Unplanned Sea Days, Bonaire and Aruba

 It seems like forever since I last blogged.  We had a planned sea day as we were on our way to Curaçao.  On this day we did nothing of import.  There was a cocktail thing planned but due to bad weather it was cancelled.  The seas were rough.  They were upwards of 15’ with winds gusting to 45 mph.  I know, I know.  Some of you have your own boats and want to brag that this is nothing.  Well, for me it is, and this is my blog. So there :P 

The next day we were to be in Curaçao but once again at around 6 pm we had the captain on the intercom telling us that we would be having the same type of weather and therefore would have to slow down and would not be making the planned stop. Instead we would have another sea day and head straight to Aruba.

Oh joy!  Another sea day.  As usual, we lazed around in the morning had lunch and played cards in the afternoon.  The waves were rather calm today. It was a shame that we had to miss the port.  Apparently, we could have docked, but it would have only allowed us a few hours in port.  Better to skip it all together. Dinner was as usual in the Grand Dining room and it was just more of the same.  

Bonaire!  Land Ho!  We were docked around 7 am. At 8 Ray came over the intercom to say that we were free to disembark.   It’s a good thing that he did.  George forgot to set the alarm.  We’d have slept right through!  

We got our gear together and met Jenny on the pier at 9 am.  From here we were driven to a marina where we got on a boat and headed out to sea.  The dive master was wonderful as was the captain.  They both gave it back to George as good as he gave them and it was laughs all around.  This time around we went with another guest from the ship.  She arranged everything for us.  I was happy to have the time off and not have to do all of the "work". 

The dive was amazing!  The water was around 79 degrees and the visibility was at least 100’.  The water was so clear and the sights were just amazing!  The highlight of the day was to see a lion fish in the wild for the first time.  In fact, we saw them twice.  The first was actually 2 fish in a cave like area.  The second was a single fish.  Our guide pointed out 2 or 3 Eels but I didn’t see them.  Thank goodness.  I am terrified of those things.  

When we surfaced again, they asked if we wanted a second dive.  All three of us agreed to forgo the extra dive and have lunch instead.  We ended up at a place called Oscar’s lighthouse. George and I decided to have a local beer with our lunch. ;)  Once we finished we headed for a dive shop so Jenny could purchase a new wet suit and from there we headed back to the ship.  

Upon our return, George grabbed a shower and took a nap.  I decided to go for a scoot in the town.  As was scooting back I had spotted a few things I wanted to take some photos of and this was a perfect opportunity.  I saw a tree filled with flip-flops, a house built out of a boat, and one of the oldest houses on the island.  

Our dive master told us that originally the homes are a square block and as more family is added, additional block rooms are added to the original structure.  This building is a very good example of that.  He also told us each home had an outdoor kitchen with an outdoor oven on the leeward side of the home.  

There were also quite a few little things that caught my eye.  The stone flamingo was just one of them.  

I ended up at a grocery store and bought George some Guava juice for his afternoon drink. The grocery store was funny.  First, it was expensive.  A small lunch box sized pack of potato chips was $1.50.  Second, it was really very full of a variety of items.  By this I mean there were clothes and tools and food and just a huge variety of items.  The guava juice was $2.50 if I bought it cold, but only $1.25 if I bought it warm.  

While there I found some local Liqueur and brought home two different types.  

Upon returning to the ship, I showered and got ready for dinner.  We had a good chuckle, because this was the third day in a row we were seated with the same two other couples.  I guess with only 200+ people on the ship it is a given that we should be seated with the same people.

Aruba! As usual, I booked some diving in advance and once we awoke, we headed out to meet our guide.  I’m not going to give the names of the company, or our dive masters because this was an experience never to be repeated. We are protecting the identities of the guilty in this case.  

Our guide and I had sent a number of emails back and forth for over a week about where to meet and how much the dives would cost.  We thought that perhaps it wouldn’t happen, but when I awoke at 9 and checked my mail, I had a message saying we would meet an hour earlier than planned!  I jumped up, packed quickly and got George moving.  We ran out of the ship only to have to track a good 1/2 kilometer or so carrying all of of dive gear to the port exit.  As planned in advance, our guide was waiting for us just around the corner from the Harley Davidson shop.  We all greeted each other and put our gear in the van and off we went.  

