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Bonaire E-News - This Week This part of the InfoBonaire Web site features the contents of our special Bonaire E-NewsTM weekly e-mail news broadcast. To be added to our Bonaire E-News mailing list, please send a message to add-news@InfoBonaire.com. This issue covers November 18 - 24, 1998. Special Thanks to George De Salvo of Port Call and Deborah Diggons of Bonaire Update for help procuring much of the material for this week's Bonaire E-News while the editors are traveling off-island (but still writing the Bonaire E-News) This week's Bonaire E-News articles are:
500 Years of Bonaire In 1499, 500 years ago next year Americo Vespucci sailed to the Southern Caribbean and put Bonaire on the European map of the world. Next Thursday, November 26th, at the Divi Flamingo Beach Hotel, the Maritime Congress Foundation will present its plans for the coming year. The program will include an address by Hubert Vis, head of the Bonaire Department of Culture, a talk by Captain Jan Mol about Vespucci’s voyage from Spain to Bonaire, a presentation by Whitney Rudolf concerning the fundraising efforts of the Foundation, a video about Seville, Spain - the European center of trade during the Vespucci era - as well as an opportunity to ask questions. Refreshments will be served. Call Captain Jan Mol at 6585 for more information. (Courtesy of Port Call) Giving Thanks In honor of the U.S. holiday of Thanksgiving, several island restaurants will be serving traditional Thanksgiving dinners next week on Thursday, November 26th. Rum Runners at Capt. Don's Habitat will have their special Thanksgiving buffet, including turkey with 3 dressings, starting at 7 p.m. Make your reservations by calling 8290. Then you can stroll over to the adjacent Deco Stop Bar for a reggae Thanksgiving party with live reggae music by the group, "Kaya," starting at 9:30 p.m. The Green Parrot Restaurant at the Sand Dollar Resort is offering a Thanksgiving Buffet with all the traditional dishes as well as some with a tropical twist. There will be 2 seatings, 7 and 8:30p.m. Call them to make reservations at 5454. KonTiki will be serving a variety of Thanksgiving dishes, including turkey with sweet
potato, corn pudding, and grandma's pumpkin pie, from 2:00pm to 6:00pm - all for Nafl. 37,50 or US$21.50. Kontiki can be reached at 5369 or mailto:kontiki@bonairelive.net. As part of Tourism Month, the Tourism Corporation of Bonaire is sponsoring a guided walking tour of part of the island on Sunday, November 22nd. The tour
starts at 3pm in Barcadera, at the Stinapa office. A bus will take participants to Seru Largu, where Boi Antoin, Bonaire's noted historian, will provide details about
the area's past. The path taken will be an old dirt road paralleling to Sabadeco where Janet Nollen will discuss the Sabadeco project. The end of the walk will end
where it started - at the Stinapa office, culminating in a presentation about the Bonaire Marine Park and a BBQ. The walk is free (although RSVPs are requested
to ensure the proper number of buses) and the BBQ is Nafl. 12,50. Contact TCB at mailto:tcb@bonairelive.com to RSVP as soon as possible. Bonaire Twin Cinema is located in the heart of Kralendijk next to the Exito Bakery and behind the Cultimara Supermarket. Starting Thursday, November 19, Bonaire
Twin Cinema will be offering the following film features (NaFl. 10.- for all normal features): --------------------------------- Mousehunt
Two down-on-their-luck brothers inherit more than they expect when their father leaves them a string factory and a mansion worth millions. The only problem is the
house is already occupied by a mouse. A great movie for children and adults. Bring the whole family. (Rated PG, Comedy. 98 minutes) For details, see: --------------------------------- Snake Eyes
Nicholas Cage plays an Atlantic City detective caught in the middle of a deadly game of intrigue during a boxing match where the U.S. Secretary of Defense is
assassinated. In an interesting twist, the film covers action in real-time as you follow Cage on his search for the assassin. (Rated R, Suspense Thriller, 98 minutes) For details, see:
--------------------------------- Parent Trap
In something of a remake of the classic Disney family movie, twin daughters are separated by an ocean and their parent’s divorce, and join forces to bring the family
back together. (Rated PG-13, Comedy, 123 minutes). For details, see: ---------------------------------
Coming Soon at Bonaire Twin Cinemas: "How Stella Got Her Groove Back", "Blade", "Dance With Me", and "Knock Off" --------------------------------- Dance With Me Contest!
