Rosemary

We found a garden store on the island. We were so excited to find a place that could give us great advice and sell us plants and pots. They have a yard full of local plants. We strolled through the lot and enjoyed every minute.

We have been looking for herbs and tomato plants.  We have not had any luck in finding these plants. We resigned ourselves to the fact we will probably have to grow everything from seeds.

Rosemary is an herb that we use consistently.  We thought we could grow it in Bonaire because it likes hot, dry weather.  We had seen hedges of Rosemary growing in Phoenix and wanted to duplicate that scenario here. We ask the nursery guy if he had Rosemary.  He replied: " I have tried to grow it but it doesn't grow very well on the island". We were discouraged.

Our landscaper guy, Marco, who lives down the street from us, told us he has some and will bring us a starter plant next time he comes. He also asked what else we needed.  He is a master grower and must have a huge garden.

When you want something on the island, it all depends on who you know and who you ask. 

 

Crime

The Dutch Coast Guard has docked at Bonaire.  They are starting a several month program to capture drugs and Venezuelans, both of which are illegal on the island. Military personnel were unloading on the dock.  It was the first time we have seen military present on shore.  

This program is in conjunction with the Dutch Navy, US authorities and the Caribbean drug enforcement  agency.  They cruise around the islands and try to pick up drug runners from South America and illegals trying to come to the island without appropriate documentation.

Last week, at the airport, a Colombian man was apprehended with a large sum of money he couldn't explain, and he had not gotten an appropriate visa for visiting the island.  It amazed me that he was apprehended because the security at the airport is like a vacation hotel.  Looks must be deceiving because they really are stopping the undesirables.

Drugs and weapons are against the law on the island.  It is interesting that drugs are legal in Amsterdam but not here.  Nevertheless, drugs are present on Bonaire.  Yesterday, we were swimming at Bachelor Beach (the closest one to our house) and the occupants in the truck next to us were smoking pot.  We suspect it is grown here. Although, it is possible that it is brought in via the airport or by sea.

The police reports in the local paper, "The Bonairian" , often report fights that break out using knives.  It seems only the police carry guns. It is interesting to note that Bonaire had only one homicide victim in the last five years. 

Petty crimes seem to be the biggest problem.  The dive sites are always being hit by thieves.  So when we go to the beach we take nothing but car keys and towels. We leave our phones, drivers license, money and anything that can be taken while we are in the water. Better safe than sorry.

 

Original House

This is one of the original houses that face the ocean on the seaside road.  It is still occupied but has not been maintained.  It is surrounded by three story condo buildings.  Must be worth a fortune.
 

This is the back of the old house.  There is a charming walkway that leads to the sea. The island boasts that the ocean and beaches are open to everyone but in reality private beaches are becoming the norm especially in town.

This is a wall that separates the condo building from the original house in the first photo.

The dive site " Something Special" is hidden away in front of the old house.  You really have to search for this one. The dive site is the main harbor of Kralendijk.  It is located at a dead end street.

Next to the old house is a storage container that has been painted by a local artist.  

This is the view from the front of the old house. We hope it doesn't change as this is part of the charm of the island.

Residency

We are now official residents of Bonaire, Netherlands.  We got our passport stamp from the immigration office today.  In six months we will get a letter to go get our picture ID...  nothing happens fast on this island.

We celebrated with lunch at "Between Two Buns".

Getting residency required collecting documents with Apostilles while we were still in the US. Marriage and birth certificates required apostilles at the tune of $200 a document.  Apostilles are these certifications that say the document is real and certified. We also had to get FBI finger printed and background checks that could be no more than three months old when we applied for residency.  Also had to show that we had a reliable income (social security and Freedom Environmental pay stubs), bank letters of reference, deed to our house, bank statements for the last six months and every other document we could produce they took.

We used an agent to help us through the process. Our agent, Agnes, worked at the immigration office and has since retired and now runs the Multistore retail store selling tourist trinkets. We visited Agnes at her store two years ago. We met in the back storage room and she gave us the directions for getting residency. It was like going to a 1920's speakeasy and giving a code word to get it.

