Category Archives: Vacations

Another lazy day

February 20, 2015 Maurice Leave a comment

We spent most of the morning on our lanai, enjoying the coffee, the view, the heat and the sun. That’s pretty much our morning, most days. Then we get moving for a leisurely swim. We drove around the coast and noticed how low the tide was! It made certain beaches more treacherous to enter so we headed back into downtown and jumped in around the main dock.

We’ve not really been in the water here, and while it was really cool, there was too much sandy beach! haha But wow, the stuff we saw! I’ve uploaded this movie of a scrawled filefish. This is usually a very shy fish and moves away when you come close. But as you can see from the movie, this guy wanted an up close and personal interview!

And then – we saw something that I didn’t even think was possible. We have seen MANY and I mean MANY moray eels. The purple-spotted morays we’ve seen have all been around two feet, some less, some slightly larger. Well today we saw one that was bigger than the biggest green moray we’ve ever seen! Just never knew they could grow that big – and our fish book says they can’t! So there….

For dinner, we decided to eat at a place called Donna Giorgio’s Trattoria. Well, put it on your list! Terrific little restaurant, done in a jazz-influenced way, with a tip of the fedora to the Bossa Nova. The menu is constantly changing, and is kept on a chalkboard. We split a Caesar’s salad ($13.50) which was a smart idea since the salad was very large and very tasty. For the main I had the Tagliatelle Pollo Cream ($18.50) which was absolutely delightful. Pam had the Roast Lamb with Risotto ($23.50) and she said it was so delicious she’d order it again! For desert we split a tiramisu ($9.50) and again – it would serve 3 easily. So just enough for us! I am not much on taking pictures of food, but look at the size of this tiramisu! Dinner with a twenty percent tip was $100 even and worth every penny!

Bonaire, Vacations

Caribbean cool

February 19, 2015 Maurice Leave a comment

We’ve got our engines down to Caribbean speed (slow and easy and relaxed) and we’re really enjoying the sunny weather. There have been lots and lots of cruise ships in the harbour, but we’ve not really noticed terrible crowds or anything, which is strange, considering how small the communities are here.

Anyway – we’ve been visiting beaches we’ve not been to yet – I think the official word is that Bonaire has thirty nine beaches, and nearly double the number of dive sites, so we’ve got a few to go, even though this is our third trip here. Today we went to a popular site right near the airport. In a lot of ways, it’s reminiscent of Arashi Beach in Aruba, with a nice wide sandy beach, and lots of coral just off shore.

Naturally, there were tons of fish, but also lots of really interesting and different things to see. One of the coolest things we’ve seen in the ocean was this “fish opera” in Aruba (coincidentally on Arashi Beach too) and we saw something similar, but on a much smaller scale. The fish is called a mullet, and they are about two feet in size and in the size of the school they were in, it was a little intimidating! Check out the movie, but give it a few seconds to stabilize – the camera has a tough time picking out completely silver fish.

I don’t know if you can see this picture all that clearly, since the colors make the little shrimp (or crab?) blend in with the coral, but it was tricky getting this shot. It was under a rock, and every time I dove down and got too close, this little damselfish kept biting! The first time he got me i was so surprised I laughed out loud, and trust me that’s not the thing to be doing in 10 feet of water! haha And here is a picture that Pam took of me contorting around trying to get this picture!

While driving around the island, you must beware of goats and donkeys. There are a LOT of goats around, and they dart into the traffic a lot, so you really need to be aware. Today we saw them having lunch – look closely at the picture here – there are TWO goats in that bush having a snack!

Bonaire, Vacations

Bonding with Bonaire

February 17, 2015 Maurice 1 Comment

Pam and I have felt an affinity with Bonaire since the minute we stepped off the plane a couple of years ago. Today while getting ready to dive in at Captain Don’s we met a couple from Malta. He reminded me so much of a friend of ours, a bon vivant named Jorge. He and his wife felt about Bonaire exactly as we did!

