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Published: April 16th 2018
This is a week long blog consolidated to one entry.
Why
Bonaire? We are often asked that. Lots of people, excluding divers, don't really even know where it is located. It is considered one of the top diving spots in the world. We chose Bonaire because of our love for flamingos. Still, people wondered why Bonaire and not Hawaii or Cancun.
My wife and I were married on Saturday May 16, 1998 at 2pm in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Treasure Island Hotel. After the wedding and reception, we left for McCarran International Airport to catch our red eye flight to Fort Lauderdale. We were flying nonrevenue standby for our honeymoon and most people thought that was crazy. We had many back up plans though, so no worries!
At around 11pm, we were on an America West Airbus 320 and seated in first class, drinking some sparkling wine! It was a routine flight to Fort Lauderdale and we arrived at sunrise.
We were very tired. We rode the Tri-Rail to Miami airport where we were taking American Airlines to
Curacao. It is difficult to get to Bonaire but we had to go because we both love flamingos
and there are lots of them on Bonaire!
Around 10am, we were on an American 727 to Curacao. It was a nice flight and soon we were there to catch our final flight to paradise. We connected to an ALM DHC-8 for the 20 minute flight to Bonaire. This flight was delayed about 30 minutes due to a broken aircraft in Aruba. We were anxious to get to our destination, naturally. We arrived into Bonaire int he early evening on the 17th. It was quick and easy to clear customs and we had a 10 minute taxi ride to our hotel, which was the Divi Flamingo.
We checked in and they upgraded us to an oceanview which was awesome! We went to the bar and had some rum punch, while enjoying our first Bonaire sunset. We had dinner at the hotel because we were tired and then it was off to bed!
May 18, 1998--We hired a car and toured the island this day. It is very desolate and is a desert island. We saw the Willemstoren Lighthouse, the slave huts, and the salt mounds. We also did some snorkeling at Pink Beach. That evening, we went
to dinner in town at the Admirals Tavern and had an excellent meal. We walked into the casino at our hotel but since we were from Vegas, it was not too exciting for us.
May 19, 1998--We stayed around the hotel this day and did some snorkeling. The area around the pier had lots of exotic fish and urchins. I even saw a lionfish. We ate dinner in town at Rendez-Vouz.
May 20, 1998--We took a cruise on a sailboat to Klein Bonaire, which is a small uninhabited island off the coast of Bonaire. The meaning is "Little" Bonaire. It was a lot of fun and they fed us lunch and we had some rum punch also. The snorkeling was fantastic on Klein Bonaire! For dinner, we ate in town at Zeezicht and it was great! We also walked around town and had some ice cream and did some dancing at a little festival that was happening at the town pier.
May 21, 1998--We went into town this day. The town is Kralendijk and since it was Asencion Day, the place was dead. We ate lunch at Subway because that was all we could find open. There
were absolutely no shops open and it looked like a ghost town. In the evening, they had a little get together at our hotel with dinner and dancing.
May 22, 1998--We had one last breakfast on the beach and then headed over to Flamingo Airport for our flight to Curacao. It was another ALM DHC-8. We stayed for one night in Curacao at the Holiday Beach Hotel. We really did not get to see much and only briefly saw Willemstad. We'll have to go back someday!
May 23, 1998--We flew from Curacao to Miami on an American 727 and arrived in the early evening. After clearing customs, we decided to spend the night. We flew on what is my shortest flight ever flown, a USAir Express EMB-120 from Miami to Fort Lauderdale. Yup, it was a 21 mile flight! It was us and another person on that flight and we were free, so they obviously did not make money on that one! We got a hotel in Fort Lauderdale for the night.
May 24, 1998--We flew back to Las Vegas this day. It was an America West Airbus 320. There was one open seat in first class
but we chose to sit together in coach. No breaking up this newlywed couple!! We were back home by noon and we had to begin preparing for our move to Seattle. Yes, we were relocating for our new life together!
The Divi Flamingo Hotel was awesome! We'd definitely stay there again when we return. It was a great beachfront location and has two great restaurants. It has been totally fixed up since we were there so I am sure it will be even better than before.
All the photos are obviously pre-digital so the quality is lacking.
Almost 20 years later, here we are! It has been so wonderful, it seems like only a day. Oh, there have been bumps in the road but we get through them together. As for Bonaire, we have yet to return. We wanted to for our 10th anniversary but life got in the way. Delta has Bonaire flights but they are just one day a week so it is difficult to go. We really do want to go back though.
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Jan Normany
non-member comment
Bonaire is wonderful from a Bahariterran
Much love to Bonaire from the island nation of Bahariterra