At 8pm, on November 28, 1998, Bonaire Twin Cinema will host a "Salsa" dance contest in their parking lot. The entry price is Nafl. 25,00 per couple and you can
sign-up at the cinema until November 25th. Each couple receives one free small popcorn and a small soft drink. There will be numerous prizes. Dance music featured is from the movie "Dance with Me".
--------------------------------- Planning a party for the holidays? Celebrate at the movies. For more information call tel. 2400 after 12 noon. ---------------------------------
Also, check out the Dinner and a Movie special offered by Bonaire Twin Cinema and De Tuin Restaurant. Nafl. 35.- gets you dinner, beer or soda, popcorn, and a ticket to a movie.
The Bonaire Twin Cinema Box Office opens nightly at 6:00pm, and no reservations are required. Tickets are only available at the box office. Questions about the
movies? Call Bonaire Twin Cinema at 2400 (Noon to closing everyday), FAX: 8010, or send an e-mail to - Cargo Clearing. A new cargo clearing business, aptly named Cargo Clearing & Services Bonaire has moved into the former home of BonTiki - on the corner north
of Restaurant Klein Bonaire. They can be contacted at 4433 or - Dive Clean-Up Addition. In last week's Bonaire E-News article about the first monthly underwater clean-up, we unfortunately neglected to mention that Buddy
Dive, Green Submarine, and Toucan Divers (Plaza Resort) all donated tanks for use during the clean-up. Their contribution was greatly appreciated! - BONHATA Meeting. Just a reminder: On November 30th, at 5pm in the
conference room at Captain Don's Habitat, BONHATA - the Bonaire Hotel and Tourism Association, will be holding its Annual General Assembly. The sole purpose of the meeting is to elect a new Board of Directors. Only BONHATA
members whose dues are paid up may vote. Nomination forms for the elections are available from BONHATA at 5134, FAX: 8534, e-mail: - Food King
. A new supermarket opened this past Sunday on Kaya Korona in the old Korona Supermarket building. It is named the Food King Supermarket. There have been long waits to check out because they are still computerizing their prices.
(Port Call) - Klein Bonaire. There are indications that the possible acquisition of Klein Bonaire for the purpose of maintaining it as a national park may be proceeding between the
Government and the Klein Bonaire Development Corporation. We will report as soon as negotiation results are made public. (Port Call) - Trade Zone. A Bonaire Free Trade Zone has been approved by the Island
Council. The majority of the zone is located on the landward side of the main road leading to Pink Beach, just south of Lighthouse Point. Materials manufactured or
trans-shipped inside the zone will be free of customs duties and import/export taxes. The Zone is expected to provide increased employment and business diversification
for the island. The first businesses are to be an import/export firm and a pharmaceuticals manufacturer. Also, contrary to rumors on the Internet earlier this
year, no new port will be built in that area (or any other on Bonaire) to support the Free Trade Zone - the existing port facilities have been deemed sufficient. (Port Call) - Recycling
. We were recently asked if any company on Bonaire is currently accepting plastic soda bottles for recycling, now that Consales no longer has recycling bins in place and Bon-Awa has stopped accepting two-liter bottles for
reuse in packaging its juices. So, the question to our readers is: Do any of you know of anyone on Bonaire accepting plastic bottles (or other materials for that matter) for recycling? Please send e-mail to |
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Bonaire E-News - This Week This part of the InfoBonaire Web site features the contents of our special Bonaire E-NewsTM weekly e-mail news broadcast. To be added to our Bonaire E-News mailing list, please send a message to add-news@InfoBonaire.com. This issue covers November 11 - 17, 1998. This week's Bonaire E-News articles are
Quite Trashy These words describe the results of the first monthly underwater clean-up dive organized by Green Submarine and NetTech. A hardy group of nine volunteer divers concerned about the level of trash on Bonaire's reefs brought up over 150 pounds of garbage and trash from the waters of the northern Playa Lechi area, due west of the Green Submarine dive shop. The inventory of what was found was
