Epic trip 2012 - Key West and Bonaire diving
Ach, I have been remiss in posting pictures from our Epic Trip! We went to Bonaire in the Netherlands Antilles, via Key West, in order to check out what has been called the best SCUBA diving in the world.
This was not the best air travel in the world, however. When we arrived on Curacao from Key West, we found that the flight on DAE to Bonaire was cancelled.
After a few hours of waiting, we got seven of us loaded onto a little prop plane, finding places in the wings and behind the seats for our bags.
I got to say hi to some of our tax dollars. We have a permanent Air Force base on Curacao.
This is one of those planes where I really felt like the Coyote - if I looked down, gravity would realize we were up there and pull us back down.
I kept my eyes up, and we landed safely at Flamingo Airport in Kralendijk.
We were told that Kralendijk was so small that there was only one stoplight. I have to say, that isn't true. I never saw a stoplight.
And the authorities were almost polite.
We are such American tourists. We were walking past a bar that served food, and we saw a cop standing next to the table with a pad out. We thought, oh, how nice! The cop is helping to take orders! We walked in, and the proprietor explained to us that they were getting shut down and we might want to eat somewhere else. :p
We found somewhere else to eat, on the main drag.
The next day was a two-dive day. The reef was just incredible. We went off of a cliff and fell to 100ft, and the reef just kept going and going, as far as the eye could see. A few GoPro pics. I can always tell Neal with his nice bright yellow fins:
The next dive had equally dazzling coral and fish.
We relaxed the rest of the day in our little room, took a jog when the sun went down, and woke nice and early for our next dive.
Hi!
Shy moray. (Is that an anti-social moray?)
Shy seahorse.
You can dive anywhere here. We actually just took our gear, walked out of our room, and dove past the boats moored at the marina. There was coral everywhere.
Puffer.
Back on shore. Lizards were everywhere.
We took a little drive around the island. First, downtown Kralendijk.
Then a drive around the rest of the island.
This is one fence I'm not going to climb over.
The local dialect is called Papamiento. We tried to pick up a few words. One of them was 'Thank You,' which is Danki, which I kept saying about like Shrek yelling "DOKEH!" There were plenty of them by the roads, and I yelled that at them.
Electric moto!
Has Bill Clinton seen this?
One last shore dive.
The sunsets were beautiful.
For our last day, while we decompressed, we took a trip through the one state park. Who knew there would be so many cactuses on this tropical island? So many that this was the sign on the men's room at the state park.
If they want to do Rally Bonaire, they have some roads.
I have no idea. But I like it.
We flew back to Key West, and found ourselves at a concert featuring a New Orleans band.
And some drag shows.
And the queens letting the straight boys try out their boots.
And fat tourists crashing electric carts into liquor stores.
And stately cocks.
And giant chess boards.
When I was younger, I thought travel was something other people did. Neal is showing me that it's something we can do together, and see things I've only read about. More epic trips to come!
This was not the best air travel in the world, however. When we arrived on Curacao from Key West, we found that the flight on DAE to Bonaire was cancelled.
After a few hours of waiting, we got seven of us loaded onto a little prop plane, finding places in the wings and behind the seats for our bags.
I got to say hi to some of our tax dollars. We have a permanent Air Force base on Curacao.
This is one of those planes where I really felt like the Coyote - if I looked down, gravity would realize we were up there and pull us back down.
I kept my eyes up, and we landed safely at Flamingo Airport in Kralendijk.
We were told that Kralendijk was so small that there was only one stoplight. I have to say, that isn't true. I never saw a stoplight.
And the authorities were almost polite.
We are such American tourists. We were walking past a bar that served food, and we saw a cop standing next to the table with a pad out. We thought, oh, how nice! The cop is helping to take orders! We walked in, and the proprietor explained to us that they were getting shut down and we might want to eat somewhere else. :p
We found somewhere else to eat, on the main drag.
The next day was a two-dive day. The reef was just incredible. We went off of a cliff and fell to 100ft, and the reef just kept going and going, as far as the eye could see. A few GoPro pics. I can always tell Neal with his nice bright yellow fins:
The next dive had equally dazzling coral and fish.
We relaxed the rest of the day in our little room, took a jog when the sun went down, and woke nice and early for our next dive.
Hi!
Shy moray. (Is that an anti-social moray?)
Shy seahorse.
You can dive anywhere here. We actually just took our gear, walked out of our room, and dove past the boats moored at the marina. There was coral everywhere.
Puffer.
Back on shore. Lizards were everywhere.
We took a little drive around the island. First, downtown Kralendijk.
Then a drive around the rest of the island.
This is one fence I'm not going to climb over.
The local dialect is called Papamiento. We tried to pick up a few words. One of them was 'Thank You,' which is Danki, which I kept saying about like Shrek yelling "DOKEH!" There were plenty of them by the roads, and I yelled that at them.
Electric moto!
Has Bill Clinton seen this?
One last shore dive.
The sunsets were beautiful.
For our last day, while we decompressed, we took a trip through the one state park. Who knew there would be so many cactuses on this tropical island? So many that this was the sign on the men's room at the state park.
If they want to do Rally Bonaire, they have some roads.
I have no idea. But I like it.
We flew back to Key West, and found ourselves at a concert featuring a New Orleans band.
And some drag shows.
And the queens letting the straight boys try out their boots.
And fat tourists crashing electric carts into liquor stores.
And stately cocks.
And giant chess boards.
When I was younger, I thought travel was something other people did. Neal is showing me that it's something we can do together, and see things I've only read about. More epic trips to come!