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Bonaire E-News - This Week This week's Bonaire E-News articles are:
Bonaire's WEB (the Water and Electric Bureau) last week turned off utilities to the
Sunset Beach Hotel for non-payment - 3 days after the end of the 1998 Bonaire Regatta. Guests at the hotel were relocated to other area resorts, and will
apparently continue to be relocated until Sunset's future is determined. The current owner of the hotel is still trying to arrange bail-out financing while the primary
mortgagee holder (Interbank) is trying to structure an acceptable auction price (the last auction came and went with no one willing to even meet the minimum bid). The
Hotel is sited on Government lease land with only a portion of the lease remaining, although we've been told that the government has already pledged to renew the
lease, and has a physical plant badly in need of refurbishing. Those factors make the Sunset Beach Hotel's market value questionable. The future for the venerable hotel
on one of Bonaire's best natural beaches is grim. About 65 former hotel employees are currently without jobs. Tourists with upcoming reservations for the Sunset Beach Hotel should contact their
travel agent or tour operator for updates on their bookings. Sponsored by TCB and the CORAL/REEF Alliance, the 2nd Annual Bonaire Dive Festival is coming to Bonaire November 7 - 14. A complete schedule can be found at
There are two new events scheduled for this year's Dive Festival. The first will happen on Sunday, November 8th, and is called "A Taste of Bonaire". Held at
Wilhelmina Park in downtown Kralendijk, "A Taste of Bonaire" will feature the member restaurants of the Bonaire Restaurant Association, who will offer samples
of their culinary treats. Live entertainment will be provided by Tipico Bonairiano and the Kibra Hacha folkloric dancers and Piedra di Boneiru. Captain Don will present
the keynote address during the opening ceremony and there will be brief opening remarks from the host organizations. This event will be open to the public and will
provide the local community with an opportunity to sign up for the Dive Festival Events taking place during the week. The second new addition to the Dive Festival is a Book Signing Party to be held at
the Tipsy Seagull at the Plaza Resort, on Wednesday, November 11th, after Dr. Sylvia Earle's keynote presentation. Dr. Earle will be autographing copies of her
eye-opening book, "Sea Change", which deals with her observations of the changes in the marine environment over the course of her life. Copies of "Sea Change" will
be available at the event for $14.00 (NAfl 25,-) each. Books are being provided by NetTech (publishers of the Bonaire E-News), and all profits will go to the Bonaire Marine Park.
In order to enable more local participation at the Dive Festival, legal 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 per day. Non-resident fees are US$125 for the week, and US$25/day. All proceeds go to benefit the CORAL/REEF Alliance.
For more information on the Dive Festival, please visit the aforementioned Web page, or call the Tourism Corporation of Bonaire at 8322 or
Bonaire Twin Cinema is located in the heart of Kralendijk next to the Exito Bakery and behind the Cultimara Supermarket. Starting Thursday, October 22, Bonaire
Twin Cinema will be offering the following film features (NaFl.10.- for all normal features): --------------------------------- Michael Douglas and Geyneth Paltrow star in this suspense thriller inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's classic "Dial 'M' for Murder". Douglas plays a vengeful husband
who discovers his wife has been unfaithful. (Rated R, Suspense Thriller, 110 minutes). For more details, see: --------------------------------- George Clooney stars as Jack Foley, an escaped convict who had previously robbed more than 200 banks, and is at the top of the FBI's Most Wanted list.
Jennifer Lopez is the Federal Marshal trying to bring him back to justice in this exciting blend of comedy and action on the big screen. (Rated R, Action thriller, 128 minutes). For more details, see: --------------------------------- --------------------------------- --------------------------------- On Halloween Night, October 31st, at Midnight, Bonaire Twin Cinemas will show
2 horror movies for the price of one. There will be a prize for the best costume, and October Blood Donors get in free! You can donate blood at the hospital blood bank during the day on October 31st or earlier.