Of course, the dive didn't prevent participants from observing life on the reefs which was managing to go about its business even with garbage in its midst. Among the highlights of the critter life were two hunting octopi, a school of boga being chased by aggressive (and apparently hungry) jacks,and an extremely rare (for Bonaire) and beautiful flying gurnard (the picture in the Paul Humann fish book doesn't do the real thing justice). The monthly underwater clean-up dive happens the first Saturday of each month at Green Submarine at Kaya Playa Lechi 24, starting at 10am and followed by a potluck BBQ for participating divers. Free air is also available. The next clean-up dive is scheduled for December 5th. If you're a concerned diver that wants to help clean-up Bonaire's reefs, call Eric Groenhart at 2929 or Jake Richter at 6773 (e-mail jake@nettech.an) to RSVP (so they can make sure they have enough food at the BBQ). Old Ships Found in the Aves According to the Associated Press, explorers led by one Barry Clifford have found a fleet of French warships in shallow waters around the Las Aves islands, 100 miles north of Venezuela (and a popular sailing destination for Bonairean base yachts). The warships are believed to have crashed against the reefs around one of the Aves islands during a night time chase of several Dutch ships. The French warships were apparently on their way to teach the Dutch settlement of Curacao a lesson. "It's a spectacular find," said Clifford, who made the world's first discovery of a pirate ship off Cape Cod, Mass. in 1984. "It was kind of like the Museum of Natural History had washed up on a coral reef." Local fishermen and divers have long seen bits of the wrecks over the years, but this was the first extensive scientific effort to locate and identify all the ships, said Venezuelan explorer Charles Brewer-Carias, who participated in the expedition. Leeward Inn Reopens Some of our readers may have heard that the Leeward Inn had closed recently as a result of a tax collection problem with the government. This is true. In fact, about two weeks ago there was an auction of much of the Leeward Inn's furnishings. With the help of several local business people the owners of the Leeward Inn were able to repurchase much of what they needed to continue running their business, however, and we're pleased to report that the Leeward Inn is back in business. In particular, all you Leeward Inn groupies will be happy to know that The Leeward Inn Café, famous for Papa Don’s pizza and friendly atmosphere, has reopened with a new look. They offer take out orders (phone 5516) and table service in the bar or street side patio. Sample Ditta’s delicious homemade cookies and brownies while you’re waiting. (Courtesy of Port Call) [Editor's note Earlier this week we partook of several pizza and brownies and our taste buds and tummies were both quite happy.] Bonaire Twin Cinema News & Features - November 12 - 18, 1998 Bonaire Twin Cinema is located in the heart of Kralendijk next to the Exito Bakery and behind the Cultimara Supermarket. Starting Thursday, November 12, Bonaire Twin Cinema will be offering the following film features (NaFl. 10.- for all normal features) --------------------------------- Mousehunt
Two down-on-their-luck brothers inherit more than they expect when their father leaves them a string factory and a mansion worth millions. The only problem is the house is already occupied by a mouse. A great movie for children and adults. Bring the whole family. (Rated PG, Comedy. 98 minutes). For details, see http//www.yahoo.com/movies/guide/mousehunt.html --------------------------------- Snake Eyes
Nicholas Cage plays an Atlantic City detective caught in the middle of a deadly game of intrigue during a boxing match where the U.S. Secretary of Defense is assassinated. In an interesting twist, the film covers action in real-time as you follow Cage on his search for the assassin. (Rated R, Suspense Thriller, 98 minutes) For details, see http//movies.yahoo.com/movies/guide/snake_eyes.html --------------------------------- Parent Trap - Last Week!
