We breakfasted out of our fridge eating fresh fruit and peanut products but stopped in for coffee at the Dive Hut; the bar associated with the apartments. We met Irene, the co-proprietor of the small complex and she encouraged us to try "Swiss night" at the Hut. She explained that she is Swiss and they cook Swiss cuisine once a week. We added our name to the list.
After coffee, we we went back to our apartment, packed for our day trip and sped off up the coast on the scooter. 
After we passed thee last dive site, we saw no other cars for some time. It was a protected no-dive zone, preserving a pristine reef. The road finally cut in an easterly direction across the island and along an inland lake that was a nesting area for the Bonaire flamingoes. It was lovely and we saw lots of birds and iguanas but we saw only one lone flamingo. It was satisfyingly dark pink and at first we were not sure whether we were looking at a decoy/lawn ornament or a live bird. I say it moved.
At 11 a.m. we rolled into the town of Rincon. We were looking for a restaurant called Rose's Inn which had been recommended as an authentic local place to eat. Calling it an "Inn" is a misnomer. It was an outdoor seating area with a booth at the entrance that served as a kitchen. We were told to sit anywhere and except for a small collection of local men sitting near the entrance talking to whomever was in the booth, we were the only ones there.
Eventually a woman came out and took our drink orders. There were no menus but we established that they had beer and fruit juices so Mary ordered the former and I the latter. She asked what we wanted to eat and we asked her what she had.
"Today I have some salt fish, chicken stew, beef stew or I have a tuna sandwich."
Mary asked about Iguana soup, which had been recommended, but we were informed "no soup today." She then walked away saying, "you think think think about it."
About a half hour later, our drinks were gone and another couple entered and we heard them order food. Their lunches were prepared and served and and she had not yet returned to our table a second time or even shot us a glance. It was a lovely place to sit with good music playing but we were pretty hungry. Finally Mary managed to signal the woman who came over and took our orders. We had probably been sitting there nearly an hour. Glad I did not have my watch on. Was this the pace of the Island? Had we said something wrong?
The food definitely was fantastic. I ordered the salt fish, not really understanding what I would be getting and Mary ordered chicken stew. They both came with a lettuce salad, corn cake, bean cake and fried plantain. I had French fries and Mary had a mound of spiced beans and rice. Salt fish was delicious. I think it was tuna fried with...something. Mary loved the chicken as well. Getting the check proved as difficult as waiting to be served but we eventually payed and scooter end out of there. Good food. Awkward experience,
We looped backed to the coast on a different route. But when we came to the split, we discovered that the road we had been on up the coast had turned into one way beyond the dive sites. I never saw a sign. In retrospect, that is probably why we never saw any cars coming the other way. Looking at a map, the only way out of there looked to be back-tracking to Rincon and circling the long way around on the windy side of the island, far away from all the snorkeling sites.
This may sound like a stupid decision but I chose to drive the scooter the wrong way down a single lane road for the couple of kilometers to the point it becomes two-way again, at the dive sites. To Mary's credit, she thought it was a bad idea but she held tight and we white knuckled it around each curve. I knew there was almost no traffic and if I went slow and pretended I was more like a bicycle and less like a motorcycle, I could get away with it. On the 3 occasions that I saw a car coming, I pulled over and stopped. Only one person wagged a finger at us. Hey, we are driving a power scooter without helmets. Why not go all the way to retarded? But you will have to trust me that this was the correct decision and never really felt that scary to me. And Mary got a nice jolt of adrenaline out of the deal.
We were anxious to try out the new modified goggles with Mary' lenses glued in to them. They worked acceptably well. 
We decided to try diving at a spot called 1000 steps. There are only 64 steps but apparently it feels like 1000 if you are arriving scuba gear up the flight. There was beach at the bottom and secluded nooks for changing out of wet gear. There is not really sand in Bonaire. Just dead coral chunks and finely ground coral. This beach had quite a bit of the latter and since it was a fairly windy day, the water had it pretty stirred up and cloudy near the shore. There appeared to be very little live coral here and not as many fish as yesterday. At one point I looked for Mary and she was out in much deeper water. I swam out to her and discovered that she had found where the live coral was. It was a forest but it was maybe 20 or 30 feet deep so we were quite far above.
We swam for at least an hour and we were the only ones left of the 6-8 people who came and went while we were there. We changed back to dry clothes, ascended the rocky steps, and buzzed back to our apartment on bi-directional roads. 
[ Captions: snorkel dork and snorkel goddess.]
We decided to find an ATM and with draw some more cash, we discovered that credit cards were not accepted at as many places as we were led to believe in the research phase of this trip. If you are spending a lot of money on a meal or a vehicle rental, yes. If you are getting small items, groceries or authentic meals, not so much.
Swiss dinner was a little electric grill on your table with a plate of meats and vegetables that you heat up on top. No oils or spices were provided but he gimmick was that there is a mini pan that you use to heat up a slice of cheese by placing it in a slot under the griddle. Then you can pour hot cheese on your vegetables. We tried to be good sports every time they came to our table and tried to remind us how much fun we were having. It was just find and the ingredients were good but it was hot already without a glowing stove in front of you and if I'm going to cook, I sort of feel like I should clean up too.
After dinner we sat at the bar and we were joined by Roland, the other co-owner of the establishment. He talked about how he came here. He was Dutch but got tired of how judgmental Dutch people were and he moved to Switzerland where he met his wife Irene and they came here because the Swiss were not much better than the Dutch. And now the island is full of Dutch people who took their attitudes with them. He also advised us on tomorrow's adventure and another authentic restaurant on the windy side of the island near one of he nicest coral reefs accessible from shore.
1 comment:
So enjoy your writing and your adventures. Continue to have a great time. You both look wonderful.
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