Visitors

We have had a steady stream of visitors this summer. We like to commemorate arrivals with a photo.

The is BJ and Jim friends from Denver who visited in May. They reminded us that Bonaire is a beautiful place.
 

Son Phil, Daughter-in-Law Eliza and Grandson JB visited in April.  Seeing our grandson experience snorkeling for the first time was priceless.  Sharing our island with them was a visit we will cherish forever.  

My old friend, Kathy, from our water skiing days and her son, Justin, came in June as a second visit to Bonaire.  We ate and drank everything Bonaire has to offer.  They reminded us that we live in Paradise and that friendships can last 40 years plus.

Grandson Donovan came for a couple of weeks. It was his Christmas gift from us to get scuba certified.  We had to work to keep up with him. We were busy diving, snorkeling, kayaking, land sailing, swimming and eating. It was great to get to spend time with him.  He reminded us that we are not old, just out of shape.

It's been a great summer of visitors and we look forward to sharing our island with future visitors.

Mules

Mules: humans that carry goods (sometimes contraband) to those of us who miss American goods and need them hand carried. 

Our mules have gone to great lengths to bring us goods. They have frozen food items carried in cold packs in their luggage, brought extra suitcases filled with requested stuff and even surprised us with special goodies. 

I needed aluminum foil because I can only get Chinese foil that is paper thin.  I asked for Reynolds Wrap that I thought would be one roll of 50 feet.  Instead, I got two rolls of 500 feet each. The luggage weighted a ton and required checking instead of carry on. I will never need to buy foil again!

I asked some friends who where traveling to the US for a short trip to bring back Vitamin B-12. My buyers (mules) had many questions including the size, liquid or capsules, three pack or just one bottle. I need to know more about what I am asking for before I expect my mules to make purchases.

One mule brought me a surprise of green chili from Santiago's in Arvada.  We loved it so much that the next visitor who came was asked to bring more green chili.  It became their mission to find it and bring it to me.  This was not without difficulty.  It was hard to find due to supply, they used a cold pack to carry it and even put it in a freezer in Miami on a layover.  They brought not one but two packages of green chili. The mission was completed. I now have a freezer full of green chili.

And then there are the surprises. Our recent mules brought our favorite girl scout cookies. It one of those things that we just can't get on the island. It's very American to have girl scout cookies. What a nice surprise! 

Sometimes you just need an Amazon delivery to make your day.  The Baggallini was a welcomed replacement for my worn out cross body bag.  Mules lend their address for shopping and then hand carry the Amazon order to Bonaire.  It's not one day delivery but it is still magical to receive an order within a week. 

Dutch chocolate is good but not as good as the orange chocolate we add to Rick's gelato.  This was hand carried by a Mule (visitor), two actually, at our request. It's our favorited chocolate.  Now we have a supply that should last us a week or two. 

Thank you to all The Mules that have transported goods to Bonaire.  We love your visits and the all the stuff you bring! 

Land Critters

We have a herd of wild goats that have been hanging around our neighborhood. They are very shy and run away the minute they see us.  They eat everything.  We often see them on their hind legs eating leaves off the tops of bushes. Their free roaming numbers are an ecological issue for the island.

Most of the frogs sleep during the day and come out at night.  They sleep in our plants, flower pots and behind furniture.  I have even caught them sleeping behind the pillows in the cabana.  This guy was out during the day.  He must be a wild teenager and is out partying during the day while the family is sleeping. 

This handsome fellow is a Caracara, the only bird of prey we have on the island.    We often see this one from our house  with a fish in his beak eating dinner around twilight. He is of the Falcon family. We often hear them as they enter the area. Very majestic. 

The crazy parrots are always a source of amusement and frustrations.  As you may recall the "Mango Wars" in a previous blog details the constant watch to save our mangos. The parrots hang upside down on the wires for our amusement.  They are always in pairs and they come early morning and late evening as there is a roost nearby. They are loud and raucous as they enter our yard and do fly bys....casing the joint for mangos

There are many different lizards on Bonaire. The large iguanas, Blue Whiptail lizards (locally known as Blau-Blau's or Blue-Blues in English) which are medium sized lizards and then these gray guys that are small lizards.  I can seldom get photos of lizards because they move too fast and seldom pose of me. 

