Bonaire- a truly unforgettable experience

[dianna912]

I really just had to share my experience here. It's long, but I hope you find it worth the read.

So, through my job, one of the perks is the ability to earn two one-week vacations each year, and I was very excited to land the last spot to Bonaire! We decided to extend, since one week for a diver means just five days of diving, and that just wasn’t going to cut it, so I did some research and found the perfect spot for our second week: Bamboo Bali Bonaire. We got it all booked, and waited the three months for our next adventure to begin.

Just getting to Bonaire was quite the challenge. The blizzard of the decade, especially for South Central Virginia, was being called for on the Friday that we were supposed to depart Roanoke, VA. This is a tiny airport, so I just knew there was no way we were getting out. I called Delta on Wednesday, and after 1 ½ hours on the phone, I finally got them to agree to change our flight to Raleigh. Raleigh looked good to go, as far as weather goes, and I had been wanting to stay at the Double Tree there, so we headed down Thursday evening, staying ahead of the storm. We got to Raleigh, got all check in to the hotel, and went to the front desk to register our car for the extended parking. They asked when our flight was, and I told them it was noon tomorrow. They looked at me with sympathy and said that every airline except Delta had cancelled their flights. Luckily, we are flying delta, so there is still hope. We looked at the forecast again, and now it was showing 1-2 inches of snow with up to ½ an inch of freezing rain. We got to bed for a restless night’s sleep, and I wake up at 5 am and look at the weather. Now it’s 5-8 inches of snow, plus 1 inch of ice. Ugh oh…. I beg my husband to head to the airport, and I finally convince him. We wait in a very long line at Delta, and they inform us that there are 30+ people on standby already. My husband insists on just heading back to the hotel, but decides to run over to the Starbucks by the ticket counter first. We had the free refill January mug, which I highly recommend, and wanted to get one last use out of it. He walks back over to me with the coffee and says, “we’re going on standby.” He had heard the flight attendants in front of him discussing how glad they were that they were on the next flight, because it would probably be the last one to get out! We got on standby, and actually made it on the second flight out, which actually was the last to leave RDU that day. So, we are finally on our way to Atlanta! We have a great day in Atlanta, with an amazing brunch and mimosas at the Flying Biscuit. We actually got to see snow falling in Atlanta, which is quite a rarity! We woke up on Saturday and departed for Bonaire, feeling incredibly blessed for the way things have fallen into place to get us here.


We did have one little situation on the flight that threw me for a loop. We were assigned a window and an aisle seat, and there was this very strange guy sitting right in between. My husband asked if he would mind if we were together and he told him that he wasn’t moving unless he got to sit by his girlfriend. Luckily, a very friendly man in her row moved up to ours, because that could’ve been pretty darn awkward, and I’m pretty sure I would’ve accidentally elbowed him a lot. We arrived in Bonaire, which gave us a whole new definition for small airport. Everything is outdoors, so we tried to slather on Bugmans mosquito repellant immediately. Every other couple on my work trip was actually on the same flight so we got to know quite a few of them, which made the whole welcome dinner way less awkward than it usually is, yay!

We got to the Harbour Village Beach Club, which was a bit over the top for my taste, but a lot of people loved it. It had a man-made beach with palm trees that had to be watered, and had a dive shop on site. There was actually a cool small wreck right out front where I was the first in our group to spot 3 lionfish tucked away inside. They have two pools, but we never actually used them. We did spend a lot of time reading in the hammocks. I read a great book called “The Color of Secrets” over the first few days, and we got in quite a few dives. We got there on Saturday, and on Sunday, we decided to get a rental car. I sent an email to avis requesting a rental, and when we got there, they informed us that all they had were $80 pickups, instead of the $30 car we requested. We checked each window, and finally ended up with a $50 car through Hertz, which we just kept for three days. Make sure if you are going to rent, do it and get a confirmation through Kayak! We picked up some groceries, water and beer and headed back to the resort. Over the first few days, my foot was acting up. I have this weird pain that flares up on the outside of my foot/ankle, and starts to radiate up my calf. Unfortunately, my only sandals, my birkenstocks, have a little bump in the foot bed that hits this exact spot, so I was stuck wearing my "travelling through the airport" toms. These aren’t cute toms, no, these are, as our friend Cole put it, “I thought you were wearing house shoes” Toms. Nice, huh? This is Sunday through Tuesday, and with the help of Epsom salt soaking, I finally got it feeling better. Hopefully this is the last of any trouble we’ll have, right? RIGHT? Alas, it gets worse.

