What They Don't Tell You About Paradise

We love living on Bonaire. However Paradise is not always perfect. When you move to a Caribbean island there are things left unsaid.  If we knew the downside to Paradise would we still have moved? Well, Yes.  But we would still have liked to know.

Weather

The weather is not always perfect. August, September and October are hot. Really hot and muggy. It's the time we like to travel and get off the island for cooler surroundings. Rainy season comes next.  This makes every dirt road a muddy, washboard.  It also makes it difficult to live the outdoor lifestyle. Then the Trade Winds stop.  This means that there is no breeze to cool the island and keep the bugs away.

Clothing

All those t-shirts and shorts that we brought were too hot for tropical, hot weather.  We had to trade everything out for flimsy, thin shirts, light cotton everything, and swimsuits. Hats and sunglasses are standard daily wear. We also invested in sun shirts to protect us from the sun when in the water.

Deterioration

We love the sun and salt sea air.  However, it damages everything. Wood furniture bleaches and warps and looks weathered all the time.  Metal fixtures rust.  Car paint oxidizes and peals off the vehicle. Clothes hung outside to dry wear out faster and fade because of the sun damage to the material. Skin cancer and cataracts are prevalent on the island because of the sun exposure. House paint only lasts a few years.  Light colors for roofs and house walls are recommended to help keep things cool.  Hopefully, we will not deteriorate in these ways.

Food

Bonaire has many good restaurants that serve fresh food and well prepared meals.  The restaurants get the best food coming to the island.  The rest of us get food that is shipped from Curacao (an island 50 miles away) and points much more distant. It is not always fresh and the supply is limited.  Bonaire produces nothing but salt. We are at the mercy of the local groceries that typically cater to a Dutch population. 

No Mail

There is no mail on Bonaire.  There are no Amazon deliveries. FedEx and UPS take weeks to delivery.  Everything we want has to be shipped onto the island and is subject to import taxes and expensive shipping fees. This is why we use Mules (visitors who bring things to us when they visit). We also schedule shopping trips to the US.

Electrical Power

No matter what anyone says, you can not use 110v appliances in Bonaire as it is not the same as 110v in the US.  220v is the standard electricity on the island.  I have burned out  lamps and appliances trying to use converters and the 110v outlets. Power is not a sure thing on the island. 

We may not have been told about some of the downsides to living in Bonaire, but part of the fun is the learning about and experiencing life in Paradise.

Photo credit:  Paul Vogel

 

Family Visitors

We returned from our Europe trip to welcome Allison and Donovan to the island. After being here for two years we seem to take things for granted. Seeing Bonaire through our family's eyes was a treat.  All the things we found enduring they noticed. All the things we found amusing they did too. They kept us busy. We enjoyed new adventures and revisited some old ones.  

We loved our two weeks with them and hope for a return visit.  

Allison and Don both tried wind surfing while Rick and I took pictures and remembered how hard it was to do. I snapped this photo during a rest session.  It's a grueling learning process. 

I haven't dived on Bonaire so the Grand enticed me to go. We did a shore and boat dive after a refresher for me and a short course for Don. We couldn't keep him out of the water whether it was snorkeling, diving or cooling in the pool.  I think he is hooked on diving now.

We also managed to go land sailing.  I think this was one of Don's favorite activities.  We also enjoyed kayaking in the mangroves. The mangroves on Bonaire are a protected area and we learned so much about the area and the animals through a lovely kayaking trip.  Rick and I have never been kayaking but now it is on our radar to do more regularly.

We also rested, thank God. We have been on the move for a month plus in Europe followed by two weeks of entertaining a 13-year-old boy.  We have loved every minute of it !!!

Can't wait for the next time.

Europe Recap

One of our friends asked for a recap of our trip to tell what we liked best and where would we return.

We had lots of favorite places.  However one that stands out  was the Prosecco region of Italy.  It's in the foothills of the Dolomites and is absolutely the most gorgeous place.  The has small villages, rolling hills, and farmland. We hope to return to this region.

The Amalfi Coast was also a favorite.  We are always drawn to water and this area has plenty of fabulous views, good food, and friendly people. We particularly enjoyed the high cliffs and small villages dotting the coastline. The local wines and cuisine are unbelievably good. 
 

Venice was the most beautiful and magical city we visited. We are not big city people and prefer the countryside and small villages. The one exception was Venice.  It's an unbelievable place to experience. 

Italy was our favorite country.  The food and wine...oh the food and wine! Scenery and ancient structures everywhere. The people are so friendly. Did I mention the food and wine?

 

Amsterdam #2

We spent another day in Amsterdam on our way back to Bonaire.  It felt comfortable this time as we knew how to get around on the trains and metro. We saw different things this time.

We are still amazed at the vast parking structures for bicycles.  This is a three story structure for bikes. There must be over 100,000 bikes in this parking area.  We were awe struck. how do they ever find their bike?

We visited the floating flower market which is a block of flower shops on the canal.  They had more bulbs than we have ever seen before.  the bulbs were huge and plentiful.  Fresh flowers of all kinds.  It was a lovely spot to visit.

What would the Netherlands be without wooden shoes and cheese?  We didn't see these the first time we were in Amsterdam a month ago.  It was still interesting to us to see these two iconic items in the stores.

The Jews have had a very tough history in the Netherlands and have been persecuted throughout time. While in the historical Jewish area of  Amsterdam we noticed these bronze bricks in the sidewalks.  They are the names of the Jews that were exterminated during WWII. It made us so sad. What a nice lasting tribute to those that lost their lives.

