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| Bonaire Diving Photos |
Showing posts with label bonaire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bonaire. Show all posts
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Last Day in Bonaire
by Shelley
Since we couldn't dive our last day in Bonaire (due to flying the next day) we rented a car and went for a drive. Our main goal was to kayak among the mangroves. We stopped there first and booked a tour for the afternoon (you can't go on your own which is understandable as it would be very hard to find your way through the maze of the mangroves).
Our next stop was the butterfly farm because Andrew doesn't have enough butterfly photos! :-) Seriously though, it was pretty good in terms of the information the woman working there shared with us but they didn't have a whole lot of butterflies (certainly not like the one in Cayman). Nevertheless it was very relaxing just to sit and watch them and the birds especially since we were the only ones there. The koi fish were fun too. Apparently they like to be touched; if you put your hand in the water they come and suck on it (they don't have teeth). Andrew got some good photos of the iguanas outside as well.
We had lunch at Lac Bay beside the windsurfing place. It was very busy here as there is a fairly nice beach right beside the restaurant and bar. Lots of windsurfers out; most people spent more time in the water than actually on their boards but one guy was doing some pretty fancy tricks which was fun to watch.
We then drove the coastal road around the southern end of the island. It's quite flat and barren with plenty of cactus. We learned about the salt mine and its history. There are rows of slave huts along the road that were built in the 1850's. They're made of cement and are so small you'd have to get down on hands and knees to crawl inside. There are also four large obelisks spread out along the shoreline, each a different color. Ships would come in and the quality of salt they were picking up would dictate which color they stopped at.
The salt flats water was very colorful ranging from a bright pink to purple color depending how much salt was in it. Most of the salt now goes to Europe for salting icy roads but some is also used in cosmetics and an even smaller portion as table/cooking salt.
We then made our way back to the mangroves. Our guide was quite a knowledgeable young man who provided lots of interesting information about the area, how the mangroves benefit the environment, and the negative effects in areas where mangroves have been removed.
There were two other couples on the tour with us and we made our way single file through some of the channels that were so narrow you could barely paddle through them. We paddled across the windy inlet and snorkeled for a short time. There were a lot of upsidedown jellyfish and we saw a few other fish but with seven people in shallow water with a silty bottom it didn't take long to not be able to see much of anything!
All in all it was a good day. Next time we'll have to explore the northern part of the island!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
How Not to Run a Restaurant
Our least satisfying restaurant experience on this trip wasn't from some hole in the wall in remote Peru. Surprisingly, it came from our last night in Bonaire when we went to a restaurant that had been recommended to us - Richards.
We're always a little cautious about recommendations because a restaurant may be great and yet not have much for vegetarians. We checked the menu and there was almost nothing vegetarian so we stopped in and asked, since many restaurants will make something not on the menu. We were told "no problem", they could make rice, pasta, or potato dishes with vegetables.
So a few days later we went back for supper. The restaurant is in a lovely location, right on the water, facing the sunset and the waves. We started with a glass of wine and a Caesar salad, which was excellent.
The owner was circulating (at least his name was Richard and he was acting like the owner). We listened to him describe some of their dishes to the table behind us, going on about the spices and sauces and the creativity of the chef. My mouth was watering just listening to him.
But when our meals arrived it was a big disappointment. It was, literally, what they had told us - rice/pasta with vegetables. But that was it - no sauce, no spices, no flavor, no presentation. Just a pile of plain rice or plain pasta with some boiled vegetables beside it. Neither of us ate much of it. We drank our wine and ate the bread. Eventually the waitress asked if everything was alright and I said no and explained. She was young and taken aback and didn't know what to say. (I didn't get mad at her, just explained.)
Obviously, she told the owner because a bit later he told her (in front of us) not to charge us. But he pointedly avoided talking to us. If he had come and talked to us, with an explanation if not an apology, that would have gone a long way to appeasing us. They could have offered to make us something different. A free dessert wouldn't have hurt either. Getting the food we didn't like and didn't eat for free was better than nothing, but not really what we were looking for.