Agnes completed our application and submitted it in February. This morning we got a call to come to the immigration office and show our passports.  We dove there right away and got our residency.

Residency allows us to have free medical care.  This includes doctor visits, hospital visits, medicine, operations and any other medical care we need. We also get resident fees at the bank which is quite a savings.  We will also get a discount on the  duty we paid on our shipment of stuff to the island. Our house taxes will be at the resident rate.

Banking

 

Getting a bank account on Bonaire has been a test of patience (of which I have none) and tenacity (I do have lots of this).

It all started in March with a call to the bank.  We were told that we would get an email within one week to tell us what we needed to open an account. It's not like the States.  

The email outlined the documents required and a list of questions for the application to get an account opened. Documents included social security payments, pay stubs showing monthly income, passports, residency papers (which we have not received yet), reference letters from our US banks signed by an officer of the bank, proof of address not older than 3 months,  and notary deed of property owned on the island.

Questions asked to complete the application included: How much will be wired to the account on a monthly basis? Will you deposit cash in the account? What is the highest amount that will be given out from the account? What is the highest cash amount that will be withdrawn?

The question that really chapped me was: Why do you need a bank account? Really?

By now, it is April.  We have sent documents to the bank multiple times and been promised an appointment at the bank to get an account. I have emailed weekly to urge the bank to open an account for us. The bank finally scheduled an appointment to sign the application.  The application is about 30 pages and must be signed or initialed on at least 15 of the pages. 

The application is sent to Curacao to the central bank.  It is supposed to take two weeks for approval.  I email the banker weekly.  Each week the email gets more insistent and curt.  Four weeks go by and no account.  I threaten to go to another bank (there are several to choose from) to get an account.  We are so far down the road with this bank that we have no intention of starting this whole dumb process again! The banker answers my rude emails pleasantly but with no account open.

In the meantime, we are having to pay bills with cash (which after 4 months on the island is running out), stand in lines to pay bills (because we can't pay online without a bank account) and have not been able to make service purchases that we need for the house. With a bank account everything can be done electronically.

It is now mid-May. The banker has gone on vacation for a week and I get automatic replies to my hate mail. Upon his return, he finally notifies me that an account has been opened.

You would think our troubles were over... they are not.  We fill out the online application for our account to do online banking.  It, too, must be approved before we can use it.  It might be several weeks.  We were also informed that our bank cards that allow us to use the ATM and debits will not be available for two weeks (which means a month in bank speak).

We now have a bank account. We have no way to access it, our wire transfer from our US bank will take 3-7 days, we don't have bank cards or online banking.

Costs

The pool boy (aka Rick) has had to pick up the pace lately.  With the Sahara dust and the high winds the pool is constantly full of dirt and palm tree trash. Cleaning the pool is an every day chore. 

Our pool cover in Colorado helped keep the pool clean and warm (although the pool heater did most of the work). This pool is exposed to the elements.  It is a saltwater pool heated by the sun. The pump that circulates the water is electric. The pool boy runs on Mojitos and fish sandwiches.

We got our water and electricity bill from WEB (our energy company). It was around $300 for a month. This includes air conditioning which is like heating during the winter months in Colorado, other electricity and trash pickup. Its been an even trade with utility costs.

We have cut our communication costs.  The VPN and Netflix cost about $30 and month and we don't have cable.

Our Google Fi phone service costs are the same.  Using WhatsApp has kept that cost down.

Drinking Bailey's on ice and watching movies in paradise...pricless!

 

Salt

Salt is a big deal on Bonaire.  We are constantly amazed at how they harvest, move and store salt. The Salt ponds are also a constant source of beautiful and interesting photos.  This one was taken on a calm day...and not by me.

Photo by Kent Thomas

They pile up the salt using end loaders and conveyer belts. 

They collect a bucket of salt and dump it into a box that dumps it onto the conveyor belt.  The belt takes it across the road and out to the dock and into the waiting ship.

It is a constant process of piling and moving salt. Boats are coming and going weekly to receive the salt and ship it around the world.