We decided to sign up for Advanced Open water certification, and need to complete Deep, Navigation, Wreck, Fish ID, and a night dive. We also got our lionfish hunting certification. We started with our deep and navigation, which were more activity based dives, then the Fish ID, which I’m pretty sure we had the coolest Fish ID dive ever! We had to draw a picture of a fish, and then ID it when we got back up using the book. During the dive, I look over and Brenden is excitedly pointing out something, turns out he’s found a beautiful long snout seahorse, one of my absolute favorite things to see! Our instructor gets me to draw the seahorse for my fish ID, and also a porcupine fish, which are up there in my top favorite fishes! Next up is our Night dive. I’m feeling kind of cruddy for this dive. Not sure what the deal is, but I did have a little bit of tummy rumbling and spent a little extra time on the toilet, and a little achy, but I push through, because it is supposed to be an incredible opportunity. We are a few days after the full moon, which means we just might get to see ostracods. Ostracods are tiny shrimp that do a bioluminescent mating ritual that makes it looks like there are strands of pearls floating through the water. My hubby and I are at the back of the group after we’ve turned around and headed back to the boat, when I see a tiny shimmer out of the corner of my eye. I immediately turn out my flashlight, and look up at Brenden, who is actually dancing through the ostracods. This is a man who does not dance, but he looked like a contemporary dancer floating around through the stars. The ostracods were the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, it was as if we were floating through heaven, and they danced off your arms and fins as you moved through them. I absolutely hated the night dive up until this point, I was cold and achy, and you can’t see anything but what is in front of your flashlight, but this made it worth it, and then some. We were surprised when we got back to the boat that no one else had gotten the show we had. A few people caught quick glimpses, but nothing like what we experienced. We must’ve been in just the right place at the right time. Our dive master said she actually cried the first time she saw them, and I teared up a little bit myself. It was that amazing.

to be continued

 

[dianna912]