Amsterdam is probably the most diverse city we have visited in terms of  its population.  The contrast between ancient city and the modern new architecture is startling.  It was sunny and hot when we were here a month ago.  Today it was cold, damp and breezy...the way everyone describes the weather in Amsterdam.

Our Amsterdam selfie.  This is the canal in Amsterdam with the floating flower market. 

Next stop: Bonaire.

The Last Tour😢

The Sorrento Peninsula is known for it's perfect growing climate. So we decided to take a tour of a fourth generation family owned farm.  It was one of the best experiences of our trip and our last tour.

 

The oldest son gave us a tour of the farm where they grow lemons, kiwi, olive trees, tomatoes, chestnut trees, herbs, and grape vines. They have ducks, turkeys, goats, pigs, cows and chickens.  They use every inch of the property they have and nothing goes to waste.  They use waste products to feed their pigs, they grow chestnut trees for the lumber to build shelter for the crops, they make their own wine, olive oil and meat products. They have done this since 1898. The farm is in a village of 600 people (most of them related). 

It was so interesting to see how they grow lemons from sour orange seed and grafted their citrus cuttings onto the young orange trees.  Their lemon trees bloom four times a year and it takes a year for the lemons to reach maturity.

They cure their own meats and make their own wine on site. This is their cellar with hanging, aging meat products and wine bottles ready to store and age their local wine.

The family all works on the farm. Now they have added agra- tourism and run tours through the farm and feed their visitors lunch and/ or dinner.

We met this doctor and his wife on the tour and we had lunch together at the farm.  This lunch was a four course meal prepared by "mamma", the matriarch of the family.  We had bread and olive oil, lemonade, bruschetta with tomatoes, meats and cheese, pasta, some kind of fried dough balls, and dessert along with wine with every course.  Of course, we had their limoncello at the end.

We tasted their olive oils infused with lemon and orange. Fabulous! They made us lemonade with their homegrown lemons. They welcomed us into their home and their farm.  We will never forget this experience or this farm.

Although most of their products are sold locally and for family use, they also sell online and ship anywhere. 

The farm selfie. Thanks for following us through our Europe adventure.  Our next stop is Amsterdam and then home to Bonaire.

Mt. Vesuvius

We climbed Mt. Vesuvius!

Actually the tour bus took us within 200 meters of the crater and we walked the rest of the way up.  It was straight up with a couple of switch backs.  Going up was physically very hard. I thought I would never get my breath.  Coming down was really hard on the knees. I wanted to give up many times but Rick urged me on to the finish.  They say it takes 20 minutes to walk up.  Well, that is a lie.  It took us close to 40 minutes because we had to stop a lot to catch our breath and let our leg muscles rest.  
 

The views from the top are really amazing.  This is a view of Napoli and the sea port where the cruise ships dock. 

The Bay of Napoli from the summit of Mount Vesuvius. The island of Ischia in the background.

This is us still standing after climbing up Mt. Vesuvius.  And just to prove that we saw the crater...

Pompeii, Italy

Pompeii is an extraordinary archeological site. Our tour guide is also an active archeologist for discoveries at Pompeii and she made the tour so interesting. All the artifacts from Pompeii are on display at the National Museum in Napoli except for this one cast of a young woman found at the site. Only the ruins are at the Pompeii site.

The preservation of Pompeii is phenomenal.  We saw reliefs on Forum walls, inscriptions on columns in the Forum, original paint with ancient graffiti in the halls to the amphitheater, and a few tile floors.  The tour guide noted that the Forum was twice the size of the one in Rome.  The center photo above was a fresco on the only intact ceiling in Pompeii in the women's public bath. The rock paved streets still had the ruts from chariots.  They had a water system that in some areas was still intact including the lead pipes used for water distribution, water fountains, and public baths.  Some of the houses of the wealthy who lived in Pompeii also have gardens and rooms that are still outlined with bricks and covered with marble.

What a day of learning about the Pompeii story!  We tried several selfies but each time they got worse and worse.  Pompeii was so crowded that we could hardly take a photo without strangers showing up.  So this is the best I got.

Capri

Capri is a beautiful island about a 30 minute boat ride from Sorrento Peninsula.  It's known as a place for the rich and famous.  It's dotted with fantastic houses hanging over the cliffs. This is a photo of the famous rocks jutting out of the sea at Capri.
 

The famous Arch of Love of Capri.  It is said that if you kiss your loved one while going through the arch that your love will last a life time.  However, our tour guide said she did it with her husband and they are now divorced so that is just an Italian myth.  Rick and I kissed just in case it's real.

The public beaches on Capri are smooth stones and gravel.  Not easy to walk on and even less comfortable to lay on and get some rays.  Nevertheless, people laid side by side like tanned fat seals crowding the beach.  Rick took a nice swim in the Mediterranean and said it was cool but tolerable.  He lasted about two minutes in the water before getting back on board the boat.

Capri is known for it's caves and grottos.  One of the most famous is the Blue Grotto.  You can only enter by row boats manned by experienced sailors.  You must laydown in the row boat while the sailor pulls you in and out of grotto by a cable.  You can only enter when the tide isn't too high.  When we were there, the tide was nearly too high as there is little room between the water, the cave walls and the ceiling.

Capri Arch of Love selfie on board the tour boat.