It’s just a wonderfully laid back place, with a very small population, in a rugged landscape, with amazing oceans teeming with fish. And fish we saw today, of course. Captain Don’s is a great place to snorkel, with an easy entrance and a sort of “dual reef” to the place.

You swim out to the drop off – not far, perhaps 150 meters – and watch all the action as the fish cavort on the edge of the wall. Huge schools of margates, bonefish, surgeonfish, chubbs, and others cruise slowly along. Then suddenly the hyper-active barjacks come looking for lunch and the little fish scatter.

This trip we’ve noticed some fish being kinda frisky – who knows? Maybe the release of Fifty Shades of Gray has got them worked up too, We saw a couple of porcupine fish seeming engaging in kissing and frisky behaviour, then Pam captured this movie of filefish doing the mating dance. (Well, it looks like they are doing the same mating dance that the gouramies we used to breed did.)

This picture of the face of a queen angel was tough to get. She hid down about twenty feet under a shelf of rocks. I dove down a couple times to get her, but they came out dark, so I turned on the forced flash. I think it turned out kinda cool. (and it was a LOT of work getting this sucker!)

One other thing we saw today that was unique. There were some jellyfish in the water, not a lot, but noticeable. While watching a scrawled filefish move effortlessly along, he suddenly started chowing down on one of them! Remarkable!

No restaurant reviews since we’ve eaten in every night so far. Food seems a bit pricier than I remember, but then food is more expensive at home too.

Bonaire, Vacations

South for the winter

February 15, 2015 Maurice 2 Comments

Pam and I have taken off for Bonaire for a quick two week visit. In the first week we are staying in the Divi Resort, the place we’ve stayed on Bonaire twice previously. In week two, Mike is showing up and we’re going to rent a house right on the ocean.

But today Pam and I were able to experience Carnaval! It’s very much like Mardi Gras in New Orleans, except on much more modest scale, befitting a population of only 14,000 people. The streets are closed to traffic, and they come alive! People are everywhere. Costumes are the order of the day. We see people dressed up, dressed down, dressed crazy!

We see people dressed as angels, pirates, princesses, frogs, Spiderman, Batman, Superman, gypsies, – everything you can think of, and a whole bunch you can’t! One of the floats was called ZeleoGlamour which seemed to be outfits inspired with zebra, tiger and other animal prints.

There were magnificent dancers and singers galore. Bands played music L O U D and people danced and laughed and jumped into the parade, walking with the groups. Then you grab a costumed participant to take photos!

Here’s a movie where Pam jumps into the parade and gets her photo taken with one of the magnificently costumed dancers. Frankly, this is a dance party, on a BIG scale!

It was tons of fun! Here Pam jumps into the parade (once again!) and gets her picture taken with the Queen of the Carnival!

Roatan, Vacations

Gumbalimba Park, Roatan

November 29, 2014 Maurice Leave a comment

Ever since we decided to come to Roatan, Pam has wanted to go to Gumbalimba Park. It’s an animal sanctuary, filled with monkeys, iguanas, parrots, macaws, and especially hummingbirds!

It’s near the West End, in a lovely setting on fifteen acres of lush jungle with ocean frontage, a swimming pool, restaurant and tons of trails to explore. To start your tour, there’s a “pirate cave” to explore, with bats hanging around.

But, the monkeys are the main draw of course, and they just love to interact with people. They are very curious, and cute, and silly and well, they are little monkeys!

As soon as the golf cart arrives, the monkeys sneak on and steal anything not tied down, including water and pop bottles. They’ll take the keys right out of your pocket!

They come around and sit on your shoulder, wrap their tail around your neck and settle down for a snack – or until another monkey figures he deserves the seat. Not sure what startled Pam and this monkey, but pretty cute shot.

I was quite surprised how soft their feet and hands were. I expected they had some sort of claw, or nail to help grip, but they are so soft and gentle. It was really a lot of fun to hang around with them.

There were some of the largest parrots and macaws we’ve ever seen. Oh my – so colorful! They are essentially free in the park, although they have large cages for their protection during the night. While we were making silly with the monkeys a couple of big beauties just sat on a branch and watched us.