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 4:30PM, 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
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 InfoBonaire's Web address of the week:
InfoBonaire will soon be accepting classified ads for insertion on the InfoBonaire Web site at - Daylight Saving Time. In the U.S. the motto is "spring ahead and fall back",
referring to the fact that when daylight savings time ends in the fall. Well, this Sunday the rest of the western world will be setting their clocks back one hour. In the U.S.,
this will happen at 2am in each time zone, while in Europe it will happen at 1am GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). In either case people in those locations will gain an
extra hour of sleep (which they lose in the spring). For Bonaire, being as close to the equator as we are, there is no Daylight Savings Time change - we remain in Atlantic
Standard Time (AST) year-round. However, it now means that when we call people (or they call us) that extra hour time difference needs to be taken into account. For details on Daylight Saving Time, see: - Andrea Dive Site. Enjoy the Andrea dive sites as shore dives while you can. The beaches fronting the sites are part of the SABADECO land development and are
being developed as home sites. A new road to the building lots was completed last week. When homes are built there, access to the sites will be possible only from the sea. (From Port Call) - Antillean Day
. Today, October 21st, is Antillean Day, celebrating the unity of all five islands that make up the Netherlands Antilles. If you get this issue of the Bonaire
E-News early enough, swing on by Wilhelmina Park for some great music and food. - Harbour Village Tennis. The Harbour Village Resort will host Tennis
Championship Matches on October 28th and 29th. The matches will be co-sponsored by Consales and Heineken. You must sign up by October 25th. For more information call Mark Brinson the tennis pro at the Harbour Village at 7500,
ext. 14. (From Port Call) - Port Call Needs Help. Port Call, Bonaire's Waterfront Weekly, is looking for an editorial assistant. An applicant should have computer skills and be fluent in English
and Papiamentu. Call or FAX George at 8988, or send e-mail to - UW Clean-Up Reminder. Green Submarine and NetTech are organizing the first monthly underwater clean-up dive and BBQ for Saturday, November 7th at 10AM
at Green Submarine's shop on Playa. Free tank for divers participating, following by a potluck BBQ. Grill, water, and BBQ chicken provided by the hosts, all else from the potluck. Contact Eric Groenhart at 2929 or |
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Bonaire E-News - This Week This week's Bonaire E-News articles are:
Last week's 31st Annual Bonaire Sailing Regatta represented the hard work of
many people, particularly the organizers and the contestants. Friday night's Award Ceremony was the culmination of all that effort, with the following list of boats featured as Regatta 1st Place Winners: CLASS - WINNER/COUNTRY
(Special thanks to Port Call for this information)
InfoBonaire is pleased to note that it helped crew the Laurita (owned by Port Call's George De Salvo), the 1st place winner in the Fishing Boats Class A category. Of
course, it would have been more of a victory had there been other boats registered to race in that class... :-) As a footnote, NetTech N.V. (operators of InfoBonaire), announced last week that
they would be sponsoring the Bonaire Regatta's electronic presence via the up and coming Bonaire Regatta Web site (to be located at In recognition that not all of Jim Hough's friends would be able to attend his Bonaire memorial service, close relatives have arranged for a memorial service to be held in
the U.S. this coming Saturday. The service will be held in Chicago, Illinois, at St. Chrysostom's Episcopal Church on Saturday, October 17th, at 3pm. The church is
located at 1424 N. Dearborn Parkway, Chicago. The church can be reach at 312-944-1083. After the service, from 4pm to 7pm, there will be a gathering at Butch McGuire's Restaurant on Rush Street to celebrate Jim's life.