In something of a remake of the classic Disney family movie, twin daughters are separated by an ocean and their parent’s divorce, and join forces to bring the family back together. (Rated PG-13, Comedy, 123 minutes). For details, see http://headlines.yahoo.com/Full_Coverage/Movies/The_Parent_Trap/ --------------------------------- Coming Soon at Bonaire Twin Cinemas "How Stella Got Her Groove Back", "Blade", "Dance With Me", and "Knock Off" --------------------------------- Dance With Me Contest! At 8pm, on November 28, 1998, Bonaire Twin Cinema will host a "Salsa" dance contest in their parking lot. The entry price is Nafl. 25,00 per couple and you can sign-up at the cinema until November 25th. Each couple receives one free small popcorn and a small soft drink. There will be numerous prizes. Dance music featured is from the movie "Dance with Me". --------------------------------- Planning a party for the holidays? Celebrate at the movies. For more information call tel. 2400 after 12 noon. --------------------------------- Also, check out the Dinner and a Movie special offered by Bonaire Twin Cinema and De Tuin Restaurant. Nafl. 35.- gets you dinner, beer or soda, popcorn, and a ticket to a movie. The Bonaire Twin Cinema Box Office opens nightly at 6:00pm, and no reservations are required. Tickets are only available at the box office. Questions about the movies? Call Bonaire Twin Cinema at 2400 (Noon to closing everyday), FAX 8010, or send an e-mail to TwinCinema@InfoBonaire.com (please include your phone or FAX number). Web Site of the Week Each week, we'll list the addresses of new Bonaire Web sites that we come across. If you have a new Bonaire Web site and want to make sure people know about it, send a message to news@infobonaire.com with the details. Our Web address of the week is Jibe City - http://www.jibecity.com Quick Takes - BONHATA Meeting. On November 30th, at 5pm in the conference room at Captain Don's Habitat, BONHATA - the Bonaire Hotel and Tourism Association, will be holding its Annual General Assembly. The sole purpose of the meeting is to elect a new Board of Directors. Only BONHATA members whose dues are paid up may vote. Nomination forms for the elections are available from BONHATA at 5134, FAX 8534, e-mail info@bonhata.org. BONHATA members who cannot attend are being asked to submit proxies so that a quorum can be met, with such proxies also available from BONHATA. - Bonaire Marine Park Cards. The Bonaire Marine Park has available, free of charge, a handy wallet sized card listing Bonaire’s emergency phone numbers as well as the phone numbers of the island’s nature and environmental organizations. Pass by their office at Barkadera or call 8444 for more information. (Port Call) - AKIB Meeting. AKIB members should be forewarned that there will be an AKIB meeting later this month to elect Board members for two vacancies on the AKIB Board of Directors. AKIB is the Bonaire Business and Industry Association. - New Green Parrot Menu . The world famous Green Parrot Restaurant today released a brand new menu featuring a number of delectable new dishes, including a Taco Salas, Garden Burger, Sate with Fries, Sirloin Steak, Lamb Chops, and Nachos. The Green Parrot is now also offers several excellent wines by the glass (of course, bottles are still available too). Call 5454 for reservations. |
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Bonaire E-News - This Week This week's Bonaire E-News articles are:
Since Saturday, U.S. Coast Guard planes have scanned more than 120,000 square
miles (310,800 sq km) of the Caribbean for the ship, finding only a debris field with two life rafts and seven life vests from the Fantome, and a wooden staircase that
might have come from it. It was noted that an additional 3 escape pod boats and 11 life rafts would have been available to the Fantome crew to use if necessary. Also
the life vests found were passenger life vests and not the once used by the crew. The search continues for the ship, her other lifeboats, and any survivors.
The Fantome was scheduled to return for a visit to Bonaire on November 18th. Mitch now reduced in force to a tropical storm with winds around 45 mph, is
headed northeast across the Gulf of Mexico. Tropical Storm warnings have been issued for southern Florida and the Keys. See below on Snake Eyes - New! --------------------------------- --------------------------------- ---------------------------------
Coming Soon at Bonaire Twin Cinemas: "How Stella Got Her Groove", "Blade", "Dance With Me", and "Knock Off" ---------------------------------
Planning a party for the holidays - celebrate at the movies. For more information call tel. 2400 after 12 noon. --------------------------------- Also, check out the Dinner and a Movie special offered by Bonaire Twin Cinema
and De Tuin Restaurant. Nafl. 35.- gets you dinner, beer or soda, popcorn, and a ticket to a movie. The Bonaire Twin Cinema Box Office opens nightly at 6:00pm, and no reservations
are required. Tickets are only available at the box office. Questions about the movies? Call Bonaire Twin Cinema at 2400 (Noon to closing everyday), FAX: 8010, or send an e-mail to (1) If you can send money, send it NOW. Your contribution will be used to purchase basic survival supplies and get them to Guanaja.
