Groceries on a Saturday. The cupboards were bare...

[uncfnp]

Like wildbill9, we checked multiple days at multiple stores.

 

[Lorenzoid]

We are spoiled by Van den Tweel. Who remembers Cultimara? It was ALWAYS devoid of anything fresh-looking.

 

[gbf]

We are spoiled by Van den Tweel. Who remembers Cultimara? It was ALWAYS devoid of anything fresh-looking.

oh yea.

I once bought some fried pies at cultimara. I asked the young lady behind the bakery counter what the filling was, she said, "apple". They were really good, so later that week I went back for some more. Asked again about the filling. She said "plum".

Same pies...

 

[Doctorfish]

I'm not sure what the whining is about. If you you are fortunate enough to be on Bonaire, who cares if the shelves are sparse. There is always something to buy. Eggs, cheese, bread. Should be adequate to see people through to Tuesday when the shelves are re stocked. Suck it up and enjoy the diving.

Empty shelves are just a reminder that the rest of the world does not live the way we do in North America and Western Europe.

 

[Lorenzoid]

@Doctorfish I agree completely. However, it is a little unusual for a high-end Dutch chain. One might think they of all stores would have the ability to keep things well stocked. But apparently even mighty Van den Tweel can’t always manage that on Bonaire.

The Dutch divers are happy to eat cheese. Who buys bacon, anyway? Americans,.

 

[uncfnp]

I'm not sure what the whining is about. If you you are fortunate enough to be on Bonaire, who cares if the shelves are sparse. There is always something to buy. Eggs, cheese, bread. Should be adequate to see people through to Tuesday when the shelves are re stocked. Suck it up and enjoy the diving.

Empty shelves are just a reminder that the rest of the world does not live the way we do in North America and Western Europe.

It has nothing to do with whining nor complaining, at least not on my part. Just stating an observation during my last visit and only posted after someone had a similar experience. And only then because of my admitted concern for Bonaire, its obvious growth (construction was everywhere) and dependence on imports. Not sure why you interpreted this as whining.

Addendum. And FWIW the three items I mentioned we have only found on Bonaire and two of the three we have enjoyed on every other trip (this was our 14th). I believe the bread is even baked on island.

 

[dmaziuk]

When we arrived the OJ machine was down for cleaning. That was the real catastrophe.

 

[lmorin]

The absence of standard groceries in the stores occurred when we were on Bonaire last winter. There was a period of about 2 wks when it was difficult to get all sorts of items, but what was missing on any one day was fairly unpredictable. We never did learn the root cause, but were told that until Bonaire has better dock space/ship unloading options, everything must first be unloaded on Curacao where it is placed in smaller shipping containers that can then be handled properly on Bonaire. Somewhere in this process, there was a screw-up of some sort and the goods were not able to be sent on to Bonaire in a timely fashion.

 

[Lorenzoid]

The absence of standard groceries in the stores occurred when we were on Bonaire last winter. There was a period of about 2 wks when it was difficult to get all sorts of items, but what was missing on any one day was fairly unpredictable. We never did learn the root cause, but were told that until Bonaire has better dock space/ship unloading options, everything must first be unloaded on Curacao where it is placed in smaller shipping containers that can then be handled properly on Bonaire. Somewhere in this process, there was a screw-up of some sort and the goods were not able to be sent on to Bonaire in a timely fashion.

So if and when Bonaire constructs a container port, we divers will be able to enjoy an endless supply of bacon and apples while the container ship traffic trashes the reef. I'm good with an over-ripe papaya from Venezuela for breakfast, thank you.

 

[uncfnp]

So if and when Bonaire constructs a container port, we divers will be able to enjoy an endless supply of bacon and apples while the container ship traffic trashes the reef. I'm good with an over-ripe papaya from Venezuela for breakfast, thank you.

What is it with bacon?

No my preference is for less of the need for more imports, ie less cruisers, less development/construction. But that is not going to happen. So my second wish is that Bonaire’s growth, and it is happening, is done intelligently and thoughtfully with an eye to long term environmental consequences and that the powers that be in Bonaire have a plan to control and guide it’s inevitable changes.