The families suggest that folks from out of town stay at the Claridge Hotel (312-787-4980), which is close to both the church and Butch McGuire's. Last month, we participated in the underwater clean-up as part of the Annual Bonaire Clean-Up activities, and were horrified at how much trash we discovered
littered about the reef in the Playa area in Kralendijk. With Regatta now over, we're hearing that much of the trash we collected has been replenished thanks to boat
riding, party happy, environmentally ignorant people. And, with the large volume of boat traffic in the Playa area, combined with the human traffic along the shoreline,
this area is bound to continue being a "treasure trove" of garbage. As such, we at NetTech/InfoBonaire have banded together with Green Submarine,
northern Playa's only dive shop, to start hosting a monthly underwater clean-up and barbecue. The underwater clean-up will be held the first Saturday of each month,
with the inaugural clean-up slated for Saturday, November 7th, at 10am at Green Submarine (Playa Lechi 24) - turn towards the water between Harbour Village and ING Fatum on Kaya Gob. N. Debrot.
Green Submarine will provide free tanks for certified divers participating in the underwater clean-up (divers will need to sign liability waiver forms), and all
participants are invited, along with their spouses and children, to join in a potluck barbecue after the one-tank clean-up dive. (A "potluck" is where each person or family brings some food to be shared by all.)
NetTech & Green Submarine will provide the grill, charcoal, BBQ chicken, and water for drinking. Participants are encouraged to bring sodas, beer, salads, munchies, etc.
There will be brochures at the clean-up describing what is safe to collect and what isn't. This is crucial information, as we don't want to remove any trash that has
already become part of the habitat. However, it should be noted that the Bonaire Marine Park may be interested in helping establish an artificial reef out of such
inhabitated refuse - more will be announced about this at a later date. We currently have an 8 diver limit for the clean-up because of the limited availability of tanks, so please RSVP with NetTech at 6773 or Citing a large number of requests from local divers, Green Submarine N.V. is forming the Bonaire Dive Club. The purpose of the Bonaire Dive Club is to bring
together local divers with similar dive-related interests. Among the activities planned are dive outings to the East coast and Washington Park, overnight and weekend
dive trips to Klein Curacao and the Aves Islands, and participation in the Monthly Underwater Clean-up (see previous article). Eric Groenhart, owner of Green
Submarine, also indicated he would like to set up an equipment "trade mart" to allow local divers to sell or swap their dive gear. Club members would also be able
to get discounted training from local dive operators - initially just Green Submarine. The club is still in the planning phase, but it is hoped that the first meeting will occur
by the end of October. If you're interested in such a club, contact Eric of Green Submarine at 2929 or Bonaire Twin Cinema is located in the heart of Kralendijk next to the Exito Bakery and behind the Cultimara Supermarket. Starting Thursday, October 15, Bonaire
Twin Cinema will be offering the following film features (NaFl.10.- for all normal features): George Clooney stars as Jack Foley, an escaped convict who had previously
robbed more than 200 banks, and is at the top of the FBI's Most Wanted list. Jennifer Lopez is the Federal Marshal trying to bring him back to justice in this exciting blend of comedy and action on the big screen. (Editor's Note: We want to know when Barney, obviously a carnivorous dinosaur -
looks like a mutant T-rex, figures out that the little kids he plays and sings with are actually edible.) (Rated PG-13, Children's film, 75 minutes. See --------------------------------- Starts Sunday, October 18th. This week, groups 1 and 2 will get a letter at home.
--------------------------------- On Halloween Night, October 31st, at Midnight, Bonaire Twin Cinemas will show 2 horror movies for the price of one. There will be a prize for the best costume, and
Blood Donors get in free! You can donate blood at the hospital blood bank during the day on October 31st. 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 4:30PM, 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
InfoBonaire will soon be accepting classified ads for insertion on the InfoBonaire Web site at
While on the topic, we enjoyed Regatta so much last week that we are in the market for a Sunfish sailboat in good condition. Please contact us at - AMCAR Clarification
. We spoke with AMCAR, the Miami-based freight agent we wrote about last week, and it appears their e-mail problems are resolved. Apparently the combination of moving and Hurrican Georges caused a hiccup in
their computer operation, which affected their ability to reliably handle incoming e-mail. We've also learned that since Rocargo represents AMCAR locally, you can
let Rocargo take the responsibility of communicating with AMCAR for you in case you have special requests, like arranging a consolidated shipment. Rocargo can be reached at 8922, FAX: 5791, or mailto:rocargo@bonairenet.com -
Hurricane Relief. Port Call reports that over 2,500 kilos of donations were contributed by the people of Bonaire and the crews of yachts visiting the island to help victims of Hurricane Georges in the Dominican Republic.
