Bliss in Bonaire

Bonaire seems designed to make you stay. Like a casino or grocery store, it is a lot easier to get in than to get out. The only way to reach the island is by plane or by boat. To be fair, those are usually the only ways to reach any island lacking a bridge. What is unique about Bonaire is that there is little in the way of flights arriving and departing (in fact, I’ve seen planes land, but none take off). Aside from yachts, only cruise ships visit the island and there is no ferry service. What all this leads to is a lot of people walking around looking lost. I suppose when you run out of money, they probably escort you off the island and cut off the complimentary drinks. Still, there are worse places to be marooned and, like a highly addictive drug, the pushers make it easy to get comfortable with the lifestyle.

Bonaire is best known as a diving destination. The entire island is surrounded by a marine park, meaning that it is illegal to anchor in Bonaire due to the risk of destroying coral. As a result, all yachts have to pick up a mooring outside of Kralendijk. While coughing up $10 a day for a mooring is a drag, it is nice to be close to town while being able to swim off of the boat. Normally, large towns mean dirty harbors and clean harbors mean no civilization ashore. In this way, Bonaire provides the best of both worlds. Officially part of the Netherlands Antilles, Bonaire has a distinctly European feel. Dutch is widely spoken, the local currency is the Dutch Guilder (why isn’t it the Euro?), and the natives are blond and enormous.

One cute custom that I have noticed here is cheek-kissing. Whenever two friends of the opposite sex are taking leave of one another, they kiss each other on the cheek. Although I generally avoid human contact of any kind, I think this custom is awesome. I have noticed this in Venezuela, where they kiss once on the right cheek, and St. Martin, where they kiss twice – once on each cheek. However, the Dutch do the French and Latin Americans one better by kissing three times on alternating cheeks. Personally, I prefer the Venezuelan one cheek-kiss. The French two cheek-kiss seems like it requires more skill than I have and the Dutch three cheek-kiss looks like something an overly affectionate drunk guy would do in a misguided attempt at chivalry. Of course, the attraction of the entire cheek-kissing custom could just be that the practitioners are normally beautiful, exotic, and chic.

One minor highlight of the past week was that I was published in The Boca, a monthly magazine for cruisers in Trinidad. About a month ago, I submitted an article laden with backhanded compliments directed at Trinidad. The first sentence states “Occasionally, even Trini’s need to take a break from limin’ and listening to Soca music.” (note: “limin'” is the local term for sitting around and drinking) It goes downhill from there.

After over two months of going it alone, reinforcements are on their way. First up is my friend TK, who is arriving tonight. With a string of visitors lined up, my solitary existence will change drastically over the next couple of months. While I would deny that my past months of sailing alone were spent dancing in the nude on the deck singing whatever song I could think of the words for at the top of my lungs, I will instead insist that I spent my time alone staring pensively towards the distant horizon while contemplating deep philosophical questions. Though my day-to-day life will be altered, I look forward to sharing what I consider to be a pretty good lifestyle with friends and family. Hopefully, they enjoy the experience as much as I do.

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