When we got back to the room, I was feeling significantly worse. My stomach was really turning now, and let’s just say, I was glad we had two toilets in this place. I spent most of the night running to the toilet. When morning rolled around, I couldn’t even think of eating the awful breakfast food they were serving up. The only thing remotely appealing was the fruit, so my hubby brought me back a big bowl of pineapple, watermelon, and cantaloupe each morning, as I miserably tried to ride this out. Thursday morning was the Helma Hooker dive. This was the last dive for out Advance certification, and I was down for the count. My hubby told me of how they celebrated their new certification, fist bumping, and hugging, and I just cried a little inside. I did manage to go out on the next boat dive, for our final lionfish cert, as I wasn’t sure we could reschedule that one, and we had already paid the $100. It was a harrowing journey over to Klein Bonaire, and I wasn’t sure I would make it, but I did. It was rather uneventful, Brenden speared one lionfish, but I don’t remember seeing much else on this dive. I was glad to get back to the room where I could soak in the bathtub and read. The next day I was feeling slightly better, so we decided to head into town for a bit of shopping. Walking out of the resort, I felt sharp sting on my arm, then another. Then one on my shoulder. I threw off my bag, stripped off my shirt, and apparently there was a darn horsefly in my shirt. I couldn’t help but laugh at my latest little nuisance. Bonaire was not being too kind to me. We had our final dinner with the work group on Friday, and I was finally able to eat some real food, yay! We packed up to leave on Saturday. We were moving to the new place, and we knew they had a pickup truck for us to rent, so instead of carrying all of the luggage and groceries we still had, we just took our bags, told the front desk that we were NOT checking out, told the maids we were NOT checking out, that we would be back shortly, and headed to check in and grab our pickup. This all took about 30 minutes. When we got back to the room, I’m surprised to see all of our grocery bags set out on the floor, full of the stuff from our fridge. The room has been completely turned over, one of our packages of cheese is open on the counter with an open Heineken beside it, and the maid has her phone plugged into our cell phone charger. Apparently, the moment we left, they went right in, started divvying up our goods, popped the top on a Heineken to celebrate, and were quite disappointed when we showed up. We collected our bags, a bit shocked at all of this, and headed back to our new place. It was such a refreshing change. An adorable cottage, with outside eating areas and lounge areas that were just splendid. There were two hot tubs, and a salt water pool. They had the most amazing lighting throughout, using string lights and lanterns to create an incredible ambiance. This was, most definitely, my kind of place. Unfortunately, Montezuma was not done with me, and I spent the first night on our adorable little cottage’s bathroom floor. I found myself in a unique situation. My husband is a doctor. Anytime we’ve ever had a health issue, I’ve never had a problem getting a prescription. Plus, most of our travels have been to Mexico and Indonesia, where antibiotics are over the counter. This is not the case in Bonaire. In fact, even immodium has to be purchase at the pharmacy, which by the way, on Sundays, is only open 11-1. I’m on day five of this, and we are starting into our 6 days of unlimited shore diving, and I am just done, so we head to the medical clinic. We are there when they open at 8:00am. We are told the doctor is not in yet. I asked when he comes in, she says 8 with a smirk. 8:40 rolls around and he walks in. He calls us back, with little fanfare. No temp check, no weight check. Just asks what the problem is. I inform him that I’ve had this for 5 days, and need an antibiotic. He tells me that the Dutch do not give antibiotics for traveler’s diarrhea. Keep in mind, we just paid $84 for this stellar medical advice. Now, if you know Brenden, he is very laid back, passive, and non-confrontational. Not today. He looks at him and says, both the CDC and IDSA call for Ciprofloxacin as a first line treatment for traveler’s diarrhea. Especially when it has lasted this long, and is impacting travel plans. She has not been able to dive for days, and is running out of time to do so. Amazingly, the Dutch doctor listened, and gave me the RX. I was good to go that afternoon.

