On Sat. Feb. 27 we flew from Chicago to Houston to begin our second trip to Bonaire. Our first trip had been so perfect, and we had read of changes on the island in the intervening three years, so we were wondering if a second visit would be a let down. Happily, it was a lovely vacation, and we look forward to returning again sometime.
One plus was that this year all our flights were on time, so we did not get stranded on route and lose a day in Jamaica, as we had on our first visit. My husband says he counted it as a plus that he got to visit a second country on that trip, but I don’t count a few hours in an all inclusive resort as a real country experience, so I was glad to give that adventure a pass this time. We have family in Houston, so we purposely planned a long layover there and got to enjoy a bike ride in the woods and a great crawfish dinner before boarding the red eye to Bonaire in Houston. Our plane was not very full, so we got to stretch out on a row of seats (or, in my husband’s case, the floor in front of a row). Another piece of good luck, we were able to get into our room at the Bellafonte Chateau de la Mer as soon as we arrived and take a much needed nap. We had to force ourselves to get up after a couple of hours, but once we started our activities, we perked up and were able to adjust to the time change and make the most of our first day on the island. Ellen and Robert on the Bellafonte staff we very helpful to us. We were excited to learn that Maike, a former staffer we had met on our first trip and spoken to a few months ago on the phone, had just had a baby.
This is the second time we have stayed in a studio at the Bellafonte, and I think they’re a good value. We had a refrigerator and microwave and basic dishes and kitchen equipment, so we were able to eat some meals in. The Bellafonte is attractive and well maintained, and the ladder into the ocean off their fine deck had been rebuilt since our last visit. One can now walk right into the water, no jumping off required, and the ladder is a convenient place to sit and try out new equipment. With advice from Bonairetalk.com posters, we had purchased wet suits for this visit. They were a great investment and much easier to get in and out of than the old fashioned kind we had worn for our night snorkel on our past visit. I don’t think we could have spent nearly as much time in the water if we hadn’t invested in the suits. We wore them everyday on every snorkel. They kept us from overdoing the sun exposure, from feeling the small stingy things one encounters in the water, and, of course, they kept us nice and warm. We night snorkeled on this trip, too, and were warmer than we had been with the wetsuits we had rented on our last visit. The ones we purchased were 3mm, (extra stretchy) Aqualungs.
Re snorkeling, we snorkeled at Klein Bonaire from the Woodwind, in back of the Bellafonte and a fair ways south of there, at Windsock, at the yellow building with the graffiti that is south of Windsock and from there to the Plaza Resort, at Torri’s Reef, at Angel City, at Jeff Davis, Andrea I and II, Bari Reef (night snorkel), Cliff, Wayaka, and Slagbai.
The Woodwind was, of course, a pleasure. I think it’s a great thing to schedule early in one’s trip. It’s so relaxing to be on the sailboat and Dee and Breno pointed out so much that we might have missed on our own. We saw several turtles and an octopus on that trip. To celebrate our first day waking up on the island we had breakfast at the Divi Flamingo. We could see the Captain (Mark?) readying the Woodwind while we enjoyed the breakfast buffet.
I would also particularly recommend snorkeling from the yellow grafitied building to the Plaza. Bring money and enjoy a smoothie at the Coconut Crash Bar before your return snorkel. We saw a couple of sea turtles on that snorkel, a green one and a hawksbill. We were amazed at how close the turtles came to us when they came up for air. It seemed like one would have bumped into my chest if I hadn’t moved out of the way. We saw tarpin there, too. We saw a gorgeous eagle ray, some squid, and an octopus either on that snorkel or at Windsock, the memories are already starting to blur. And we saw a regular stingray, I think at Windsock. We were able to spot lots of flounder on our snorkels, too, but I’m forgetting where.
We loved the huge parrot fish at Wayaka. I wish I could go back in time to see that area before so much of the coral was killed. You can see from the structures remaining how amazing it must have been. It’s a nice shallow snorkel with lots of fish. Andrea I and II were particularly good the first time we snorkeled there. We were surprised, since that’s such a protected area, to feel more of a current the second time, and we were unable to find the friendly sea turtle we’d seen there earlier in the week.
We had a guide from Bonaire Dive and Adventure for our night snorkel. I think his name was Mark, and he was excellent. We enjoyed the tube anemones, the phosphorescent orange stuff that grows on the pier (I’m blanking on the name), and the phosphorescent bacteria you can activate at night. We also saw tarpin, a lobster, an octopus and lots of the normal, wonderful fish.
We also did a birding outing with Jerry Lignon (sp?), who now works out of Bonaire Dive and Adventure. We had done this also on our first trip to Bonaire. Jerry is such a consummate naturalist. An outing of some kind with him is a must to really experience Bonaire.