Now this is where it gets weird.  Our driver began to tell us about the area, the oil tanks that are no longer used, the desalinization plant, the ability to have high pressure water in the homes (I kid you not), and the local brewery just to name a few. 

I asked about all of the cactus and yes, you can drink the water inside, but he didn’t recommend eating it.  Although, he later told us he wasn’t sure if you could not eat it as he had never tried.  I like an honest man.  

But then the conversation took a turn.  He began to tell us about the corruption of the local government, the number of illegals from Venezuela (only 15 miles across the sea), and the ease of money laundering in Aruba.  WOW!  We are just tourists for two days.  But great.  Thank you.  More information than I asked for.  

We arrived at the "Dive shop" and unpacked our gear.  As it turned out, it is a couple of houses with beach access to the ocean.  OK.  I’ve done this before.  I can do it again.  We took all of our gear over to one of the piers and began to set up.  While we were doing this, there was a man on the balcony above watching us.  There was another man having a swim in the lagoon, also watching us.  Creepy, but no big deal.  

Our dive master came over and we went in the water.  Today’s dive wasn’t as beautiful as Bonaire was, but it was amazing.  The fish were plentiful and we saw two moray eels.  The coral while not as vibrant as Bonaire was massive in size.  The only downside?  We had to fight a bit of a current after we entered the breakers to get back to shore.  When we got back, I was exhausted.  But it was still worth the time.  I would highly recommend it for anyone going to Aruba.

When we got out of the water, we changed back into clothes and brought our gear to the owners van.  He offered to keep it overnight and wash it off for us.  That way we wouldn’t have to carry it back and forth to the ship.  Of course we jumped at the offer.  What a relief.  Or was it?

The owner of the company made good on his promise to let us try a local beer after our dive and we headed off to his office.  Along the way we passed the funniest tree I’ve ever seen.  The road was diverted around it!  I made him stop so I could take a photo. 

But back to the ride to his office.  He asked us if we saw the two gentlemen earlier and explained that they were his boss and the boss’ father. Ok. Odd conversation but ok.  George of course started talking about Elon Musk and our driver came back with his boss was richer than Musk.  Hmmm.  And then he said it.  His boss was a member of the Russian…..you fill in the blank.  He then went on to washing money and how the government there is so corrupt that they confiscated all of his bit coin when he was trying to wash it.  He also told us that the two men watching us were those same bosses.  

We arrived at his office and he took a keyring with at least 40 keys out of the ignition and went into a rather large building.  As he did, George told me the girl standing by the door of the next building must be a working girl.  I agreed.  There was just something about her looks. The man came back out and showed us the beers.  Then walked over to that girl and got a bottle opener.  After handing out the beers and returning the bottle opener he returned to the van to take us to the ship.

Along that ride, he showed us a bit more of the island, but to be honest by this time the conversation was so surreal that I didn’t see the countryside.  He next told us he owns 5 businesses, the dive center/shop, the night club he got the beer from, and well "you can guess the third business" (I’m guessing he is a pimp).  I asked about the other two and he said he had that large building and was going to turn it into-here it gets a bit fuzzy-either 24 or 124 private rooms.  I thought how nice-apartments.  Then the penny dropped.  Oh dear.  I didn’t ask after the fifth, but based on the previous conversations, I can guess.

We arrived back at the ship, had some lunch and I went for a massage.  This was heavenly except when my sinuses opened and the ocean came gushing out.  

We had dinner in Polo Grill with two couples we had previously eaten with and had a lovely evening as usual.  

That night I did not sleep well.  You can probably imagine where my dreams went. They were all over the place.  I sent my daughter a message telling her that I would text her when we finished diving and if I didn’t to call in the calvary.  I dreamt that the man never showed up and we lost our gear.  I dreamt that we were kidnapped and held for an unpaid ransom….The list goes on.  It really was a bad night.

At 10 am the next morning we went to the appointed meeting place and he wasn’t there!  I knew it!  But then the window of a blue car opened and it was our driver!  I should not let my imagination run wild.  Easier said than done.  I’m the worrier in the family.  George is the problem solver.  

