Staying Salty

We are so grateful for our fun in the sun and continued under sea adventures. Both David and I spend time in the water most everyday… definitely daily for David thus far. I was able to check some more snorkel/dive sites off my list this week along with my snorkeling buddy from Amsterdam. We had a blast and saw quite a bit of turtle activity as well as lots of parrotfish, sergeant majors, an angry looking spotted barracuda (his spots looked like leopard spots), what I believe was a small golden moray eel and so many different types of coral. We also saw a couple flounder fish with amazing camouflage. Those poor fish look like someone squished them flat and their eyes popped up on the top of their head and a fin sprouted in the middle of what I think is their back. While it was all wonderful, the turtles at Salt Pier and Klein were a definite favorite.

David and I were able to spend time together in the water on a trip to Klein Bonaire. David dove and I snorkeled. The sites we went to were amazing. We saw so many fish, magnificent coral, including some of the largest elkhorn coral I’ve ever seen and 2 very different reef structures. One had a gradual slope and the other was along a large wall and looked like it went down into the abyss. Both sites had amazing visibility! I enjoyed taking pictures of the divers as I was able to follow them on the surface as they did their safety (decompression) swim to the surface. Please enjoy the many underwater fotos. :)

There were 3 cruise ships that visited Bonaire this past week. These ships were smaller than the 6,400 passenger one the week prior but still had capacity for 2,500 - 4,600 passengers. All 3 ships originated in Florida and included a tour of the ABC Islands. As a lover of all things psychology/social psychology related, seeing a mass of people descend upon downtown Kralendijk was fascinating! There was much shopping, driving, dining, exploring, imbibing, and swimming done by many. I joined the masses one day and went into a store that is only open on cruise days and it was fun. While standing in line to check out, I observed a very ‘colorful’ display of condoms aptly named “Funny Condoms”. While prophylactics are not a typical topic for me, please enjoy the clever, and somewhat naughty, packaging. ;) Also, no more cruise ships until mid October.

I’m continuing my weekly patrol trips to Klein with the Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire group. This week we had a lot of activity. One morning, we saw evidence that 2 nests had recently hatched. When this happens, staff need to do a gentle excavation of the nests to collect data on hatch success which involves counting the egg shells, eggs that didn’t hatch, and making sure all the baby turtles made it out of the nest, etc. It’s not uncommon to find a turtle or two who need a little help getting out of the nest. Six baby turtles were found; 5 in one nest and 1 in another! It was lovely to see the little ones make their way to the ocean and swim away. I must say, a turtle's entry into the world takes a lot of work; from climbing out of a nest (one this week was 19 inches deep), traversing rocks, coral and sand to get to the water and avoiding predators on their journey is a lot to contend with at birth. The awesome crew at BSTC is doing a wonderful job giving turtles their best chance possible without interfering with Mother Nature. Per Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire, thus far the 2023 nesting season has resulted in the following:

• 98 confirmed nests on Bonaire (61 of which were on Klein Bonaire)

• 56 nests that have hatched

• 5,831 hatchlings have made it out of their nests…WOW!!!

I am still loving my AquaFit class with Kelly from FitFor Life Athletics. It is so fun, my fellow attendees are lovely and the time passes quickly. The workouts are varied and we never know what to expect other than a workout that involves fun, smiles, laughs and splashing. Here are a few fun names for some of our exercises:

• Flying buzzard

• Frog leaps

• Peter Pan

• Rainbow

• Honey Bunny

• Mermaid

• Merman

• Clams

After one of the classes I treated myself to another day at the resort. I had a glorious pool to myself until about 2:30 pm when two other people joined. A great day for sure.

This & That:

• The temperature remains HOT here with highs at 88/90 degrees with another 10 degrees added to the ‘feels like’ temp based on the humidity. I appreciate the ocean breeze when it’s present.

• At only 30 some days in, we burnt up a pedestal fan. I’m not sure if this was due to overuse or from being plugged into a converter. Regardless, it was tragic. Replacing the fan became our (my) highest priority and after a couple stores, we found success (and relief).

  • Note: we have AC in the bedrooms but not in the rest of the apartment. I find I need the fan directly on me when in the kitchen or on our balcony.

• I’m not sure if I’ve shared this before but we do not have a TV…so far it’s not been missed (too much). We did use the laptop to watch a Netflix nature documentary, ‘A Life On Our Planet by David Attenborough’...which I highly recommend.

• I saw mayonnaise in a tube (like a toothpaste tube) in several stores. I never knew there could be SO many varieties of mayonnaise (foto included).

• Miscellaneous things we’ve learned:

  • To double check our dive boots, hiking shoes etc before putting them on lest we have a startling encounter with a baby lizard.

  • An appreciation for mosquito netting over the bed. I find it helps not only with flies and mosquitos but also in making me think mini lizards won’t crawl on me while I sleep.

  • The need and benefit of ear drying drops. It’s essentially 95% alcohol and it makes a world of difference when you’re underwater so much.

Hugs and love to our family and friends back home.

With much gratitude.

#bonaireturtles

#bonaire

#bonaireisland

#bonairetourism

#divefriends

#fitforlifeathletics