New activities this year were opportunities to be with folks we’ve met on Bonairetalk. Pat and Mary Murphy really went out of their way for us, and it made the trip more interesting to get to know them and a number of the other Bonairetalk folks. (I’m not mentioning anyone else by name, because I know some folks like to be more anonymous, but we appreciated how warm and welcoming you all were.) I hope you all had fun on the Woodwind on March 7. I was jealous that we were on the airplane heading home while you were sailing and snorkeling.
Monday night we went to the free rum punch party at Rum Runners. A couple offered us the two extra chairs at their table and told us wonderful stories of their experiences on Bonaire and elsewhere. I know they want to remain anonymous, but I want to thank them for their wonderful conversation. Folks on Bonaire are so friendly and interesting. Meeting them made this second trip as interesting in its own way as our first exciting experience on the island was.
Sunday night we attempted to go to the local island party held weekly at Lac Cai. Sadly, we didn’t realize that the party finishes up before sundown (I guess folks don’t want to be driving the interesting road out there in the dark). We got there just as the last folks were packing up. We did hear a small bit of local music being played by some folks and the sound of conch shells being blown by some boys. It was interesting to see the Cai, itself, but we didn’t really get a feel for what the party would have been like in full swing. We were pretty hungry when we left, as we had been hoping to buy dinner there. But happily, we found Cappricios on our way back, and were able to have dinner there. We had heard about it on Bonairetalk both before this visit and our prior one, but hadn’t gotten there before. I had their pasta and funghi (mushrooms) and was in food heaven. We actually had such a good meal that we went back a second time during the week. We had fun talking with the owner and if I understood her correctly, I believe she had worked for Wolfgang Puck at one time.
Saturday we went into Rincon for the local market. Our visitor’s guide said it ran from 6 am until 2 pm. We went at about 9:30 and got some yummy empanadas for breakfast. The booths were just being set up, and one had a sign saying barbecue until 10 pm, so I think this time we were really too early for the party. Maybe on our next visit to Bonaire we can catch these events at the right time.
Another favorite eating place on this trip was Eli’s Delli. I had read about it on Bonairetalk. The owner was very happy to hear that. She was incredibly sweet. We wish her and her family continued success with Eli’s. I liked the bread so much I asked the owner if we could buy it on the island. (I think she sells some, but there was only one loaf in the for sale basket when we were there.) I believe she said it was Delli France and available at the Warehouse. She gets hers shipped in in frozen dough form and bakes it up every hour.
We also ate a nice dinner at Unbelievables. The service there was very friendly and attentive and the roof patio is a great place to eat and relax. We did not need a reservation. In fact, we never made a dinner reservation on the island. It seemed to us that high season is not as high as it might be due to the economy.
Saturday night we joined the Bonairetalk folks at Bobby Jean’s. The barbecue was yummy, as reported. I was paranoid about mosquitos or no-seeums because I had read that they could be a problem there. I used repellant, wore long pants and a light weight long sleeved shirt and I don’t think I got one insect bite there. In fact, the only time I think I had trouble with bugs was in the national park. Repellant there did not seem to be complete protection, though I don’t think I ever got bitten where I was clothed, so next time I’d just cover up more.
Reading the posts on Bonairetalk before our trip, we had been somewhat concerned that crime might be more of a problem now than on our first visit. We had no trouble at any of the snorkel sites. There were people coming and going and we did not feel isolated. We had pleasant interactions with most everyone we met on Bonaire, and folks tried to be helpful (even when we went the wrong way down a couple of one way streets, we got gentle pointers, no honking or yelling; yes, we do seem to have trouble paying attention to all the appropriate signs, sorry). We did have one minor misfortune. Gas was siphoned from our car one night. There was enough left for us to get to the gas station the next morning, so it was a minor inconvenience. We realized that Bonaire is so small, that you really don’t use much gas. I think we could have done our entire week of driving, including the one trip through the national park (short route), on about 3/4s of a tank of gas, so I think on future trips, we might not automatically fill the tank all the way up when we get gas.
It’s been fun typing this up and reliving the trip. When I see Bonaire in my head, I see pink and turquoise. When we arrived home, we were lucky that temperatures were in the 40s and we could see some green, but the Chicago world seems grey and brown and dark green, quite a palette contrast from Bonaire’a bright pastels. We did not take a camera on this trip, so we can share only these word pictures.
Anyway, I want to thank the Bonairetalkfolks again for helpful advice before the trip and friendship on the island. Traveling is so much more fun when you’re interacting with new people as well as new places. Hope to see you all again.
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By Jan (BonaireTalker - Post #44) on Thursday, March 11, 2010 - 8:48 pm: 
Wayaka is our favorite snorkeling spot and we save it for our last day when we cannot dive. The Midnight Parrotfish are just awesome to watch and swim with! I am so glad you met up with other BTers and especially Pat and Mary! Your trip report has me dreaming of 16 days from now when we will be in the warmth of Bonaire....