It's a really cool process.  We always stop to watch when we are in the area.  It's fascinating to us to see the operation in action.  

 

Storage

Our storage room is a hall way in between the house and the guest house.  It's perfect. Shelves built floor to ceiling, hold ladders, tools, lawn equipment, suitcases, paint and all the stuff you need to maintain the house. The previous owner left all of his tools, and handyman equipment.  We have power tools, power washer, drills, dollies, saws, paint, plaster and shovels.

The last several weeks we have cleaned it out and pitched boxes of wire, electrical outlets and junk that we don't need or want. There is lots of room on the shelves.  We also have this nifty door that hides a neat storage area for tools and supplies.

The rest of the island buys containers and have them delivered to their yards for storage. Containers are everywhere.  

This container is a block away. It houses stuff from the duplex across the street.  They seem to park them everywhere.  Some are painted to match the house and others get painted by local artists or taggers.

  

 

Hair Cuts #2

Rick and I have been giving each other haircuts. Although we each gave it our very best, neither of us was deliriously happy about the results.  

Going on the recommendation of friends, I made an appointment at "Scissors" a cute little salon on the north end of Kralendijk. Aranska, our new stylist, is from Holland and has lived on the island of a year.  She learned English in high school and also speaks what ever they speak in Finland in addition to Dutch. Her English is not great but enough to communicate with us.

I also made an appointment for Rick the following day. Now looking at the picture we are really getting grey.  I also scheduled a color as I am not ready to be all grey, yet.

  

Flip Flops and Rum

This is the Flip Flop Tree on the main drag on the sea shore. Visitors hang their flip flops on the tree so they will return to Bonaire. It also looks like where single flip flops go to find their mates.
 

This is Bonaire rum. Comes in gold, silver and coconut. We haven't tried it yet but I already like it because it has a bandana tied to the top.  

It's not made in Bonaire, it just carries the name.  Our liquor store, "Best Cellars", has it made with this label.  Probably sells more with the Bonaire name on it.

Irish cream is hard to find on the island.  But they do bottle Bonaire Cream in Mexico and import it. It, too, has a bandana.

The liquor store owner says he starts and finishes his day with Bonaire Cream.  I think I will try it....reminds me of being at the lake and drinking it in our coffee and over ice at night.

Sail Boats

Lunch in Kralendijk is always a pleasure.  This day we went to Karels (don't know if it is pronounced "Carols" or "Carls").  Karels is built on a pier.  It is open air on all sides and has a thatched roof.  It is where the locals hang out and drink coffee and eat cake...which I think is a Dutch custom.

The piles in the sea are the remanence of a project to build a big pier for cruise boats.  It apparently never got finished. This is the main beach for the local kids.  They are always swimming in this area having a grand time.

One of the sail boats in the harbor is The Seahorse.  It is the boat of Andries Bik.  Andries is sailing around the world and videoing his experiences. His website is printed on the boat.  His mantra: "don't wait for the perfect moment, just take the moment and make it perfect".  He says life is short so do all the things you dream about doing and do it now.  He has sponsors printed on his sails and he is trying to be off-grid as possible. It did, however, take him 4 tries under engine power to hook onto the buoy. He must have been video taping and had to do retakes....so much for off the grid.

Most of the sail boats in the harbor have been buoyed for most of the lockdown.  Apparently, sail boats have the same problem as cruise boats. No one wants them during the Covid era. Bonaire accepted them in their harbor and so we have a sailing city just off the beach.  

The boats have solar and wind energy on board and are self sustained for the most part.  We often see laundry hanging from everywhere on the sail boats.  In the evenings, they have lights on their masts that make for a pretty view.

Since Bonaire is typically out of the hurricane and tropical storm area, many sail boats that used to dock in Venezuela waters now come to the ABC's to escape bad weather.  Venezuela is no longer an option and Bonaire reaps the benefits.



 

Street Art

Bonaire has had a Street Color program that features visiting street artists. The artists have painted walls throughout Kralendijk.

They often hold classes for local children to also paint walls with the supervision of the visiting artists.

We saw a couple of the art pieces as we walked through the city today. Several of them are in alley's and on the back walls of stores.