Finally, we are able to get back to diving, and we’ve got some great things planned. We hit up Andrea II, first, which is a bit of a walk for this girl who is weak and dehydrated, but I made it. It wasn’t one of my favorites, but we did see some pretty fish. We started with Andrea I then Oilslick. The next day we dove Alice in Wonderland, which is a stunning double reef, then 1000 steps. At 1000 steps, we saw a giant porcupinefish that actually followed us around for a while! I started to get stung up a little bit by the jellies, as usual, but I remembered seeing some vinegar in our cottage. The label was in dutch, but it smelled like vinegar, and had a picture of pouring it into milk to make buttermilk, which is a use for vinegar, so naturally, I assume, this is vinegar. I pour it on my hands and arm, and immediately I get a deep rooted burning sensation. This isn’t the sting you get with normal vinegar. This is pain. I look at my skin, and it appears to be raising up a little, so I immediately wash it off. I turn to google, and type in the name on the bottle. Azijn Essence. This means vinegar essence. Regular white vinegar is 5% concentrate. This is 80% concentrate. I just poured Acetic acid on my arm. I spend an hour moping around, and then decide it’s certainly not going to kill me, so we get back out and dive some more. What better distraction, right? We dove Alice in Wonderland again, then Salt Pier, where we saw a turtle way off in the distance, then Bari’s reef. No luck spotting seahorses here, even though others say they are common. The next day, things started to get very fun. We dove Vista Blue, which is crazy sandy. It is everywhere. Expect to find it in your suit, your boots, etc, for the rest of the day. Next was Windsock. I happened to look over at another diver and noticed he was photographing something. He looked up and gave us the symbol for a seahorse, so we swam right over, and watched it for a while. We actually got to see it eating, which was a first! This makes two seahorses this trip, which makes me a very happy diver! Next up was Cliff, which is one of the coolest dives we did. It is a huge wall, with so many cool nooks and crannies. I spotted a teeny tiny lionfish, so small, it didn’t even have stripes yet. Then, I looked down, and FINALLY saw a sea turtle that was lumbering around down on the floor. It was walking around, trying to chomp on coral. I just stayed there and watched it, loving the show, as it would latch on to a piece of coral and move it’s body up and down trying to break some off. Then, it started to swim, so I followed it, keeping my distance, and it ended up going up to the surface. It was pretty amazing to be able to look up and see silhouetted by the sun! The next day we got do my makeup for the Hooker, then we went to Angel City, where we chatted with two other divers before going in. On our way back, we all noticed another sea turtle, eating, and playing, and just doing its thing. I look up at my husband, and behind him, I see four squid, which were just stunning. We were able to get quite close and just watch them. We got out of the water just before the other couple, and I noticed that they were right at the exit, but were just snorkeling there. They finally stood up and told us there was an octopus, so we threw on our snorkels, and I got to see my first octopus! We finished the day with Andrea II, where we had to observe two very strange middle aged creatures nude on the beach. Our last day was an amazing one starting at Red Slave, then Sweet Dreams filled with Eagle Rays, more turtles, and an amazing Green moray eel swimming at Karpata, our last dive. We actually watched a lionfish swim through the eel’s mouth, while the eel just sat there, evidence that efforts to get the eels to become a natural predator of the lionfish may not be getting much traction. We got back to our place, and packed up for the next day’s journey home. After the many nuisances that we had while on this trip, I hoped to have a safe, healthy return home, but alas, Bonaire was not quite done with me yet… To Be Continued…

 

[dianna912]

Bonaire- A lasting Impression….