The iguanas start out bright green, like Kermit green. They age into gray green with black stripes.  They are notorious for visiting pools and lounging in and around them. Our wall keep the iguanas out of our garden.

The progeny of donkeys left by the Spaniards and Dutch who farmed and mined the island are still here in large numbers.  There are 800 + donkeys in the donkey sanctuary and another 1,000 freely roaming. They too create an ecological problem because their numbers can't be sustained on the island without damage to the soil and plant life. Although cute and loved by the tourists, they have a tough life on the island with little to eat and limited fresh water.

Our famous flamingos, which are protected so well that you can't get photos of them, are native to Bonaire.  They fly back and forth to Venezuela.  The scientists recently discovered that the flocks in both country are linked as they share breeding grounds and mates. Once in a while, we are lucky enough to see a few near the road where we can get a photo. 
 

Rum Week

Rick really enjoyed Rum Week this year. 

This is the second annual Rum Week on Bonaire.  Rum makers from throughout the Caribbean (one from the Netherlands) bring rum to the island for us to taste. Every night of the week they have events at the resorts where you can drink (I mean taste) rum for free!

Rick tasted everything...a number of times.  We really liked the blonde Rum, sherry cast Rum and the coconut Rum. We liked the coconut Rum so much that we had seconds, thirds, fourths....you get the idea.

Rick talked to the distillers, organizers and everyone else. He sampled everything many times and made friends with all the servers.  He was the life of the party.

 

The venues were spectacular with views of the sea and sunsets. Our local distillery, Cadushy, sponsored a rum tasting and featured their premium Rums.  We tasted them all and stayed for dinner at the resort. By this time Rick was a little off and drank water most of the evening.

By the end of the week Rick was out.  He gave it his all and then crashed.  We got him home and he crawled to the chaise lounge and spent most of the night outside trying to recover from having such a good time.

To remember this momentous event, he purchased a ball cap, t-Shirt and poster after drinking many, many, many samples. 

We had a great time at Rum Week and look forward to next year.  I think we can only live through this event once a year.

Tex-Mex

We love fixing rum and Pepsi Max drinks on Friday nights.  This cocktail goes really well with Tex-Mex.  We have tried many rums and have found that we like spiced rum the best for mixing cocktails.  This next week we will be attending Rum Week here in Bonaire.  It's advertised as the biggest rum week in the Caribbean.  Hopefully, we will find some more rum for our weekly ritual.

One of the foods we miss from the States is Tex-Mex. We can't buy tomatillos, jalapenos with flavor or refried beans. Our restaurants do not serve Mexican food.  Our friends make authentic Mexican food but we feel bad inviting ourselves to their house to cook for us all the time. 

One of my good friends who recently visited brought green chili from Santiago's, a Colorado Mexican restaurant, as a leave behind gift. Rick and I planned all week to have burritos with green chili.  We shopped for the stuff we like, we cooked together, had some drinks and used the green chili.

These were some of the best burritos we have had in the last two years. It's all because of the gift of the luscious, spicey green chili. They were so good that we had some the next day too!

It was one of the best meals we had since we came to the island. YUM YUM YUM

 

Moon Shadows

Friday nights are our time to have a couple (or more) rum and cokes and enjoy ourselves by the pool. Last night was no exception except there was a full moon and a clear sky.

We finished our drinks and headed to the beach to see the Milky Way. We thought it would be a perfect clear night to see the stars. Our drinking apparently clouded our brain power.  The full moon was so bright that we couldn't see the Milky Way. It did, however, light up the beach.  We had a great time taking moon shadow pictures.

It took me a while to figure out the "Night Sight" feature on my phone. This is a photo of the beach with the lights of Salt Pier on the horizon with the full moon up in the sky.

We set up chairs and gazed at the stars.  It was a perfect night to be at the beach. Venus is low in the sky but very bright.  The moon lit up the sand and waves.  Rick is night blind but it was so bright that he could see everything.  He also had his famous head lamp and flashlight with him.  His phone app of the stars was a perfect addition for us to identify the constellations.  My favorite, The Southern Cross, was easily to see as were the Big Dipper, Centaurs, and Gemini.