The goods were airlifted free of charge to the Dominican Republic by Air ALM. Also, the Western Union agency in Bonaire is also helping hurricane victims by
contributing NAƒ5 to Hurricane Relief for each money transfer made to the hard hit islands of the Dominican Republic, Haiti and St. Martin. - I. The Year 2000 Sunfish World Championships will in fact be held on Bonaire.
This world class event will bring hundreds of competitors and tourists to Bonaire for a week of sailboat racing. (Also courtesy of Port Call) - Antillean Day. Mark your calendars! Next Wednesday is Antillean Day,
celebrating the unity of Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, St. Eustatius and Sint Maarten. Most businesses will be closed. Also, Air ALM is offering special rates (in some
case over 50% off) to the other islands in the Netherlands Antilles from October 20th to the 22nd. Call 7447 for details. - Sea Wasps. On Saturday night one diver was sent to the hospital after a Sea
Wasp encounter, and last night 6 more were sent - 2 of them stung seriously enough to merit overnight stays at the hospital. We'd like to remind all of our readers that
such encounters, while not very common, can happen. Most often Sea Wasps (a species of jellyfish) appear one to two weeks after a full moon, and most commonly
at night, near the water's surface. If you're diving then, take it slow, and make sure to shine your dive light upwards occasionally in shallow areas, as well as when
ascending in order to try and ascertain if there might be Sea Wasps in the area. The tentacles may be hard to see, but the bodies should refract enough light to make
them noticable. Then, if you see them, avoid them. Finally, wear protective dive "clothing" during such dives. Something as thin as a Lycra dive skin can keep out
jellyfish stinging cells. In Australia, divers wear women's pantyhose for the same reason - to avoid getting stung. - KLM & Conchs. In last week's Bonaire E-News we wrote about the exploitation
and decimation of the conch population on Bonaire, and the fact that KLM's video covering the Netherlands Antilles glamourized conch harvesting. KLM saw the article and quickly responded. Sophie Vossenaar, Manager of KLM's Inflight
Communications indicated that KLM will be updating their video and will make sure the KLM video production staff are notified to remove this segment. Special
thanks to those who complained to KLM, and let's continue trying to Save the Conch! This "Bonaire E-News"(tm) e-mail was provided as a completely free service of
InfoBonaire, "Bonaire's Home on the Internet"(tm). |
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Bonaire E-News - This Week We dedicate this issue of Bonaire E-News This week's Bonaire E-News articles are:
Most of us go through our daily, weekly, and yearly routine without much change.
Then something happens to stun us out of our reverie. Such was the case a couple of days ago when we discovered that our friend, Jim Hough, had unexpectedly passed away in the early morning of Sunday, October 4th.
For the few not familiar with Jim, he was co-owner with Sara Matera of the world famous Green Parrot restaurant located at the Sand Dollar Resort. But that
wasn't all Jim Hough was known for on Bonaire. To us and many others, Jim was a constant inspiration both due to his involvement with many of the islands business and tourism activities, and because he was a warm and kind person
embued with great wit and intelligence. Among his many hats among the Bonairean community, he was the president of the Bonaire Restaurant Association, vice president of AKIB (the Bonaire
Business and Industry Association), an active member of BONHATA (the Bonaire Hotel and Tourism Association), the motive force behind the Bonaire Culinary Team, and a dedicated Rotarian.