We were given the choice of another shore entry filled with more of what we had seen the day before, or a wreck dive.  We chose the wreck and I’m glad we did.  It was amazing.  Not a lot of coral, but it was an experience I wanted to have and this was a perfect one for that.  As we left the shore we had to swim around 24 meters to get to the dive spot.  It was a 20’ yacht that had been sunk a few years back and was teeming with sea life. 

Along the way I saw a flounder and was surprised.  I had no idea they were so flat and just sat on the ocean floor.   We swam up to the ship and the dive master went inside first to make sure there were no lion fish or eels inside.  Once we got the ok George went through first.  I followed, but was a bit scared so I only went across the windows in the main cabin.  We circled the ship for around 15 minutes and I got a bit more adventurous and wandered a bit into the ship and took a number of photos and videos of what I saw.  

From here we headed south to another area of coral and saw more varieties of fish and a few more eels.  Thankfully these were small ones but they are still very frightening to me.  When I hit 1500 psi we headed back to the wreck to go through it one more time.  This time I ventured further into it, but did not get fully inside.  My octopus banged on the ships wall and I was worried that It would be a problem for me.  I should have known I’d be ok after having seen the dive master and George go through but my brain didn’t react that quickly.  

I’m glad to say that I am now able to float stable and photograph different fish.  I’ve come a long way since we first started this adventure together and I’m sure by this time next year I’ll be even better.  We have around 5 more dives set for this trip.  I’m  hoping to be able to book a few more over the next 3 weeks before we drop off our gear at home.  Fingers crossed.  

On the way back to the shore, we had to go through another area of strong currents.  Add to that the sudden lack of visibility caused by a number of swimmers who were in the area and kicking up the sand.  I grabbed George’s hand and we swam together. It was very hard to see the dive master in front of us, but out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of the string holding up the dive flag.  I reached out with my left hand and grabbed hold.  Not to pull the dive master to me, but as a guide to where we were headed.  When we got on shore, he asked if I had been cave diving because that is what one does then.  I laughed and told him it was just common sense to me.  

We repacked the gear and got into the van to head back to the ship.  Along that drive, we chatted about the dive and the drivers daughter.  I was staying away from anything political as we were’t back on the ship yet. (My mind was still thinking of yesterday’s conversations.)  He dropped us off and we took our gear back to the safety of the ship.  Adventure over.

When we returned to the ship we immediately washed our gear and set it out to dry.  We then went up to lunch before scooting out into the city.  Of course we looked for puzzles, but the only thing we could find were dominoes. Not our thing.  

We found a couple of bottles of local liqueur so at least the scoot wasn’t a bust.

There were now 3 other cruise ships in port and George and I scooted to the end of the road to try and get a photo of all 4 ships in a row.  The first was called Freewinds and is owned by the Church of Scientology.  I’ll not say anything more on that other than it is reportedly where you go to finally reach the highest levels within the church.  Heaven on Earth perhaps?  

The other two ships were the Carnival Magic and the Norwegian Epic (over 6000 people maximum capacity on each). 

When we were returning to our ship we felt like salmon swimming up steam.  The disgorgement of overstuffed people was one I never hope to encounter again; much to be avoided if possible. At lunch George commented to another couple that he felt inferior being on such a small ship. We all laughed at the absurdity of this comment.  I mean really, it must take an hour to disembark from something that large. 

We had dinner with friends in the Polo Grill and had a wonderful night of chat and laughter.  

The next day was a sea day and we did nothing more than play cards in the afternoon.  Before dinner we went and listened to Sing Out Loud to hear what our friends have been up to.  It was a pleasant diversion.  

After dinner last night, we returned to the room to have a zoom call with friends back home. It’s amazing to me that this is a possibility.  I still remember having to wait a very long time to get a phone call to go through from Germany to the United States.  The world has changed greatly hasn’t it.  

Sadly, on none of these days did we find any puzzles.  More dominoes.  Ah well, we are headed to Europe.  I’m sure we will find something there.  

Until next time, Happy Puzzling and Smooth Sailing.