What would the night be without a selfie? The full moon was overhead.  Perfect end to a great night at the beach.

 

Laundromat

Our little Dutch washing machine just can't handle towels. It has shut down several times with wet towels inside.  We called the repair man but he is in Holland on holiday and won't be back for a month. I had a bunch of towels to be washed to get ready for my next set of guests. These circumstances forced me to go to the Lavanderia (laundromat).

Things have changed since the last time I was in a laundromat which was when I was in college.  We used to do wash with four quarters. On Bonaire a large wash cost me $10.00 and dry was $8.25.  This does not include folding according to the sign. At this laundromat you pay your money to the attendant and she turns on the machine.  No feeding quarters into the slots. 

It was interesting to me that the machines' instructions are all in English. I happen to have a Dutch washing machine with instructions in Dutch.  How does this happen?

 

Boats

There are some interesting boats/ships/yachts that come to dock at Bonaire.  

This one is "Game Changer" owned by Karen Lo the heiress to the Vitasoy (soy milk) fortune from Japan.

Billionaire (owner of the video game company Valve) Gabe Newell's yacht "Rocinante" docked here for a day or so.

Bonaire can only accommodate two ships at a time at the piers.  With a cargo ship in port, sometimes these yachts have to anchor in the ocean.

A Green Peace boat the "Arctic Sunrise" was in port for a week.  They opened up for tours.

We often see coast guard ships from the Dutch Navy that dock here in between their duties catching drug runners and illegals from South America.

The "Melissa"  a wooden ketch, is a permanent resident in the Bonaire Harbor.  She sails a nightly gourmet dinner cruise. We have been on her several times and its a delight to see the island from the sea.

Yesterday we were out on a snorkel and dinner cruise with our visitors.  We came across another sail boat full of our gang and they took this shot of Rick and I on our boat.

 

Blackout Drapes

Our bedroom faces east.  We have this beautiful sliding glass door that opens up to our patio. The house came with a lovely sheer curtain that covers the sliding glass window but does not block the sun.

In the mornings, around 6:30 am the rising sun blasts Rick out of bed (I sleep on the other side and I am not affected by the sun).  This has gone on for the two years that we have lived in this house.  It was time to do something about this for Rick's sake.  I looked all over for black out drapes but couldn't find the right size or the type of drapery I wanted. I found a custom drapery guy that ordered my drapes from the Netherlands.  It's been 3 months since the order was placed and they are finally here.

The installer came and put up a new double rod for the old and new drapes.  The interior designer guy measured the length of the new drapes and sent them off to be hemmed.  In two days he came back to hang the drapes.

We now have beautiful blackout curtains. No more getting blasted out of bed at the crack of dawn.  We can sleep in!

Dia di Rincon

Dia di Rincon is an annual event in the oldest town on Bonaire.  Rincon was a slave town in the 1600's but now all the island politicians live in this town.  The streets are paved in Rincon.  They have sidewalks and paved streets.  Unlike the rest of the island that has dirt roads, pot holed pavement and no sidewalks or nice streets. Typical for the banana republic on Bonaire.

But enough whining.  After all, we live in paradise. 
 

Dia di Rincon was a blast. A bunch of us got together at a snack bar and had a great time.  We drank beer, ate festival food, visited, took lots of pictures and thoroughly enjoyed the day.  The highlight was the parade.  Their costumes are wonderful and the music was loud.  Best way to share the day is through photos.

Men and women, girls and boys, young and old all dressed in group outfits, danced and sang their way through the streets of Rincon.  The streets are lined with tourists, locals and expats that cheered the groups, sang to the music and danced.  You will often see people on the sidewalks enter the parade to dance with their friends. 

This party starts at 8:00 am and goes well into the night.  They party in the streets and have live bands in the parks. the parade has huge trucks with bands playing.  Their speakers will blow you away...literally. We have been to Dia di Rincon before and it keeps getting bigger and better.

All the parade groups are drinking water and adult beverages as they dance down the street.  The drink carts (made from shopping carts) follow each group and are decorated to match the dancers.