Interesting Discoveries in Bonaire

Bonaire was our "home away from home" for the month of November. It was nice to settle into one place after hopping around to new anchorages every few days. Surprised by the semi-desert landscape, we enjoyed driving around the small island that's home to towering cacti and iguana, among other interesting animals found wandering the back roads like donkeys, goats and sheep.

Bonaire is better known for its world class scuba diving, snorkeling and wind surfing, and has legally protected its marine environment since 1979. No anchoring is allowed; only moorings for visiting sailboats. The pace is slow and the people are very friendly. The average temperature is a lovely 82 degrees with sunny skies year round. Needless to say, we had a very good stay in Bonaire!

Now for some interesting photos and facts about this beautiful island:

Saint Nicholas comes early in Bonaire, bringing gifts on the night of December 4th. According to Dutch tradition, good children fill their shoes with hay and carrots for St. Nick's horse, then find it replaced with candy on the morning of December 5th. Naughty boys and girls are threatened with switches and the like from Black Pete. Danielle was clearly not excited when presented with her candy-filled sneaker, but promptly ate the wonderful milk chocolate treat for breakfast without further complaint.



Wild goats can be seen crossing the lesser traveled roads on the island. This one reminds me of the nubians we raised at home on the farm. Oh, how I wish I could have some fresh goat milk!

Ricky snagged a 20 pound mahi mahi on our way back to Curacao. He was yellow at first, then turned blue, then yellow again. Danielle ate her portion raw, seasoned with salt and red pepper. Ricky grilled the rest for dinner that night with friends Pieter, Randy and Inge.

Danielle learning to windsurf

Ricky caught on to windsurfing with ease, as usual.

We had to try the Iguana Stew, ordered at Rose Inn, where traditional food is served. You could see the skin on one side of the white meat, and I would guess that they just chopped up the tail. We had to carefully pick through the bones. Hey, it's part of the culture!

Salt is harvested as a natural resource.

Thousands of shy, pink flamingos forage for shrimp in the bone-white salt flats.

Slaves huts remain as a reminder of the slave history of Bonaire, going back to 1499. Slaves were brought to work in the salt ponds, and four men were housed in each tiny building.

Cactus fences are commonly seen. Everyone has their property fenced to keep out the goats!

Iguanas are everywhere! This guy actually climbed up the side of my chair while we were eating at an outdoor restaurant on the water. I did not feed him!

Sea Ya!

Ricky, Robin and Danielle

Diving Bonaire

Bonaire is a small Dutch island about 50 miles north of Venezuela. The cruise ships pull in and out almost daily, bringing in tourist dollars, but scuba diving is what puts Bonaire on our #1 dream destination list.

We were dive certified before we started cruising last year, but didn't have much experience. As fate would have it, our buddy boat friend, Jamie Dryden, is a dive instructor, so diving with him was such an awesome learning experience! We did 20 dives in 30 days, including 2 night dives, which Danielle did not like.

Needless to say, my pictures don't come close to capturing the beauty and colors underwater. After spending lots of time in the water, I realize that even though the ocean is huge, most fish have a home and living radius that's relatively small. Each species of fish have a different personality. Some are shy, while others are very aggressive. It's a fascinating world that's fun to observe. Here are a few of my best photos.

It looks like a snake, it slithers like a snake, but it's a rare Sharptail Eel, accompanied by a Spanish Hogfish.

Turtles are shy, but Danielle followed this guy long enough for a photo.

Danielle hovering among the fish.

The Greater Soapfish. named from the soaplike toxic mucus is secretes, often appears dead, just resting on the sand or against coral heads.

A large colony of Brown Garden Eels wave their heads gracefully, but withdraw to their sand burrows as we approach.

Can you find the very poisonous Scorpionfish camouflaged among the rocks and coral in this photo? Puncture wounds from stepping on him can cause severe pain and illness.

This tiny goby sits in the beautiful coral heads.

French Angelfish are beautiful and very friendly.

My, what big eyes you have! A pair of squirrelfish are happy to pose for a photo.

