Garfield around the world

Bonaire, after Curaçao and Aruba I arrived at Bonaire. What a difference, you will hardly believe. Although it is part of the same group as Aruba and Curaçao it springs out positive. In nature and quietness. It is much more relaxed and quite than the other two and has one very BIG advantage. It is in the top three of best diving sites in the world.
What a place to have a cold. Yes that is the lucky side of me. I am finally here and after two dives I have to stop because I have a cold.

But I have to tell you where to eat, because you have places to eat and then you have two restaurants where you really want to eat; La Salsa and it rains fishes at the Kralendijk promenade in the city Kralendijk.
The food is the best I tasted so far in every restaurant I have visited in the last two weeks and is even better than many restaurants I have visited around the world.
The service is likewise and the personnel is very friendly.
Tips for restaurants in Bonaire:
1. La Salsa: Great food and likewise service
1. It rains fishes: if your a fish lover; same quality and services as La Salsa
2. La Guernica: Good Spanish based food and great service
3. City Cafe: Service is good and friendly but food is just like any other pub around the world. Not bad but not great either
4. Rum runners: Service is slow and the food is just under average. The view is marvelous

Do not go to Le Flamboyant. The food is overcooked or burned and the service is just lousy.
They serve you food spill it over your clothes and don't even bother to say sorry or offer help in cleaning it. They just say there are the napkins.

Of the three islands I visit this trip, Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao, I think for me this is the least interesting island. Since I am not a beach bum and am interested in nature and culture there is hardly anything for me here. Except for a lighthouse and a road with 14 crosses that ends up at a little chapel. The road is walked by the local people every year on Good Friday and they pray at every cross of the 14 there.
Well that where the highlights ;-)

If you like beaches and American culture (McDonalds, Wendy's, Dunkin Donuts etc etc) you will have a blast on this island.
But like I said; not me so after two days I left the place and went for Bonaire; where there is more to see for someone like me.

Today I left Curaçao to fly to Aruba and after Aruba I will fly to Bonaire. So When I get back home again I will have seen three of the six Dutch tropical islands.
Who ever said it always rains and it is cold in the Netherlands was not paying attention ;-)

Although I have only seen Curaçao I must say I am positively surprised. There is much more to see and do on the island than what I thought could be found. I thought Curaçao was like Aruba, all beach with only one difference a very beautiful capital; Willemstad. Willemstad is really worth a visit, it historic centre is well preserved and the look of the old Dutch houses in these bright colors is absolutely wonderful.

But there is a load more to Curaçao. But do not take a normal East-West tour, ask a cab driver to show you all the beautiful places of the island, because you get to see much more wonderful places in a much shorter time and the
good part is you can get out of the car when ever you want. The tour busses only stop a few times and not always at the best places.
If you are lucky like me and have a friend on the island ask her or him to show you Curaçao. I am sure you are amazed just like I was.

But internet is slow in many places so always save your work before uploading it to your site or blog

Today we went to Gabal el Rosas, a really beautiful reef near our Brayka Bay Reef hotel in Marsa Alam. The first drop off is until 20 meters. And there are some pinnacles at 30 meters, but the long reef at 20 meters is absolutely beautiful so you don’t need to waist your air and go deeper.
We went in a zodiac to the drop off point and that was an adventure in itself. The red sea is still very stormy and we had waves up to two meters. But the reef was worth the circus ride.

Yesterday we went on the sheiks yacht to Dolphin house reef. The Red sea was even more rocky then today and we had waves up to 4 meters. Though we looked very hard there were no dolphins to be found. We made two dives. One on the east point and one on the west point of the reef. But Flipper and his friends never showed up. Guess a Dolphin isn’t a friend of man after all? Or maybe our group wasn’t human enough. Well it didn’t matter because the reef is wonderful with lots to see. So go there anyway if you’re ever in the neighborhood. It’s also good for snorkeling.
On the way back the boat had it rough and it was rocking and rolling, but not the people. Some people went sick, but well shit happens.

Marsa Alam

Yesterday I made my Check dive, which is obligated here by the Extra Divers dive center. But that was no punishment, because the housed reef was very nice to start this diving holyday off. What made it especially nice where the huge amounts of lion fish, often you see them alone in the reef hidden under a rock but here they where all together in the open, very nice.

Today I went to Abu Dabab to kook for the Dugong (Sea Cow) but although there was a lot of sea grass we didn’t meet him. We did however met a very big turtle (1,5 to 2 meters long) grazing while we where looking. He didn’t seem to mind us because he just kept on his feeding pattern as if we weren’t there. And a big fich kept his mouth sucked to his shield.
As soon as I can upload the photo’s I’ll show them.

In the afternoon we went to Marsa Asalaya, for the second dive. Although there were a lot of fishes, it wasn’t especially nice because the water here was very murky and visibility was bad.
But all in all it wasn’t a bad day, this first dive day. The water is very nice (25 degrees Celsius at 20 meters) and the outlooks are promising. Tomorrow I go to Dolphin house reef where there should be lots of dolphins, hence the name.
If you want a good preparation and good value for money dive voucher visit: http://www.duikgroepen.nl/