We boarded our flight to Atlanta, and were pleasantly surprised that we were flying Delta Comfort. This meant great snacks, and free drinks, which we were happy to partake in. We’re done diving, right?! So, we both have Woodford Reserve on the rocks, and watched Pan on the little TVs. The flight was rather uneventful, and pleasant, we even had all three seat to ourselves! As we were landing, though, something didn’t feel right. In fact, I felt like I’d been hit by a train. I chalked it up to fatigue and dehydration, and the woodford, that probably didn’t help with that dehydration. I took a couple of Tylenol, and that helped take the edge off, but the next morning, I was getting worried. I had deep deep pain in my shoulder, my elbow, my hip, and my knee, but also a more generalized malaise throughout my body. At this point, I am worried about decompression sickness. While we did stay within the recommended limits, it was just so. We were right at 24 hours post dive before flying. We did run close to exceeding our no-deco time, although we never actually did. There have been many cases of unearned DCS, and that’s where I think this is going, so I call DAN, the Divers Alert Network, and they tell me that it actually doesn’t sound like DCS. It usually doesn’t have the overall body aches to go with it, but that if it was still there in the morning, I should consult a doctor. I was actually relieved that evening when the fever set in, because I knew that DCS does not present with a fever. Yay, no ride in the hyperbaric chamber, I thought. Little did I know I was in for a lot worse than a boring four hours in a chamber. Monday, the aches got worse, the fever got higher, and I felt very flu-like. By Wednesday, we started to think this may be more than the flu. There were no upper respiratory issues, just a horrendous headache, body ache, and fever. I went to my local doctor, and we discussed some of the possibilities. Mosquito-borne is what I keep thinking, reading up on Dengue, Chikungunya, and Zika. My symptoms most closely matched dengue, but either way, there is not treatment, just rest, Tylenol, and fluids. By Thursday night, my fever spiked to 104, and I woke up to take a Tylenol, immediately vomiting up the water I tried to take it with. I lay on the bathroom floor, and the fever finally broke, leaving me in a sad pile of sweat, exhausted and weary. My husband was pulling 12 hour shifts at the hospital, so I called on friends to try to get my hands on apple juice and apple sauce and anything else that I could stomach. Friday night, we consulted with a Filipino co-worker familiar with Dengue on what the average timeframe is. She was quite startled that I’d had a high grade fever for so long, and told him he need to consult with Infectious Disease. They told him I needed bloodwork, so we called the on call doctor at the clinic to get them to put orders in. The phlebotomist, the best I have ever had, was quite startled by the amount of bloodwork I needed. It was drawn off both arms, which is no fun at all, but she made it as painless as possible. That evening, we got confirmation that my platelets were low, and my liver enzymes were high, a very good indicator of Dengue Fever, so I was praying I had to be at the end of the typical seven day duration. Of course, they ran a malaria smear, and salmonella to check for Typhoid, but both came back negative. The fever was unrelenting, and on Monday, my nose started to bleed, which is a sign of sever dengue. Due to a snowstorm, the doctor’s office was closed, so I called the on- call for that morning, and he got even more bloodwork ran, including a stool sample, which I grumbled about. Who wants to poop in a plastic container, then spoon that poop into another container, and walk through the hospital with it to drop at the lab? Ew! I asked the lab manager if results were back on Dengue yet, and she said she would check when I brought the stool sample back, so I was under pressure to get this done. I was back down to the lab within an hour. We had some blessed luck this day, due to the snowstorm, the hospital put my husband up at our favorite hotel in Roanoke, so we watched the Grammy’s while enjoying room service, and I had about as much fun as you can have when you have a high grade fever. The next day, Tuesday, I was to see the Infectious disease doctor, and the hotel was awesome enough to let me stay until two, as my appointment was at 2:30. The doctor was amazing, and spent a solid two hours taking a full history of everything I did, and everything I ate in Bonaire. He did inform me, though, that fever in returning travelers often goes undiagnosed, which is very disheartening. I want to know what this affliction is! By Thursday, I’m still feeling the same, and I sent him a message through the hospital’s system saying that if he was planning on meeting with me again this week, I had a client luncheon Friday I didn’t want to miss, but I was completely free Thursday. His office called a few minutes later and scheduled me for the afternoon. I told my husband, I hope he wasn’t just bringing me in because of the message. I didn’t want to waste his time, I just wanted him to know I couldn’t meet Friday, if he was wanting, too. In hindsight, I found this whole dialogue quite comical. I get to the office, and go through the routine, my temp is 100.9 with Tylenol coursing through me. I get back to the room, my husband is with me this time, and we wait quite a while for the doc to come in. He informs me that he’s been consulting with the chief of the department on my case. They just got the labwork back. I have typhoid fever. I’m pretty sure I was in shock. I mean, sure, I’ve heard of it, but mainly from the history books. I knew I had a vaccination before Bali, and that was just in October, and Bonaire is supposed to have clean water, and be no risk, and what?!?!?!?! He shows us the slides, which I must admit, were pretty cool, but also looked like an alien could be growing in my intestines. I didn’t understand anything he said about all of it. All I knew was that they found it in the stool culture that I didn’t want to give, and their theory is that the bloodwork was negative due to the antibiotics I took for traveler’s diarrhea. One of my questions was “what about the dengue?” I think I just thought I’d had it for so long, I couldn’t accept anything else. We’d finally got that back, and it was most definitely negative. We talked about the most likely culprits for how I got it, and the fruit I consumed so much of at Harbour Village is the most likely culprit, based on incubation period, and the history of what we ate throughout our stay. Next steps include more bloodwork, (Why, oh why?!) antibiotics, and a call from the health department so they can report to the CDC. I’m now day 6 into antibiotics, the fever has backed off to a low-grade level, but still likes to spike every so often, and I haven’t been able to work for a month. I’m so glad I didn’t have decompression sickness, right? Ironically, that great book I read at the beginning of the trip, it’s about a woman whose son dies of typhoid fever from an ice cream vendor at the beach. Ah, irony.

