My husband, Reid, and I went to Bonaire on 4/15 and stayed for a week. Wow! What a place! I think it was my favorite destination ever. We especially appreciated this trip because I am pregnant with our first child, so it was kind of our "last hurrah." I mean, I'm sure there will be other vacations, but not quite the same. After reading much on these boards about accommodations, I finally booked us a place at Bonaire Town Homes, and it was great. Very private and quiet. Benny is indeed a super-nice person and very considerate. It was a great choice, and the kitchen was well-stocked. We especially enjoyed the on-site iguanas and whiptail lizards. I am a huge lizard fan, and had a very special pet iguana for 14 years that just passed away last summer, so it was fun seeing them scampering around in their natural habitat.

I had done a lot of research on Bonaire, so I kind of knew what to expect, but Reid didn't. (I mean, I told him, but much of what I say unfortunately goes in one ear and out the other!) He especially didn't think the snorkeling would be as cool as it was. I can't even imagine how spectacular it must have been before Lenny. All my life I've wanted to go snorkeling (well, diving too, but not while pregnant). I mean, really snorkeling, not just in Florida where you're lucky if you can see your feet in 2' of water. Reid was definitely game to go snorkeling, but not nearly as excited as I was. But after we did it once, he was just as excited about it as I was and we went snorkeling every day.

We started out at the Pink Beach snorkel site and were blown away. But jeez, all the sites after that really blew us away even more. It seems to me that the sites in the north are better, or were not hit as hard by Lenny and have more living coral and sponges. The other sites we visited were Salt City, North Belnem, Cliff, Andrea 1, 1000 Steps, Ol' Blue and Karpata. Karpata was definitely our favorite and we went there 3 times. Not only was the sea life great, but the entry was easy. We never saw any turtles or rays at any of the sites, but we saw hundreds of kinds of fish and lots of squid. Along with the "regulars" like parrotfish, angelfish and grunts, we saw a flounder and 2 barracuda, and lots of trumpetfish. My favorite were the French angelfish, giant blue parrotfish and giant rainbow parrotfish. Andrea I, Ol' Blue and 1000 steps were great too. I think the highlight was swimming with huge schools of what I think were surgeon fish.

Other than snorkeling, we had fun laying out at Pink Beach and visiting the east side of the island where we watched the waves crash on the rocks. I read an article in Diver magazine that featured a story on diving on the east side of Bonaire. That's craziness! The National Park was really cool too, and the donkey sanctuary. We saw the cutest 2 week old donkey! We also went into town a lot and got ice cream after we cooked dinner. It was fun seeing the nightlife. People are unbelievably friendly in Bonaire. The only other Carribean island we've been to is Grenada, which was great, too, but in different ways. Bonaire is a lot more laid back and the population is much smaller even though the islands are about the same size. It amazed me how desert-like Bonaire is, when it's in such close proximity to Grenada which is so lush and tropical, as is Venezuela, I would imagine, since they grow so much fruit there. Weird... Anyway, I guess that about sums it up. We can't wait to go back!

I scanned a few pictures (jpeg format) I wanted to include, but I can't figure out how to paste them in. I figured it'd be a no-brainer. Any tips?

Renee, It is wonderful that you had a great time before the baby is borne Congratulations by the way!!.. I am sure you will return again to see the wonders of Bonaire..In order to post pictures they must be less than 50 mg so you might need to resize some of them.. if you go down to the bottom of this page you will see a formatting icon click on this and read all about it..if you still need help just yell and I am sure someone will hear you..
Freddie

Hi Renee,

Nice report. We'd love to see your pictures. If you have reduced them to under 50K and about 600 pixels wide, you just type in your message:

\image{anything}

then when the preview comes it shows this placeholder:



then post again, and then browse to the file of the picture, and then upload.

That should do it.

Sorry typo ;0 Nicki is right 50K

oops sorry NIKI!! fingers not working tonight!!

Renee, what can I say, you have caught the fever, best to all three of you.

Thanks for the formatting tips. Maybe I'm a little slow. I figured out how to get the "Your Image Here" box, but how do I get my pics in there? I mean, upload? I don't get any browse option. I tried everything on my right mouse button menu bar. I know where they are on my hard drive.

Thanks!

Testing....

Okay, I figured it out.. You have to hit post twice before you get the browse screen. The first photo I tried was too big, so I'll have to resize. May have to re-scan and the scanner is at work.

Testing #2

Okay, starting to feel a little bit like a loser here...

Oh boy! It worked! With any luck, here's 3 more...

Congratulations Renee! Nice shots. Keep 'em coming!

Welcome aboard, Renee, hubby and little one. So glad to hear you have fallen in love with Bonaire and her waters and her people and critters. It is such a wonderful place to be. You will definitely have to return when the little one can hit the waters with you! Carole

PS Great work on posting the pics so well! cb

Beautiful, Renee. Waving seafans and tangs in a cluster... so evocative. Glad you had a great time.

Only 21 more days to wait... :-)

Wooow! Beautiful!

Wonderful Pictures Renee Thanx for sharing !!

Hi Renee, I LOVE the picture above of the shore and ocean....very beautiful. That's exactly what I needed to see first thing on a Saturday morning!

14 days to wait for us!!!!

Renee,
Glad to hear that you loved Bonaire! Nice pictures too and good job at getting them posted too!I have been on BT for quite some time now and I still have a hard time with that sizing thing. Just think...the next time you go to Bonaire there will be three of you!! Best Wishes!!!

Hi, Niki! We shall see you and Bob and MB airport. Jim and Lorraine Meadows will be there, too! A reunion of sorts! Can't wait to just "be there". Carole