Blogs from Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands, Central America Caribbean

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Bonaire Blog 20th January 2020 Our paper describes Bonaire as Unhurried - Unspoiled - Unforgettable. If you like water sports yes, but for most of the passengers/tourists here it as an island that has little to offer. Bonaire is about 50 miles north of Venezuela and only about 30 miles from our last port of call, Curaçao. It is the second largest of the island group forming the Netherlands Antilles. Where we docked Kralendijk, the capital along with another cruise ship (Norwegian Epic) is merely the gateway to all the other marine activities. It’s very compact and has all the usual souvenir shops and cafes one would expect. It relies heavily on tourism but further afield there is the Salt Lake where the salt company and flamingoes live in harmony. To the North West the petroleum ... read more
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It seems that my post from yesterday did not send out the usual e mail alerts. So this one is a dummy! Just go back to the previous post from our Maiden Cruise, please.... read more


Just home from our first real cruise....we had a 3 day cruise out of Sydney several years ago over Australia Day to give us a taste. This was 14 days with 5 ports of call on a very big ship! Pics tell the story. Click on the first to expand. Stay tuned for our winter adventure coming up after Christmas...one we have been planning for several years... Ecuador; Quito, Cuenca, Galapagos and Upper Amazon. Peru; Lima, overland 12 day tour to Nasca Lines, Lake Titicaca (3812m or 12 500 feet elevation) Cusco and Machu Picchu.... read more
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Gust O'Wind!


Bonaire is great island to get away from it all. It is definitely the home of diving freedom - but much more than that. The island itself is far from a tropical island which makes it so special and interesting - with a variety of things to see and do - or just relax. The people on Bonaire are very friendly and welcoming.... read more
Bonaire Vacation (2)
Bonaire Vacation (3)
Bonaire Vacation (4)


Geo: 12.1776, -68.2498 On arrive à Bonaire en fin d'après-midi. Il ne fait pas très beau... Très près de la pluie. On apprend que nous sommes dans la saison des pluies. C'est sûr que pour plonger c'est pas si grave... À l'hôtel, par contre, on nous explique que ce ne sera pas comme ça tous les jours. Le condo est vraiment très beau et bien décoré. En plus, nous sommes sur le bord de l'eau! On peut partir du quai de l'hôtel pour plonger! On nous explique où trouver l'épicerie et nous partons en auto vers Kralendjick, la plus grosse ville de l'île. Je savais que Bonaire avait été colonisé par les Néerlandais mis je ne savais pas qu'elle faisait encore partie de ce pays. Je suis surpris de constater qu'à part les gens du tourisme, ... read more
Aéroport
Bienvenue
L'escalier menant à l'étage


It seems like quite some time since we’ve set foot on land, so we’re all looking forward to Bonaire and a chance to feel terra firma beneath our feet. We started the day in the Lido; or, as they now refer to it “Lido Market”. I guess it’s more up-scale and trendy and Sharon says that’s the first step to adding the NY Pizza spot to the aft deck. Mother asked for waffles, apples, oatmeal, brown sugar and coffee, and so we got her seated and off I went. I was in the waffle line and they’d just finished making four waffles, leaving two for my mom. I had them spoon on some of the cinnamon cooked apples, and went to the bistro line and got a bowl of oatmeal and had brown sugar added to ... read more
Iguana on top of hill
Iguana in drain pipe of building
Large iguana on photo stop


This looked quite a flat island in comparison to a lot of the other islands we had visited, but is well renowned for its sea life, so we disembarked the ship and went to Spice Beach (us$ 2.50) Arrived early enough to get a sun bed and an umbrella and Chris hired the snorkel gear (US$10) and for me a huge yellow float with a viewing place for your head! (US$15.00 for ½ hr) It was totally amazing! You only had to walk out a few feet and then there was a shelf which is where most of the fish swam up and down, The half hour went quite quickly just watching the fish – so many shapes. colours and sizes! At lunchtime we took a taxi (US$20) to Lac Bai passing the salt flats in ... read more
Kralendijk, Bonaire
Me in the water!!
Lac Bai


Diving on Bonaire with Bonnie, my great divebuddy. We stayed on Bonaire from Dec.11th to 21th and did quite a lot of diving - 28 dives alone on Bonaire... and had a tiny bit of trouble with equipment, and a few other things- it caused some stress on us. However the diving and the island of Bonaire was great. We also had great dives (her 100th, the dives around Klein-Bonaire, the Saltpier) and some eerie nightdives (with hunting tarpons). I liked especially diving the Hilma Hooker, the afternoon dive at windsock and the dives around Klein-Bonaire. I liked the corals and reef fish- great moments were the squids around us , a crab and moray in a hole, the angelfish. I missed some large pelagic fish, however (besides the tarpons). Maybe the greatest dive was our ... read more
Bonnie's 100th dive
A Seahorse on her 100th dive
A great barracuda at the Hilma Hooker


Bonaire: Early this morning we approached the island of Bonaire from the north. At approximately 7:00 a.m. we were safely alongside Kralendijk cruise terminal, port side to quay. Bonaire is a Caribbean island which together with Aruba and Curacao forms the group known as the ABC islands, located off the North coast of South America near the western port of Venezuela. The name Bonaire is thought to have originally come from the Caquetio word ‘Bonay’. The early Spanish and Dutch modified its speling to Bonjaj and also Bonaire, which means ‘Good Air’. Our tour today included Bonaire’s highlights folk centre, history and breath taking natural sites. It is surrounded by turquoise waters, has huge cacti, divi divi tres, flamingos, and panoramic views. We heard tales of Rincon Village and toured a cultural park with costumed guides. ... read more
Typical fence
Lovely colour
Local fauna


For first time in a long time I was actually glad that the trip was coming to an end. My ear was hurting and my head was hurting in every dive. I felt like catching a cold but didn’t skip any dive. I couldn’t concentrate underwater with a headache. The last subject that I actually pulled tru my pain and tried to photograph was a blenny that lives under the private dock north of Something Special. This guy was a very special one because it lives inside orange cup soft coral that makes a colorful background. I didn’t have an amazing photo trip but it was nice to go somewhere. We chose to dive the same location over an over so we could go back to specific subjects and watch their behaviour. It was also nice ... read more
Playing on the other side of the camera
Chasing Pink Flamingos




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