I'm not sure what the story was. Maybe the chef thinks vegetarians are stupid. I don't have a problem if a restaurant chooses not to cater to vegetarians - just say so up front. Don't tell us you'll serve us and then do a crappy job of it. It doesn't do either of us any good. We could easily have gone somewhere else. Or came here just for dessert.
It was especially bad in contrast with another restaurant we'd been to a few nights before - Appetite. They also had nothing vegetarian on their menu. They also told us they would come up with something for us. But, in contrast, their chef did an awesome job, serving us a delicious meal with a wonderful variety of ingredients, tastes, and presentation. (We love the local goat cheese.)
And another contrast was Sense, a restaurant we went back to s second time because we liked it so much. They didn't have to do anything special for vegetarians - they simply put enough vegetarian options on the menu to start with. Options that I'm sure lots of non-vegetarians took advantage of.
So, Richards has a great location, and may have good meat and seafood dishes, but if you're vegetarian I'd pass. And if you have a problem don't expect it to be handled with much finesse.
PS. After leaving Richards we walked into town to go to Bambu (another place we liked) for dessert, but they were closed :-( Restaurants here seem to close quite randomly and regularly.
So we went to the restaurant next door - La Luna (a place we hadn't tried) but when we asked if we could look at their dessert menu the waitress told us she was too busy to serve us, even though the restaurant was barely half full. And it was past the peak supper time by now.
We decided we were fighting a losing battle and went back to our room to pack.
We're always a little cautious about recommendations because a restaurant may be great and yet not have much for vegetarians. We checked the menu and there was almost nothing vegetarian so we stopped in and asked, since many restaurants will make something not on the menu. We were told "no problem", they could make rice, pasta, or potato dishes with vegetables.
So a few days later we went back for supper. The restaurant is in a lovely location, right on the water, facing the sunset and the waves. We started with a glass of wine and a Caesar salad, which was excellent.
The owner was circulating (at least his name was Richard and he was acting like the owner). We listened to him describe some of their dishes to the table behind us, going on about the spices and sauces and the creativity of the chef. My mouth was watering just listening to him.
But when our meals arrived it was a big disappointment. It was, literally, what they had told us - rice/pasta with vegetables. But that was it - no sauce, no spices, no flavor, no presentation. Just a pile of plain rice or plain pasta with some boiled vegetables beside it. Neither of us ate much of it. We drank our wine and ate the bread. Eventually the waitress asked if everything was alright and I said no and explained. She was young and taken aback and didn't know what to say. (I didn't get mad at her, just explained.)
Obviously, she told the owner because a bit later he told her (in front of us) not to charge us. But he pointedly avoided talking to us. If he had come and talked to us, with an explanation if not an apology, that would have gone a long way to appeasing us. They could have offered to make us something different. A free dessert wouldn't have hurt either. Getting the food we didn't like and didn't eat for free was better than nothing, but not really what we were looking for.
I'm not sure what the story was. Maybe the chef thinks vegetarians are stupid. I don't have a problem if a restaurant chooses not to cater to vegetarians - just say so up front. Don't tell us you'll serve us and then do a crappy job of it. It doesn't do either of us any good. We could easily have gone somewhere else. Or came here just for dessert.
It was especially bad in contrast with another restaurant we'd been to a few nights before - Appetite. They also had nothing vegetarian on their menu. They also told us they would come up with something for us. But, in contrast, their chef did an awesome job, serving us a delicious meal with a wonderful variety of ingredients, tastes, and presentation. (We love the local goat cheese.)
And another contrast was Sense, a restaurant we went back to s second time because we liked it so much. They didn't have to do anything special for vegetarians - they simply put enough vegetarian options on the menu to start with. Options that I'm sure lots of non-vegetarians took advantage of.