(2) If you can send supplies, send them NOW to Mission Guanaja. The people of Guanaja desperately need the MOST BASIC of survival supplies to sustain life:
non-perishable food, tents, tools, first aid items, medicines, etc.You can send these supplies to Mission Guanaja. Contact the organizers of Mission Guanaja, Tom and Linda Fouke, for details on where and how to send such supplies.
(3) If you have ideas on how you can contribute IMMEDIATE direct assistance, contact Mission Guanaja TODAY. Send supplies to: ***The Classifieds will be on-line beginning this weekend.*** - Sewage. Dutch consultants presented a plan that would provide for a way of processing sewage from the hotels in the Playa/Hato area (Harbour Village to
Habitat) as well as for greater Kralendijk. If approved by the government and the E.U. (which is funding the Nafl. 30+ million construction cost), things could become
operational around 2004. Bonairean residents on the sewage system would have to bear the smaller cost of maintenance & operation in the amount of Nafl. 70.- to
Nafl. 170.-/month at first (the amount would depend on whether costs would start being covered immediately or if a 5-10 year ramp up would be necessary), ramping to Naf 340 by 2023, per household.
The consultants predict that getting the sewage processing facilities built and put to use here will allow Bonaire to continue with a modest to significant increase in
tourism over the next two decades, while if such a sewage treatment system is not put into place, there may well be a steep tourism decline in the next decade because
of the nutrient pollution build-up on the reefs, damaging or even destroying Bonaire's top tourism attraction, and that could lead to economic disaster for the
island. So, let's keep our fingers crossed and hope that the sewage plan will be approved soon! -Dive Festival reminder. Week long event starting with the "Taste of Bonaire" on
Sunday, November 8th at Wilhelmina Plaza is open to the public.All so don't miss the booking signing by Sylvia Earle on Wednesday, Nov. 11 cost $14 (Nafl.25),
profits benefit the Bonaire Marine Park. A complete schedule can be found at Residents of Bonaire (proof required in the form of a cedula - local ID) will enjoy a
discounted admission fee to the Dive Festival of NAfl. 90 for the entire week, or NAfl. 18 (US$10) per day. Non-resident fees are US$125 for the week, and
US$25/day. Wednesday is the highlight (in our opinion) of the information and educational sessions with an evening presentation by renowned oceanographer and
current National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, Dr. Sylvia Earle. Following Dr. Earle's presentation at the Plaza resort, there will be a book signing at the Tipsy
Seagull, featuring Dr. Earle outstanding book, "Sea Change". Books will sell at the book signing for US$14 or Nafl. 25.- - DuoFest '98. Go aboard the ship Freewinds on Monday night, November 9th, at
8:30 p.m., to attend DuoFest '98. It's the Annual Festival of Bonairean singing talent. Tickets are NAƒ25 and are on sale at Mundo Musicale, the In Style Shop, Rose Inn, Bonaire and Flamingo bookstores.(Port Call) -New Airline
. The Belgian airline, Sobelair, began a weekly flight to Bonaire today (we saw it take off, so we can assume it landed safely). The contract between Sobelair and The Van der Valk Hotel runs for 1 year. There are packages for
destinations in Curacao and also on Bonaire. The airline also will accept passengers who are not staying at one of Van der Valk properties. (KLM flew its last Tuesday flight to Bonaire last week.) -
1998 Caribbean Insider Award from 'TRAVEL HOLIDAY' magazine. Travel Holiday Magazine, awarded the 1998 Caribbean Insider Award to TCB recently in
recognition of Bonaire's flamingo sanctuary being selected as one of the "Top 25 Nature Experiences in the Caribbean". This was featured in the October 1998 issue of the publication. - Sunset Beach Auction
. Last week, contents of all the guest rooms at the Sunset Beach Hotel were auctioned off, confirming that Sunset Beach Hotel will not reopen anytime soon. It should be noted that Sunset Beach Divers is still open and and fully
operational (the dive operation is not owned by Sunset itself, which is how it managed to avoid Sunset's problems). - De Tuin's New Menu. Today, Wednesday the 4th, De Tuin kicked off a new
menu featuring a range of new appetizers and main courses, including fajitas, gazpacho, Caesar salad, filet mignon, spare ribs, and a bevy of new desserts. De
Tuin is also taking reservations for Christmas dinner now.Call 2999 for details, and send e-mail to
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