Caribbean Note I

We’ve been here on the island for five weeks and miss you all. We have to thank Facebook for the contact we’ve had with you and enjoy seeing your posts from time to time. I decided I wouldn’t burden you with a weekly note this trip but I do want to know how you’re all getting along and want you to know that we think about you every day. Our news is as usual; all good.

We arrived to daily rain and opened the house in a downpour. We met our neighbor next door and found he was selling his house, so we made him an offer which he rejected out of hand without even a counter offer. We hope to have another shot after he comes back to planet earth.

We arrived in time for Karnival (think Rio) with all the Fat Tuesday fun and a big costumed parade through town. But we finally settled down to diving and got our gear together (including my Nimbus 2000) and did our checkout dives in preparation for our first round of guests.

We have been kicking around the scuba circuit for years and we were glad to have them come for a visit. We did a bunch of dives while they were here and were surprised to see that the lionfish were waaaaaay more numerous and much bigger than when we were here last Fall. Our friends were great guests and we had a wonderful week.

Around the middle of March, Berit and I signed contracts with Stinapa and Bonaire Marine Park and were issued spearguns (the wee ELF – Eliminate LionFish) and became official lionfish hunters, authorized to catch, eat and even sell any lionfish we can find. Kind of like Buffalo Bill and Calamity Jane; we’re the new law in these parts. Our total catch now is fifty-four including some nice sized fish which Berit cooks for dinner or happy-hour snacks. One of the fish refused to go quietly and while Berit was bagging him the little sucker stung her in the palm of her hand. The spines are venomous and the sting is very painful, but not usually life threatening unless allergic to the venom, but she not only finished bagging the fish, but took him home, fried him in butter and coconut oil and ate him. So I guess the score is Michael and Berit: 54 - lionfish: 1. We now have a safer strategy for bagging them so don’t expect the fish to “get the upper hand” again.

We had a week between the first visit and round two of guests. We used the time to get the patio painted (still in the rain) but it really made a difference and the house looks pretty nice now even though we still have the garden wall out front to finish painting.

Our visitors left yesterday and the time they were here was all about diving during the day and playing cards during the evening. The ladies were taken for sisters by everyone we met and we finally had a chance to hike up Mount Brandaris, the highest peak (700’) on Bonaire. It was like the scene from that Tom Hanks movie where he was stranded on the island and climbed the tallest point and could see the entire island, North, South, East and West with ocean all around; very cool. We also celebrated Berit’s Birthday at one of her favorite restaurants and did a night dive where our lights filtered blue ultra violet and we wore amber lenses over our masks to reveal all the florescence of the coral and reef critters; also very cool.

Didn’t mean to torture you with such a long note; maybe a few short letters are better than such a long one. Anyway, we’re into our chores zone now and will be attacking the long list of things that need doing. It’s been nice to have filled March with vacation fun, but April will be balanced with work. And now that the rain has stopped, the painting will get done.