Arrived in Curacao: Santa Barbara Beach Resort
It's 3:30 PM on May 2nd and Bryan and I are holed up in our hotel room with the shutters closed and the A/C cranked! Okay, well, he's right under the covers in bed sleeping and I'm bundled up in a sweater. Can you believe that I got sick of laying by the pool?!?!
Yes, I felt that I'd had enough just sitting around doing nothing and that it was time to get some work done. So, we came back to the room and I sat outside on the balcony (in the heat) for a couple of hours. Let me just say...yes, I could definitely get used to working on my balcony in the heat! I just got uncomfortable in the chair after awhile. I'd need a real desk set up outside to work at.
Anyway, we left Bonaire yesterday, unfortunately. I really like Bonaire and would go back. It's more laid back and quiet, except when the cruise ships show up (which happened yesterday). Otherwise, it's easy to get around and most places are easy to get into for food or whatever.
Sunday, we all went on a morning 2-tank dive around Klien Bonaire. The dive shop, Divi Dive Bonaire, was pretty good. They rented us equipment and gave us quite a bit of independence. We did a quick orientation dive on Saturday. The dives on Sunday were good, but my stupid mask totally fogged up on the first and I couldn't see anything. I tried to stay close to Bryan but he just swims all over the place with his new underwater video camera.
The second dive was better - I found different mask defogging stuff to use. We didn't see anything too crazy but the fish are nice to watch always. So relaxed and serene.
Sunday afternoon we just relaxed by the pool. Then Bryan and I decided to do a night dive. It wasn't fully night when we went down - it was about 10 minutes from full sunset. We had a bit of light, which was good, I think. Saw two sea snakes, which totally freaked me out! Big time - I don't like those any more than land ones! The spotted moray eels were coming out so we saw 4 of those almost out of their caves. I think later they may have been swimming but I was happy not to have that happen!
The colours started to pop, too, as it got darker and our lights shone on things. We saw more yellows and reds underwater on the fish and coral, which was very pretty. When we finished our 40 minute dive, we came up pretty close to where we'd gone down, too, which was a good sign. I'm glad we did it. I am feeling much more comfortable about the diving equipment, getting it set up and going out.
Monday we rented a car and drove over much of the island. We headed south first, saw the salt mines, the pink retaining ponds, the Salt Pier where they ship it out to container ships, the slave huts, some flamingos the wild, went snorkelling, hit a kite surfing resort for a drink and quick stop...and then went to Rincon up north for Rincon Day.
Rincon Day is a big celebration of the city, with a massive and colourful parade. The costumes were outstanding, so bright and beautiful and colourful and intricate. The music was really good - very island vibe!
We had a bit of trouble finding food only because we didn't know what the words meant! We saw the food, it looks delicious, but we didn't know how to order it. Bryan finally ordered something that said "BBQ" that had chicken, chorizo and ribs, plus rice and beans and coleslaw (so very southern Caribbean from what I can gather). I didn't get anything to eat because I didn't know what to get. Turns out that was good because Bryan's meal could have fed 3 people easily, so we just shared it.
We stayed at Rincon for about 1 1/2 hours, then drove back to Kralendijk. We separated from Dave and Lexi, I hit the gym while Bryan napped (sensing a pattern???). Then found a nice restaurant on a pier over the water. The food was okay, the service was slow, but the view was amazing. And the restaurant had a kitten!
The next morning, I went to the gym again, and saw a cat on the way back to our room. This cat was super friendly and followed me back, stood outside our door. So, of course I let him in! He jumped on the bed with Bryan and totally made himself at home, fell right to sleep. I felt bad moving him later because he was probably loving the cool room and safe place to sleep! I think he's okay, though, as he felt and looked well fed. I believe he eats birds...
We arrived in Curacao and are staying at a remote golf resort. It's huge, very nice, and clean. I do admit to feeling very confined here, though. There isn't anywhere to go to explore or find local culture. You have 2 restaurants and 1 snack/bar place to choose from. You can sit by the pool, rent a paddle board (which I vow to do in the morning), or golf.
We golfed this morning - I was forced to buy a mint green golf shirt...so hot and ugly. It was okay, I don't love golf because it's slow and I'm terrible. Bryan did well. He and I only did 9 holes and then came back from breakfast.
As usual, everything is ridiculously expensive. Our breakfast was $55 US today! The buffet, however, was very delicious with tons of options but still.
I am happy to leave here tomorrow and head to our final hotel, downtown.
I have mixed feelings about the end of the trip. On the one hand, I really, really miss my cats and Tia! I also feel anxious and ready to get back to the swing of working on my holistic nutrition and fitness businesses...I just have zero desire to go back to my IT job. So, this says a lot to me, I think.