The big emerald macaw loves to sit on your shoulder, and patiently lets you take as many pictures or movies as you like. BUT watch out for your buttons! He loves ’em! And he ate the top bottom off my golf shirt.

We saw lots of different lizards, geckos and iguanas. They have close to twenty different types. One that was quite startling was four or five feet long, but in the color of a tiger! Quite the unique beast.

We finished our little tour with the hummingbirds. We’ve seen them around our resort, and had trouble getting a picture or movie of them. Well, that all changed today. Who knew there were this many hummingbirds in the world, let alone one place!

The beach is nice, but needed to be cleaned from the storms of the last couple of days. The water is quite churned up, and it has been tossing lots of seaweed on the shores. Still, Gumbalimba Park is a great way to spend a day with some silly monkeys!

Coming home, we saw a family out for a drive. On a scooter. All three of them. Yep, three of ’em! Not too many rules and regulations on these roads! hehe

Roatan, Vacations

Mahogany Bay, Roatan

November 27, 2014 Maurice 1 Comment

Wednesday was a crazy rainy day. We did some grocery shopping, and checked out a few stores.

We arrived at Mahogany Bay, the new cruise ship terminal. There are two cruise ship docks; the original dock is in Gravel Bay. Each terminal can handle two ships, and often there are two in each. Today Mahogany Bay had two ships at dock.

There are a lot of gift shops, boutiques and souvenir shops in the terminal. We were very surprised to see that the prices are as good, or even better, than some of the simple vendors we’ve seen out on the beaches and along the roadside.

Roatan has absolutely beautiful wood products, ranging from little hummingbirds carved out of mahogany on a key chain, to mango wood vases, to rose wood carved into apples, to ice buckets in purpleheart, zebra wood and mahogany. There are gorgeous salad bowls, intricate masks and amazing picture frames carved from mahogany with ocean scenes or jungle scenes or toucans and parrots. There are even beer steins carved with scenes of Roatan life. And there are mahogany chests from as small as 3 inches by 3 inches up to 3 feet by 4 feet and even larger! All exquisitely carved with amazing scenes.

And coffee! We’ve had Copan Coffee, grown right here on Roatan in the hills. It is mild and very good. But the Cafe Maya coffee is truly amazing. Rich and dark, but smooth and tasty. We’ll be bringing some of that home for sure!

Here is a little movie of the terminal and the rain.

Roatan, Vacations

Cameos, cephalapods, and chelonians

November 26, 2014 Maurice Leave a comment

We have been looking for the Stone Castle Cameo studio for a few days. The lady who told us where it was, said we couldn’t miss it. And we did. Over and over again. Finally we discovered we were looking on the wrong road! VERY tough to spot a building from five miles away!

It is a teaching studio, with several local artists working in the ancient art form of cameos using seashells. Ranging from giant conchs to small snails, the range of items carved is truly staggering. If you come to Roatan, even if you don’t like cameos, you have to see this place. I didn’t want to leave.

There were four cruise ships docked today, so we decided to see what West Bay would look like with so many people in port. And it didn’t disappoint! The place was jumping with every store open, every vendor out, and even a couple of guys with monkeys!

We had lunch at the Grand Roatan, a beachside cafe right in front of where there is amazing snorkeling. It’s basically the last restaurant on the beach. We had Garifuna Soup, on the recommendation of the waiter. And he was so right. Totally amazing – shrimp, lobster, conch, fish, plantains, peppers, carrots, in a coconut cream base. Really really good – we’re coming back for it, you can bet!

The water was not as crowded as we expected, and the visibility was quite good. We saw tons of cool things like a Caribbean reef squid (a cephalapod) and of course, our favorite chelonian, a hawksbill turtle!

There is a little mammal here, that is part of the guinea pig family, and is called the Hiata. It’s often called the Roatan Rabbit, because of the large rear legs which makes it hop around, rather than run. We’ve spotted them in lots of places, but never managed to get a decent shot. So here is the best we’ve gotten so far…