Sonrisa Kralendijk

Our last day of snorkeling, and we saw an octopus! How cool. It wasn't hiding in a hole, either. We watched it launch itself from a rock, glide a few feet, and stick to the next one, over and over.

Reflecting on our favorites..... Last Bite Bakery, Gary, Linda's dive instructor at Carib Inn, pumpkin ravioli at Capriccios, diving ...

... tried to call them, but that didn't work, so we hopped in the car and asked a bunch of people until we found the place.

Turns out we got there in time. Rusty joined us in the morning for a refresher and then went out on a boat dive in the afternoon. Two sweet girls were in my class with me. Claire and Haley, the oldest of 5 kids, were 12 and 14 years old. They had been snorkeling ...

Efter en helt igennem skøn uge her på Bonaire, hvor vi blot har hygget, svømmet, nydt og fundet os selv igen, går turen til DK i morgen formiddag. I løbet af de sidste to dage har vi haft et godt dyk på Buddy's Reef, hvor vi sa mange fine fisk, og desuden har vi haft et natdyk ved pillerne under øens Salt Pier, hvilket var en rigtig stor oplevelse. Det er noget helt andet at dykke, når mørket har sænket sig, og vi så fx. en eagle ray, spine ...

... our condo.  You have to go down stairs with all of your gear to get to the beach.  Once there, though, the entry was extremely easy, and the reef was quite nice.  There was a small dive boat there as well, and some of the divers with that group found an octopus.  By the time we got there he was hiding in a small opening in coral.  I could see the edge of him, but could not get a picture.

After we cleaned up from the salt water, we headed out to explore.  The mid-eastern ...

... side of the island.  The surf was much rougher here…not inviting for shore dives.  We passed by the Willemstoren lighthouse.  Other than that, the rest of the drive was pretty barren.  Bonaire is humid, but otherwise is a very dry environment, so there’s not an overabundance of plants.

Tonight, being tired, we actually turned on the TV. It seems wrong to be able to watch WGN while in Bonaire!

Dutch word of the day: kruidenierswinkel = grocery store.

So this was my second time in Bonaire. The last time was back in 2000. I wanted to take Steve to experience kayaking through the Mangroves. I loved it the first time, and it didn't dissapoint the second time around.

Bonaire is part of the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao). Aruba is the more touristy brethern. Bonaire is small and very, very flat ...

... br>
As for the rest of the day, we had a relaxing afternoon on the Caribbean Princess deck, eating, drinking and enjoying ourselves. In the evening, we had diner at our usual table with our beloved British friends. Afterwards, we watched some entertainment in the lobby before retreating to our room. Still have my patch behind my ear. So far so good. Lovely!

Thankful for rainbows.

Mo

... in a "studio"; though next time we'll spring for a 1-bedroom apartment. Our biggest complaint was that there was no covered front porch or screen door. Because the door was the only way to create a breeze through the room, we had some problems with mosquitoes. It wasn't terrible (this isn't a very humid climate), and mosquito coils helped, but somewhat annoying. The apartments had nice covered porches with tables and chairs, sliding glass doors with screens, and more ...

... around the island as quickly as they could before they had to get back to their behemoth of a ship. After they were gone, the island was quiet again. We found it fascinating, but did not envy them. We spent our days snorkeling, swimming, exploring, napping and eating. Everything a vacation should be.

... shrubs growing wild. It is an amazing sight to see! People also make fences out of rows of cacti, which is such a great idea. There are many caves in Bonaire, on land and underwater. Some caves can be seen above land and the rock formations are from when the water level used to be higher and these rocks were underwater. Now, the water level is quite a bit lower.

Our first stop was Goto Lake, an old salt pan that became a ...