Back To Bonaire We Go!
October 20-29, 2006
Sometimes the best trips are the ones that happen on the spur of the moment! When Don and Robyn called and told me Cayman Brac Divi Tierra had closed down, and now the HSA group was heading for Bonaire, and there had been some cancellations due to people being unable to change their flights with such short notice, and did I want to go, it didn't take me long to say "OH YEAH!"
I flew to Dallas (after being in Ft. Worth for 3 days at our annual fund raising golf tournament) on October 20. Don & Robyn met me at DFW and we took their three babies, Argyll, Orli and Beemer, to the doggie hotel. We hated to leave them there, but until someone develops scuba gear for dogs, I guess that's how it has to be. We then headed to Via Real for a lovely dinner. We knew we needed to be in bed early because Super Shuttle would pick us up at 5am to head to the airport.
Sure enough, 5am found us all heading to the airport. Once we checked in, we grabbed some pastries for breakfast. Shortly before boarding I was introduced to David, a quad who has been a member of HSA for a number of years. We flew to San Juan and enjoyed (ha) a 4 hour layover. Finally, at 9 pm we arrived in Bonaire! We were tired, but it felt so great to be in Bonaire again! We were met by Jim Gatacre and his wife, Pat. We checked into our rooms and went right to sleep. The ocean was waiting for us, and we wanted to be fully rested.
The next morning we had breakfast, followed by a dive briefing. We were all instructed to do a check out dive to make sure we had proper weights, etc. After we did all of that, we had lunch. Promptly at 2pm we headed out for our first "official" dive. It didn't let us down. The water felt great, and the critters came to greet us! After we finished the dive, we came back and jumped into the pool. Soon it was time to clean up for dinner. We went to Richard's for dinner. Apparently Richard used to be a model before a boat propeller hit him in the face, leaving a scar. So now, he owns a lovely restaurant. After dinner, we were beat! We decided to call it a night and start the whole thing over again in the morning!
There were only 8 of us on this trip: Don, Robyn and myself. Jim Gatacre and his wife Pat, from California. David from Dallas. Jim from California, who is a para, and John from New York, who is a quad. I was concerned that we had people who needed help, but didn't bring along anybody to help them. That is different from our group. Our people bring their own attendants. These concerns were carried with me in the water when I discovered the buddy system was not enforced, and I saw people diving basically alone. Don, Robyn and I were first in the water, because we didn't want to be part of that nonsense that was going on. I don't want to discredit any group, but I was somewhat frustrated by the lack of support that I witnessed.
In the meantime, Don, Robyn and I continued to have a blast! We basically did our own thing and enjoyed our time together. We attempted to eat with the group several times, only to be stood up because of one reason or another. But it was OK because we were having fun! We also had a party to celebrate Jim's birthday.
I didn't take the video camera, so Don and I took turns with his camera shooting various things underwater. By the end of the week I was finally getting used to his camera. Who knows what the video will look like!
We met a great couple, Mike & Dina! They are so into photography that Dina would take not one, but TWO cameras underwater with her! I'm anxious to see her pictures, and I'll post them when I receive them.
Robyn and I did find time to sneak away and go shopping! Littman's didn't let us down! I bought a few pieces of bling to take home, including Oscar the octopus!
Before we were ready, it was time to start packing to go home. But we had a great time being together, diving together, eating together, swimming together and just hanging out and relaxing!
How did I get so lucky to have such awesome friends? I am truly blessed!