So, Richards has a great location, and may have good meat and seafood dishes, but if you're vegetarian I'd pass. And if you have a problem don't expect it to be handled with much finesse.
PS. After leaving Richards we walked into town to go to Bambu (another place we liked) for dessert, but they were closed :-( Restaurants here seem to close quite randomly and regularly.
So we went to the restaurant next door - La Luna (a place we hadn't tried) but when we asked if we could look at their dessert menu the waitress told us she was too busy to serve us, even though the restaurant was barely half full. And it was past the peak supper time by now.
We decided we were fighting a losing battle and went back to our room to pack.
Bonaire Tidbits
by Shelley
The first indication of a multi-lingual country is the signage which, in Bonaire, is a strange mixture of Dutch, Spanish and English. Many times we saw restaurant servers move from table to table, effortlessly speaking a different language at each one! Pretty impressive! (But don't bother applying for a job dealing with tourists unless you speak at least three languages!)
I got a chuckle out of one of the local kid's t-shirts that said "a pirate ate my homework"!
I think it may have just been the place we were diving with (Carib Inn) but never before have we been with so many experienced divers. Most of them didn't follow the guide but went off in their pairs or even singles. Usually everyone hovers around the guide and things get crowded. Having said that, Bonaire is a fairly easy place to navigate most dives. Go out along the side of the reef, come back on the top edge of the reef, safety "stop" while you're coming back, and then spot the boat anchor. Andrew and I even did two dives on our own (first time), one of them a night dive. Both went well!
The other thing we noticed both diving and eating out in the evenings is that we could definitely be considered the youngsters here! I dont think it's a whole lot more expensive to get here and staying and eating is certainly more reasonable than many other places we've been to. It's quiet which is great for us but may not appeal to the young party crowd.
Many people come here year after year. Pretty much all of the other people diving with Carib had been here before. Some of them 10 plus years! And for longer holidays - two guys from Denver were here for four weeks.
The divemasters were also not the young nomadic dive bums you see at a lot of places. Ralf (my instructor for the advanced course) was by far the youngest of the Carib divemasters and I'm guessing he's mid thirty's; he moved here from Germany 10 years ago and is married with three kids. The other two dive masters we had were women in their 50's, one possibly in her 60's - hard to tell for sure. They'd both been with Carib for years. I'm sure that's part of the appeal for return visitors; knowing the people and knowing what to expect.
Monday, January 25, 2010
A Good Day Diving
We had another good day of diving today (in Bonaire). In the morning we went out on our own (first time) from shore. It's not the best reef but there were still tons of fish and a moray eel and even a small sea turtle. Frustratingly, when I went to take pictures of the turtle, my camera said "please change the battery". Argh! We managed to go out and back and return to exactly the right spot (not always as easy as you might think underwater).
Waiting to go out on the boat in the afternoon, a group of dolphins showed up and we watched them from shore and then from the boat as we headed out. It's always nice to see them.
On our afternoon dive we saw a seahorse, the first one we'd seen in the wild and not in an aquarium. It was in a hole in the coral and everyone was crowding around to see it, so no photos unfortunately. As Shelley puts it, people were standing on her head to get in to see it.
And then on the way back we saw another sea turtle and this time I got some photos. It was another small one (maybe 15 inches) but for a change it was swimming towards us instead of heading away. It passed a few feet under me. Very nice.
And as usual here, a zillion fish. There are so many different ones and often males and females are quite different (like the Stoplight Parrotfish) and often juveniles are quite different from adults. To complicate things some of them change sex. And we're only trying to identify the bigger ones, there are a ton of smaller ones too. There's nothing like it on land - you might see a flock of birds or a cloud of insects but not so many different kinds at once and close up, all around you.