Still having trouble with pictures coming off my phone for some reason...
Yes, I felt that I'd had enough just sitting around doing nothing and that it was time to get some work done. So, we came back to the room and I sat outside on the balcony (in the heat) for a couple of hours. Let me just say...yes, I could definitely get used to working on my balcony in the heat! I just got uncomfortable in the chair after awhile. I'd need a real desk set up outside to work at.
Anyway, we left Bonaire yesterday, unfortunately. I really like Bonaire and would go back. It's more laid back and quiet, except when the cruise ships show up (which happened yesterday). Otherwise, it's easy to get around and most places are easy to get into for food or whatever.
Sunday, we all went on a morning 2-tank dive around Klien Bonaire. The dive shop, Divi Dive Bonaire, was pretty good. They rented us equipment and gave us quite a bit of independence. We did a quick orientation dive on Saturday. The dives on Sunday were good, but my stupid mask totally fogged up on the first and I couldn't see anything. I tried to stay close to Bryan but he just swims all over the place with his new underwater video camera.
The second dive was better - I found different mask defogging stuff to use. We didn't see anything too crazy but the fish are nice to watch always. So relaxed and serene.
Sunday afternoon we just relaxed by the pool. Then Bryan and I decided to do a night dive. It wasn't fully night when we went down - it was about 10 minutes from full sunset. We had a bit of light, which was good, I think. Saw two sea snakes, which totally freaked me out! Big time - I don't like those any more than land ones! The spotted moray eels were coming out so we saw 4 of those almost out of their caves. I think later they may have been swimming but I was happy not to have that happen!
The colours started to pop, too, as it got darker and our lights shone on things. We saw more yellows and reds underwater on the fish and coral, which was very pretty. When we finished our 40 minute dive, we came up pretty close to where we'd gone down, too, which was a good sign. I'm glad we did it. I am feeling much more comfortable about the diving equipment, getting it set up and going out.
Monday we rented a car and drove over much of the island. We headed south first, saw the salt mines, the pink retaining ponds, the Salt Pier where they ship it out to container ships, the slave huts, some flamingos the wild, went snorkelling, hit a kite surfing resort for a drink and quick stop...and then went to Rincon up north for Rincon Day.
Rincon Day is a big celebration of the city, with a massive and colourful parade. The costumes were outstanding, so bright and beautiful and colourful and intricate. The music was really good - very island vibe!
We had a bit of trouble finding food only because we didn't know what the words meant! We saw the food, it looks delicious, but we didn't know how to order it. Bryan finally ordered something that said "BBQ" that had chicken, chorizo and ribs, plus rice and beans and coleslaw (so very southern Caribbean from what I can gather). I didn't get anything to eat because I didn't know what to get. Turns out that was good because Bryan's meal could have fed 3 people easily, so we just shared it.
We stayed at Rincon for about 1 1/2 hours, then drove back to Kralendijk. We separated from Dave and Lexi, I hit the gym while Bryan napped (sensing a pattern???). Then found a nice restaurant on a pier over the water. The food was okay, the service was slow, but the view was amazing. And the restaurant had a kitten!
The next morning, I went to the gym again, and saw a cat on the way back to our room. This cat was super friendly and followed me back, stood outside our door. So, of course I let him in! He jumped on the bed with Bryan and totally made himself at home, fell right to sleep. I felt bad moving him later because he was probably loving the cool room and safe place to sleep! I think he's okay, though, as he felt and looked well fed. I believe he eats birds...
We arrived in Curacao and are staying at a remote golf resort. It's huge, very nice, and clean. I do admit to feeling very confined here, though. There isn't anywhere to go to explore or find local culture. You have 2 restaurants and 1 snack/bar place to choose from. You can sit by the pool, rent a paddle board (which I vow to do in the morning), or golf.
We golfed this morning - I was forced to buy a mint green golf shirt...so hot and ugly. It was okay, I don't love golf because it's slow and I'm terrible. Bryan did well. He and I only did 9 holes and then came back from breakfast.
As usual, everything is ridiculously expensive. Our breakfast was $55 US today! The buffet, however, was very delicious with tons of options but still.
I am happy to leave here tomorrow and head to our final hotel, downtown.
I have mixed feelings about the end of the trip. On the one hand, I really, really miss my cats and Tia! I also feel anxious and ready to get back to the swing of working on my holistic nutrition and fitness businesses...I just have zero desire to go back to my IT job. So, this says a lot to me, I think.
Still having trouble with pictures coming off my phone for some reason...
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