will post more info. about the new restaurant at Sand $ on the dining thread. Here are ??s for the 2 of you: Where in the Sand $ complex is your place? Do you all have a phone line there? How does it work if someone wants to rent through you all? You can e-mail me back personally if you prefer, rather than posting answers to my ??s here. Thanks

Believe me, I am already in the earliest stages of planning a return, and thinking of which friends and family to invite to join us - some would probably like it more than others, but I tell everyone who asks that it's rough terrain, raw beauty, gentle pace, good people, good food, and
lower tourist turn-out than other Caribbean islands, is what drew us there and what I loved about it!

I din't even mention that my son really enjoyed sailing with Karen and crew on Oscarina, and became much more comfortable with snorkelling as he accrued time in the ocean, got used to both shore and boat entries, learned techniques, and facts about the marine life he saw, from Annet.

And my husband, Max, took his first resort dive course for his first scuba experience at Sand $, then declared he understood how people become addicted to scuba diving (he now considers going for certification!).

OK, now I'm closer to done with this report. COL
(chuckle out loud).

Nancy, although I'm not YET a diver, I'm anxious to be, but my husband, Alan, isn't. However, I'm hoping I can entice him to do a resort course with me on our next trip, and then I figure he'll get hooked too.... Please concentrate on that for me, will you all? Just see Alan out there in his BC, and visualize us both at the reefcam!!