 

[darook]

Wow! I hope you get completely better right away. It is a shame you were so ill at Bamboo Bali, that is a wonderful place. When you were discussing the possibility of DCS I was thinking of how dehydrated you may have been which can increase your susceptibility to it. Typhoid is a total shock. I don't think you could have had worse luck on the health front. My understanding is that Harbor Village is owned by some very wealthy Venezuelans (didn't know there were any anymore) who view it as more of a toy. It is seldom very booked and they don't care.

You mentioned that you didn't care for the breakfast and could potentially blame the fruit. I was a Buddy Dive a few weeks back and after a few days I couldn't look their breakfast buffet in the eye. After an "incident at Candyland" I avoided it completely. I found I felt better not eating breakfast other than snacking on some Dutch Spiced Biscuits (Graham Crackers to you and I). I think not having a glob of protein in my gut for my intestines to work on improved my air consumption as well. (I may really be reaching here)

Regardless, I am glad you are on the mend and hope that if you visit Bonaire again it goes much better!

 

[dianna912]

Wow! I hope you get completely better right away. It is a shame you were so ill at Bamboo Bali, that is a wonderful place. When you were discussing the possibility of DCS I was thinking of how dehydrated you may have been which can increase your susceptibility to it. Typhoid is a total shock. I don't think you could have had worse luck on the health front. My understanding is that Harbor Village is owned by some very wealthy Venezuelans (didn't know there were any anymore) who view it as more of a toy. It is seldom very booked and they don't care.

You mentioned that you didn't care for the breakfast and could potentially blame the fruit. I was a Buddy Dive a few weeks back and after a few days I couldn't look their breakfast buffet in the eye. After an "incident at Candyland" I avoided it completely. I found I felt better not eating breakfast other than snacking on some Dutch Spiced Biscuits (Graham Crackers to you and I). I think not having a glob of protein in my gut for my intestines to work on improved my air consumption as well. (I may really be reaching here)

Regardless, I am glad you are on the mend and hope that if you visit Bonaire again it goes much better!

Bamboo Bali is pretty spectacular! I liked it much better than Harbour. Fortunately, I was only sick the first night there, so I really got to enjoy it and the shore diving. And if you can believe this, I would absolutely go back. The diving really was that amazing. I kept eating the fruit because we'd already returned the rental, and didn't want to pay for a taxi, and I already had traveler's diarrhea, so what's the risk, I tell myself. Live adventurously and learn, huh? The part that does confound me is that there haven't been any other reported cases. WHO says that typhoid is often spread through the manure used on fruit, so maybe I just got that lucky piece. I'm curious if the fruit comes from Venezuela. My guess is , if there was a carrier or infected person in the kitchen, I wouldn't be the only one.

 

[Jersey]

Oh it was worth the read! Quite conversational style which I enjoyed, right up until typhoid?!?!? Yes, some fruit comes from Venezuela, you can find the boats tied up in Kralendjik off loading. Despite all the obstacles, snow, health situation, glad to hear you enjoyed. Hoping your recovery is quick and uneventful. ...I'm finishing the last of my packing right now...

 

[WarrenZ]

Wow a trip with a body full of "souvenirs" hope your recovery is swift and glad to hear you had some fun on the trip in spite of it all.

 

[bcaderunr]

If you don't mind me asking, when was the last time you had a DPT Booster shot? I try to get one every 10 years and now I'm a bit concerned. Thanks!

 

[tkaelin]

Wow. I am not sure how to respond and how I feel about your post or how I feel after reading your posts. I think if I was new to diving and dive travel I would reconsider. Hope you get well soon and fully recover.

 

[dianna912]

If you don't mind me asking, when was the last time you had a DPT Booster shot? I try to get one every 10 years and now I'm a bit concerned. Thanks!

I actually just had the Typhoid vaccination in October, but it's not highly effective.