at: http://picasaweb.google.com/djf3360/Bonaire2009?authkey=bQD6TpjHXF4&feat=directlink

wow great shots -

very nice - thanks for sharing.
And, I enjoyed the soothing sound of bubbles in your video :-)

Great photos. Love the octopus and ray pics. Great find on the froggie and the scorpion fish. Thanks for sharing.

Very nice indeed my friend. Where are the fireworks shots that Sarah set up on the balcony?

David, wonderful pics as usual. Really enjoyed viewing them, the vidio was nice too. Now, I can't wait till next week-end!

WOW!!!!! Three weeks and counting!!!!!

David

Nice shots. I assume you shot orange ball corallomorph at night? I've seen one in my life and got a good shot. Unfortunately I have never managed as good of a shot as you got of an octopus.

Great photos, enjoyed them very much. Great variety of macro and wide shots. Thanks much for sharing them.

Thanks to all for the compliments!

I can take no credit for locating the frogfish. Our guide, Sipke, found those. I did find the coralomorph (at night, Something Special).

Jim, I will ask Sarah to post the fireworks pictures.

John, that octopus was just hanging out on top of a coral head at Belmar. This was the second year in a row we did "one last dive" early AM the day before departure and found an octopus modeling for us. Just sat there in the open, let us shoot away to our heart's content.

Debbie, have a great trip!

-David

How was the mangrove snorkeling. Is this something you need a guide for?

We loved the mangrove kayak trip (snorkeling is only a small part of it). The mangrove center on the road out to Lac Cai runs trips as do others. We did the trip from the center last year and enjoyed it but wanted to go alone this year figuring we'd see more. By alone I mean with a private guide. We hired Hans of Outdoor Bonaire, who was great. We saw much more bird life and had a more enjoyable trip but it cost considerably more. Don't know if a guide is required though I suspect yes as this is a protected wetlands area, but you NEED one to see this area or you will get well and truly lost. You will pass through narrow tunnels in the mangroves where you will barely fit and need to pull yourself hand over hand. It is a maze. It is extremely worthwhile. The mangrove center's trip is great, but I think up to 16 people. Hans takes a max of 8.

David - You've obviously built up some good karma over the years as a physician. We typically do a morning dive the day before we leave and it is generally uneventful.

Some super shots! Thanks for including the birds, too. Don't think I've seen a crane there before. Do you know what kind of gecko that was? One exactly like it jumped out of the bubble wrap from a ceramic figure I brought home from Oaxaca, MX, last October. I got frustrated trying to keep enough flightless fruitflies alive to feed it, so I gave it to a Petco employee who had a bunch of geckos, but I never ID'd it.

Thanks, Dave! I think we will do a mangrove kayak trip this year, haven't done one yet, been out that way, but ran out of time last trip.

Susan,

The white bird is a Snowy Egret. There are lots of migratory birds on Bonaire. We saw many egrets, a Green Heron, Great Blue Herons, and were told where we could see Reddish Egrets but did not get there. The mangrove trip is great for bird life, but need to go early AM and with a quiet group. We went at 7:30 with 3 people plus guide. Go at 9:30 with 16 PP and you'll have a nice trip but won't see anything that spooks easily!

As for the Gecko, dunno. He was muttering something about car insurance though.

Debbie, definitely do the kayak trip. There is lots to see above the air-water interface on Bonaire. We have so focused on diving and snorkeling that we never made it to Gotomeer until last year. We were actually trying to drive up to Taylor Made/Candyland and turned too soon! We went back twice just to take pictures.

David

John,

It's my daughter who always finds the octopuses, her karma not mine!

David..thanks for your comments. The mangrove trip is also on our list of things to do which for some reason we've never had (or reserved) the time to do. Between the diving, shopping & relaxing in the sun, just leaves little time for other activities. Yes life can be hard..LOL
Debbie, if you take the trip please post comments.

That silly gecko ought to wear a suit & a tie to work. He must know the sage of Omaha personally to work in the buff!

Re: birding...Everyone should try to make the bumpy drive through Washington Slagbaai N.P. at least once. There are nice places to get out and walk, see petroglyphs, and spot some of the less common birds. We only saw a caracara once in five trips to Bonaire, but it was right in the middle of the road. www.bonairebirds.com has good info.

wow
es

Ditto what es said.
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