One of the stores had a shopping cart that was re-tooled into a rolling chair and upholstered in pink.  The flamingo is painted on the wall.

This is a trash can that has been painted with paint brushes. 

This is nature's street art.  We visit the beach for sunsets regularly.  

Hospital

We got first hand experience in the health care system in Bonaire.

Our neighbors' eyesight was worsening to the point that he couldn't drive or see his computer. We took him to the hospital for an appointment with a specialist. The hospital has specialists that travel the islands to service health needs. 

The hospital has open air waiting rooms.  The doctor offices and service area look like a US hospital.  White tile walls, clean marble floors, nurses everywhere, every one is wearing scrubs and they are all very professional and efficient. My blind patient, was told, after a thorough examination, that he has cataracts and that is why he lost his vision so quickly.  They will do surgery on him at the end of May. The surgery is free to him as he is an ex-pat with residency on Bonaire.

We also helped him get a prescription renewed. It was a simple process to get the doctor to call in the 3-month prescription to be pick-up two days hence at pharmacy.  The pharmacy, the only one on the island, is located in the hospital.  Prescriptions are available at 3:00 pm for everyone on the island.

We waited 30 minutes in the cue to walk into a tiny room and receive a white paper bag with the prescription.  The security was tight. The prescriptions were no charge.

The dentist office is located on the same street at the hospital. That is where we took our neighbor to get a cap re-cemented. No appointment was needed as it was an emergency and they acted immediately. They are very professional and efficient.  In 15 minutes we were finished.  Apparently dentistry is not covered in the medical program as it cost  $57.00 for the emergency services rendered.

Gelato

We like gelato.  Everywhere we have traveled we seek out the local gelato place and give it a try.

Gio's is Bonaire's gelato place.  The locals all go here and every tourist that comes to Bonaire gives it a try.  It has very good gelato.  

We like gelato so much that we make our own.

One of the appliances that we shipped to Bonaire was our gelato maker. We also brought boxes of Dutch cocoa that we ordered from Amazon. And guess what? They also have it here.

Gelato is made with milk, eggs and sugar. Since we don't speak Dutch and much of the translations to English are odd, we often find ourselves purchasing things that aren't right.  We usually use " Half & Half"  plus whole milk in our mixtures.  We thought " Half Volle Milk" was, in fact, "Half and Half".  It's not.  It's skim milk. 

Our translator does not always work in the grocery store and apparently our intuition is a little weak, as well. We have managed to locate American dairy products.

"Our" and "We" really means Rick.  It is quite a process making the custard, adding the flavoring, warming, cooling, and straining. When he is done, it goes in the gelato maker and the magic happens.

This batch was chocolate.  Flavoring included vermouth, orange peel and juice, and dark chocolate chunks.

We saved the Talenti brand gelato containers from our past eating experience in the US.  We  shipped the plastic containers as they are perfect for our (aka Rick's) gelato product. 

"We (Rick) are really cooking here, not just flopping turkeys" ~ Emeril Lagasse 

Lac Bay

Lac Bay is a huge, shallow inlet on the east side of Bonaire.  The reef lies at the mouth of the bay and stops the waves. Most of the bay water level is only about 4 feet.  You can walk the entire area which is 7 square kilometers but it is slow because you are wading through the water.  Mangroves cover the north end of the bay and is a nursery for fish and birds.

This is only 4 miles from our house.  It is the main wind surfing spot on the island. No boats allowed. However, when we were there there was no wind. It was super hot and muggy.

The Sorobon Resort houses rustic cabins right on the beach.  There is a great beach bar and lounge chairs from which you can see all the action. We ate lunch at the resort.  It was full of Dutch families on holiday. 

This time of year is a big holiday season on the island and ,I guess, in Holland as well.  There is Easter, Carnival, Kings Day (April 27), and Dia Di Rincon (which was cancelled due to Covid). Schools are out for almost a month for "Spring Break".

Usually this beach is packed with tourists.  This day, with no wind, the place looks deserted. We love deserted beaches.  We hung around for the afternoon and enjoyed solitude.