There's no question that Jim's sudden departure will leave a vacuum in the lives of many here on Bonaire and many abroad, and our deepest sympathies and
condolences go to his partner in business and life, Sara Matera, and both of their families. Correspondence can be sent to P.O. Box 282, Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles (you may also send an e-mail to
For those wishing to express their loss of a good friend in other ways, it is requested that in lieu of sending flowers, you make a donation to the educational
ocean-awareness foundation "Turtuganan di Boneiru" (which teaches local children about the marine environment, and shows them how to snorkel and even
scuba dive). Donations can be wired to Maduro & Curiel's Bank, Account #0010247905 (call MCB at 011-599-7-5520 from the U.S. to get information on how to wire funds from the U.S. and other international locations). See below:
*****In regards to our most current issue of the Bonaire E-News, it has come to our attention that there are significant service charges (as much as US$60)
attached to performing wire transfers from the U.S. to Bonairean bank accounts. In particular, we are referring to the request that in lieu of flowers, people could instead donate money to the educational ocean-awareness foundation
"Turtuganan di Boneiru" in memory of Jim Hough. Because of the extreme service charges involved, we here at InfoBonaire/NetTech have discussed the issue with Kalli De Meyer, who runs the
"Turtuganan di Boneiru" effort, and have come up with an alternate way in which people in the U.S. can make such donations without seeing thedonations sharply reduced by bank charges.
If you are planning to make a donation in Jim's memory, and you're located in the U.S., instead of wiring your donation, please send a check made out to:
Turtuganan di Boneiru c/o Jake Richter
Make sure to include a note with your name and address (and e-mail address if possible). As soon as the check is received, you will receive notification from
Kalli at Turtuganan di Boneiru to confirm receipt of your donation, and the organization will also notify the family of your contribution. For those interested in the logistics, donations will be deposited in our U.S.
checking account. The donation will then be received here on Bonaire via ATM machine withdrawal and delivered directly to Turtuganan di Boneiru. This process
incurs no service charges, and is actually more immediate than wire transfers. This way the full amount of your donation can be applied directly to Turtuganan di
Boneiru without making the banks richer at the expense of the children being educated about the marine environment. If you have any questions about this process, please feel free to contact us. Jake Richter - Phone/FAX +599-7-6773 For those on Bonaire, condolences may be offered today, Wednesday October
7th from 2:00pm to 3:30pm at the Onderlinge Hulp Mortuary on Kaya Souer Bartola, followed by a Holy Mass at San Bernardo Church at 4:00pm. Jim, we'll miss you. - Jake & Linda Richter Port Call has compiled a comparison chart between this year's and last year's
boat registrations for the Annual Bonaire Sailing Regatta, which is being held this week, ending on Saturday, October 10th. The statistics are as follows:
Category 1997 1998
The "Others" category includes Centaurs, Leli Viet, and Catamarans, none of which registered to race this year. It should be noted that this year's regatta includes participants from more than
twice as many countries as last year, and there is also a 16% increase in boats registered. For a schedule of activities during the 31st Annual Bonaire Sailing Regatta, please see BONHATA, the Bonaire Hotel and Tourism Association, last month moved to
new offices on the south side of the Harbour Village Marina, at Kaya Gob. N. Debrot #67, Suite 201, Bonaire. (Located above Hertz Car Rental.) Additionally, BONHATA has announced that it is revising its membership dues
schedule so that all dues will be due as of the start of 1999 and will be based on the calendar year. Memberships which started during other times of the year will be prorated to bring them into sync with the new schedule.
Finally, BONHATA's 1st Annual Family Day has been scheduled for October 31st, and all BONHATA members should have received notification of this event. For more information about any of these items contact BONHATA at On a recent flight on KLM from Amsterdam to Curacao, we were treated to a short subject film about the wonders of the Netherlands Antilles. During the
Bonaire specific portion of the video, we were horrified to see footage promoting the harvesting of conch (in Papiamentu, "Karko") at Lac Cai. Well, everyone eats conch, you say. True enough. But, the cause of our
"horrification" is that Bonaire's conch population is on the verge of total collapse, i.e. extinction. Ergo, harvesting Bonairean conch at this point in time is a rather
destructive thing to do to the struggling conch population in particular, and to the ecosystem in general. Here are Bonairean conch facts:
If, somehow, the Bonairean conch population can be left alone for a period of 6 or more years, there's ample chance that with selective harvesting at that point, the Bonairean conch population begin to thrive once again.
