Life on Planet Bonaire
Kirstin and I had just arrived in Bonaire and were desperately seeking food. We faithfully followed the signs advertising an Indonesian restaurant to the second floor of a small building...........curses ! closed. Then we bumbled into "Norca's Cafe". OK, let's give it a shot.
Norca (unsurprisingly, the proprietor) came out. "Hi, I'm Norca. Let me tell you about the island. Dutch families come here to vacation........Venezuelan women come here to work..........Columbian young ladies come to work too, but in the "gentleman's club" where for $40 US they'll do anything". And it's legal here, by the way.
Gulp.
By now, Kirstin and I are staring dumbfounded at Norca.......this is way, way, beyond too much information. I tried to act disinterested as she continued.........
"Yeah, it's so bad that the locals and the single Dutch men go to the airport and wait for the flight from Bogota. They pick out the girl(s) they want right there. If you look around, you will see a lot of Dutch men with very young Columbian women. By the way, the special today is arepas".
Dead silence........"Uh, we'll have the arepas, please".
Everything about Bonaire is a little bit different. There is the topography (very flat, yet volcanic) - kind of like the Arizona desert meets the rockier beaches of Florida. Most of the island is completely uninhabited - except by large cactus. Lots of critters roam the island (donkeys, wild pigs, and of course lots of lizards and iguanas of every description). Salt is the second biggest industry here after tourism. Even the sea is different........the depth goes from 40 ft to 1000 ft in about 1 boatlength; watch that first step into the dinghy !!!
Best of all are the restaurants. Bonaire has the cheapest happy hour in the Caribbean (wine is $3 and half liter beers are $2.50). There are loads of ethnic restaurants here, from Chinese to Italian and even some you wouldn't expect..........Suriname or Javanese food, anyone?
We're just delighted to be here and have been using our bikes almost every day.
We've gotten so much positive feedback on our "fun factoids" that we've decided to make it a more regular feature................true/false........78% of University of Alabama engineering majors believe that Holland and the Netherlands are two geographically distinct countries in Europe........and were surprised to hear they've never met in an international soccer match.
Norca (unsurprisingly, the proprietor) came out. "Hi, I'm Norca. Let me tell you about the island. Dutch families come here to vacation........Venezuelan women come here to work..........Columbian young ladies come to work too, but in the "gentleman's club" where for $40 US they'll do anything". And it's legal here, by the way.
Gulp.
By now, Kirstin and I are staring dumbfounded at Norca.......this is way, way, beyond too much information. I tried to act disinterested as she continued.........
"Yeah, it's so bad that the locals and the single Dutch men go to the airport and wait for the flight from Bogota. They pick out the girl(s) they want right there. If you look around, you will see a lot of Dutch men with very young Columbian women. By the way, the special today is arepas".
Dead silence........"Uh, we'll have the arepas, please".
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| Yes, that water is pink - salt pan in Bonaire |
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| Wild donkeys everywhere |
We're just delighted to be here and have been using our bikes almost every day.
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| The volcanic "beach" on Bonaire's east side |