Tag Archives: airport

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!

Aruba, Vacations

A bit more about Aruba

February 22, 2014 Maurice Leave a comment

On our last day in Aruba, we had lunch at the Paddock, a Dutch restaurant right by the cruise ship dock. It’s a favorite of ours, and we go at least once while we’re there. The staff are a really friendly bunch and the food is quite good, with very reasonable prices.

The have a terrific sign on one of their chalkboards and we just had to take a picture! I’m sure lots of other places would like to use it!

When we got home after the long flights, we were walking through Vancouver International Airport and saw an amazing aquarium full of jellyfish! They were HUGE! Sure glad we didn’t run into these guys in the water.

Aruba, Vacations

Saturday leavings

December 15, 2012 Maurice Leave a comment

Today was Mike’s last day, of a too short vacation. It’s a real shame he had trouble getting here. He kind of got gypped with the weather too, with a couple bad snorkeling days. Ah well… Mangel Halto made up for a lot of deficiencies in the holiday! It was so calm today, that we could easily have done it again!

Mike’s flight was at 6 PM, but we had to switch to our new resort, La Cabana, by 11 AM, so the day was pretty much a write-off. We looked for a t-shirt for Mike – he wanted one with a Balashi logo, but no one had his size. Unreal! It wasn’t a total waste though, as I managed to find an Hawaiian shirt that is not in my collection!

Pam and I dropped Mike at the airport, and headed straight to the ocean. It was super super calm, and the visibility was awesome. We stayed in the water til sunset. It was fun to be in the water when it’s that calm, since you don’t need to use your flippers much, and the fish seemed a lot more relaxed as a result. Some fish who are super shy didn’t mind us hovering over them, and Pam took some really great shots.

This grouper just lazed about the sand, hardly moving. Usually they take off the minute they see us, but today was special. Pam took a really nice video of him just hanging about the bottom, not running to hide.

And here is a movie of a Queen Angelfish bumping the same grouper around a bit… quite funny. The queen angelfish is a very active fish, flitting from one rock to another. I love the super colorful body on this fish – it easily catches the eye when you’re snorkeling!

Just a couple words about our new resort – we’ve never stayed here before, but it’s very near the Paradise Beach resort where we stayed last year. It’s right on Palm Beach, a long white sand beach, that is perfect for swimming and relaxing. The room is ok, a little small, but we have a nice view over the ocean from our fourth floor balcony. The bed is only a queen, but comfortable. WIFI is $35 for the week, using Setar, the same guys the Paradise Beach used. It’s a super fast system, and far superior to what we had at Caribbean Palm Village. Well worth the money. It also has a very nice lobby, really posh, with a huge stained glass window. There is a casino just off the lobby, so I know where I’ll find Pam. 🙂

Aruba, Vacations

From the Aruba airport lobby

June 6, 2009 Maurice Leave a comment

We’re in the waiting area for our flight, and they allow you one hour of free time on the wifi here. I’ve just got to put in this post.

We were coming through the second security checkpoint, the one done by US customs. We move through the line quite quickly, and came to the customs agent, and presented our passports to him. He asked a few questions, then stamped the passport. I said, cool, another stamp! And he says, yes, I see you were here in December, and I was the guy that processed you then!

He said, yes, you probably didn’t recognize me, because I’ve got a better haircut now!

Now what are the odds of that??? Unreal. There were thousands of people in the room, and we get the one guy we’ve seen before! Too funny.