Basically, a conch harvesting moratorium is required to save the Bonairean Conch. There are a few steps we can all take to help and try to eliminate the harvesting of baby conch. These include educating people of all ages about the
cause and effect of such harvesting (as we've documented above), not buying any Bonairean conch if offered to you (and perhaps explaining why the conch shouldn't be harvested), making sure that if you buy conch at a market or
restaurant that it is conch imported from places which understand how to raise conch and keep conch populations viable, and getting companies like KLM to
stop glamourizing the harvesting of Bonairean conch. The latter can be done by sending the airline a message at their Web site:
Do your part to help "Save the Bonairean Conch".
Bonaire Twin Cinema is located in the heart of Kralendijk next to the Exito Bakery and behind the Cultimara Supermarket. Starting Thursday, October 8,
Bonaire Twin Cinema will be offering the following film features (NaFl.10.- for all normal features): In what movie critics in the U.S. have been calling the summer's gross-out comedy hit, Cameron Diaz, Matt Dillon, and Ben Stiller star in this politically
incorrect, irreverent, outrageous, and side splitting comedy about a beautiful girl pursued by misfit boys. For details, see --------------------------------- Steven Spielberg directs Tom Hanks in a devastatingly realistic World War 2 drama. Hanks leads a group of eight soldiers through Normandy and beyond
along the fighting front between the Allies and Nazis, trying to locate and return Priavte Ryan home to his family. Ryan is the last surviving brother of a group of
four, with the other three having been killed in battle during the on-going war. The movie is overwhelming with its imagery and battle scenes and movie goers who
are sensitive to such visual stimulation should take heed. (Rated R, Historical Drama, 168 min.) See ---------------------------------
The dancing and singing purple dinosaur that kids absolutely love and parents
truly revile hops onto the big screen with a feature length film. (Editor's Note: We want to know when Barney, obviously a carnivorous dinosaur - looks like a
mutant T-rex, figures out that the little kids he plays and sings with are actually edible.) (Rated PG-13, Children's film, 75 minutes. See --------------------------------- ---------------------------------
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 4:30PM, 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 - Balau Grill. A new take-out eatery called the Balau Grill, featuring chef Rudolf
Lamidi, is opening this Friday on Kaya Korona, in the same building as Marco Hardware (just below Eastern Store, and just north of General Store). "Balau" is
the Papiamentu word for the fish known as a marlin, and the Balau Grill will feature a variety of grilled dishes - fish and other - as well as Indonesian
specialties and ribs. As far as we currently know, the Balau Grill will be open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. - Free E-Mail. If you're concerned about hopping between various local Internet
services and having continually changing e-mail addresses, we're pleased to let you know that you can have your very own InfoBonaire e-mail address, which
will we guarantee to remain unchanged and portable for years to come. With your InfoBonaire e-mail address, you can keep your current e-mail account with your current provider, but get mail addressed to you at your very own
InfoBonaire.com e-mail address. If you move to a new provider, you just need to let us know about the change and we will transparently redirect all your mail to your new private mailbox. Drop us a note at - AMCAR Address Change. For those shipping things to Bonaire from the U.S. and using Rocargo as your clearing agent here on Bonaire, be advised that
Rocargo's U.S. partner, AMCAR Freight, recently moved to new offices and got new phone and FAX numbers. AMCAR Freight is now located at 7206 NW 84th Avenue, Miami, Florida 33166.
Phone: 305-599-8866, FAX: 305-599-2808. Cindy is the person handling Bonaire freight, and she can be reach at |
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