Spotted Trunkfish are a lot of fun to watch. We often see them just meandering all alone in shallow water.

A pair of large Grey Snapper just look at me.

A fabulous Spotted Drum!

One of my favorite fish, the Queen Angelfish. See her crown?

Black coral

Ricky waves "HI"

Jamie blowing air rings underwater. He's very talented!

SEA YA!

RICKY, ROBIN AND DANIELLE

Pleasantly Surprised by Curacao!

We've all heard of Aruba, and now that we're scuba divers, we hear a lot about Bonaire. But have you ever heard of Curacao? Pronounced "cure a sow," this beautiful Dutch island is the "C" when you refer to the ABC Islands.

After spending a week catching the bus and looking around the old historic capitol of Willemstad, we fell in love! Business looked good due to the cruise ships coming and going, bringing loads of tourists ready to see the unique sights. We anchored for a week in a huge lagoon named Spanish Water along with about 200 other sail boats. Simply delightful!




Here's a group shot of us with the other two boats we have traveled with from Cartagena. Third from left is Emily, a cute, spunky 24 year old new to sailing (crewing with Jamie), then our Dutch friends Inge and Pieter, 17 year veteran sailors aboard Baerne, and far right is Jamie, the captain of 401(k), and a dive master. In fact Jamie can do just about anything, including repairs to everything we break. And girls, he's single, too!

Inge had Emily and I exercising daily, and she was hard to keep up with. She will be 70 in January, but who would ever guess? "First we do the walk, then we do the swim. That's a good plan, no?" She and Pieter are dear friends whom we will miss when we go our separate ways.



Downtown Willemstad is such a fun place to wander around. Great restaurants, great shopping, friendly people, and interesting Dutch architecture. Don't you just love all the bright colors! It makes you feel happy!





Fort Amsterdam dates back to 1635, and is now the governor's palace and a museum. Look closely at the upper left corner to find a hole left by a cannonball fired by Captain Bligh's troops.

We sat outside on a small private veranda for dinner at this very nice restaurant named De Gouverneur.

Just one of the old buildings with designer shops in downtown Willemstad dated 1708.

Meet Sully, the young pilot whale that washed up on Curacao's beach during the summer. Volunteers rescued him and trained him to follow a boat so when another pod of whales was found in the area, he could be returned to the wild. We were fortunate to see him because he left a couple of days later.

The ruins of Fort Beekenburg at Curacao Bay dating back to 1703.

A large pod of dolphins greeted us as we approached Curacao, probably 40 or 50!

Sea Ya! Ricky and Robin (Danielle was home visiting family and friends)

Aruba, One Happy Island!

Change of plans! When we arrived in Cartagena, we met a dive instructor named Jamie Dryden and his crew, a cute 24 year old named Emily. They invited us to tag along with them to the ABC Islands, otherwise known as Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao (pronounced cure a sow). We had intended to head west, but the weather window was unusually calm seas, and Bonaire was one of our dream destinations because of the wonderful scuba diving. So we took 10 days to hop up the coast of Columbia and Venezuela with Jamie aboard 401(k) and another boat with a very nice Dutch couple, Pieter and Inge aboard Baerne. The first photo shows the rugged, rocky coast of Venezuela.

Aruba is beautiful! The cruise ships come and go every day in Aruba's capital, Oranjested, where the architecture is typical Dutch design. The shopping is wonderful (Christmas is right around the corner, you know!). Jamie rented a car and we drove from one end of the island to the other in a few hours.

Much to my surprise, Aruba's landscape is dry and barren, with cactus and rocks everywhere. Quite a few iguanas to see, even on the golf course! Yes, Ricky and Jamie got in 18 holes!

Just one of many beautiful Aruban sunsets!

High rise, high dollar hotels and condos in the background

The divi divi tree

California Lighthouse built in 1910 stands at the island's northern tip

Surf pounded coastline of Boca Mahos

Ancients pictographs is the caves at Ayo's rock fornmations

Ricky outside the very famous Charlie's Restaurant & Bar

I love this sign! It hangs over the entrance to the bar.

Sea Ya!

Ricky, Robin and Danielle