It's really hard to take good photographs. I'd like a better underwater camera, but as usual, it's not just the camera, it's the photographer. Everything is always moving - you're moving, the fish are moving, the soft coral is moving. And there's not much light so you have slow shutter speeds, large apertures, and high iso - a recipe for blurry photos. Many of the creatures don't like being approached too closely. The Christmas Tree worms are a good example - as soon as you move in for a close up, they disappear. And even when the visibility is good (as it has been here) it's seldom clear enough to use telephoto, you pretty much have to get close. So my diving photos are not what I'd like, the equivalent of tourist snapshots. But it's fun to take them anyway. And it helps to identify the fish afterwards.
Waiting to go out on the boat in the afternoon, a group of dolphins showed up and we watched them from shore and then from the boat as we headed out. It's always nice to see them.
On our afternoon dive we saw a seahorse, the first one we'd seen in the wild and not in an aquarium. It was in a hole in the coral and everyone was crowding around to see it, so no photos unfortunately. As Shelley puts it, people were standing on her head to get in to see it.
And then on the way back we saw another sea turtle and this time I got some photos. It was another small one (maybe 15 inches) but for a change it was swimming towards us instead of heading away. It passed a few feet under me. Very nice.
And as usual here, a zillion fish. There are so many different ones and often males and females are quite different (like the Stoplight Parrotfish) and often juveniles are quite different from adults. To complicate things some of them change sex. And we're only trying to identify the bigger ones, there are a ton of smaller ones too. There's nothing like it on land - you might see a flock of birds or a cloud of insects but not so many different kinds at once and close up, all around you.
It's really hard to take good photographs. I'd like a better underwater camera, but as usual, it's not just the camera, it's the photographer. Everything is always moving - you're moving, the fish are moving, the soft coral is moving. And there's not much light so you have slow shutter speeds, large apertures, and high iso - a recipe for blurry photos. Many of the creatures don't like being approached too closely. The Christmas Tree worms are a good example - as soon as you move in for a close up, they disappear. And even when the visibility is good (as it has been here) it's seldom clear enough to use telephoto, you pretty much have to get close. So my diving photos are not what I'd like, the equivalent of tourist snapshots. But it's fun to take them anyway. And it helps to identify the fish afterwards.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Diving in Bonaire
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| Bonaire 2010 Underwater |
by Shelley
We're staying at the Sonrisa which is a fairly new small place and is very nice with a big spacious room. It's not right on the water but only a 2 minute walk to the beach, less than 5 minutes to where we're diving, and maybe 10 minutes to the centre of town.
After one day to find our way around and recover from a long day/late night getting here we started our diving.
Andrew already has his advanced certification and I figured this would be a great opportunity for me to get mine. We're diving with Bruce Bowker's Carib Inn which was recommended to us by friends who have been here a few times.
I'm taking the advanced course from an excellent instructor named Ralf (German). You have to choose 5 out of about 8 topics with navigation and a deep dive being mandatory. I started with "peak performance buoyancy" and despite thinking that my buoyancy totally sucks, I did fairly well on the practical test part of the dive. Next was the "naturalist" dive so beforehand Ralf brought out a book showing photos
of some of the local fish, hard and soft corals, and various other reef creatures. My job was to try to spot them once we got into the water. I have to confess that Ralf pointed out more than I identified on my own but we did see a good variety of interesting things, especially some of the very small things such as sea pearls, various shrimp, fuzz balls, and nudibranchs.
Today was the deep dive (amazing how colors change at depth) and the navigation dive. Ralf and I got a special treat seeing a spotted eagle ray and a southern sting ray just before we arrived back to the boat. Mark Rosin (my friend and Saskatoon's resident orienteering expert and teacher) will be happy to know I kicked butt on the navigation dive! I didn't tell Ralf beforehand that I knew a little bit about navigation just in case I totally messed it up! :-)
Tomorrow morning is the wreck dive which should be fun too. Then things will be a bit more relaxed as we do more diving. Andrew has either tagged along with me or gone off with other divers while I do the course dives. Most of the diving so far has been quite shallow - it's awesome to be able to stay in for so long (over an hour) without running out of air, having such clear beautiful water to dive in, and
an abundance of fish et al to look at and look for!
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