Halo! e Bon nochi!

I know it has been a while since I've last blogged, so this is gonna be a long one...

Over the past few weeks I've been busy with a number of things: eating Iguana stew, experiencing Carnaval, jetting around on mopeds, camping on the beach, biking 44 km, and swimming with 2 manta rays... just to name a few. This may explain my slack in blogging. So here goes...

Iguana stew: tastes just like chicken! It really does! We had it homemade by Gibi, the local man who makes us dinner. It is rather bony, as you can imagine, and there were some unidentifiable parts that I avoided, but for the most part the meat is tender and flaky and tastes like whatever it is cooked in. Plus, it's one of the only meats that is actually sustainable (and local) on the island since it's nearly impossible to raise any livestock here.

On to the next adventure...

Carnaval: We had a week off of school (from Feb 18-26) for "carnaval vacation," a much needed break from all the heavy diving and hammocking I've been doing. Thank god for that! In my opinion, we spent our time off wisely. For example, on Fat Tuesday we drank for 14 hours. I know, I know, it sounds like it's all fun-and-games, but drinking all day in the heat of the Caribbean sun is no easy task. Don't worry, almost everyone remembered sunscreen. There really was more to Carnaval than just plain partying. There were several parades throughout the week, and on Tuesday night we joined in and danced through Kralendijk with one of the floats. Also on Tuesday night we got to experience a yearly Carnaval tradition: the burning of the "MoMo." Apparently on some islands the "MoMo" represents the "white man," however its significance to Bonaire wasn't exactly clear (this is a common theme here. I've just stopped asking). The parade ended at the stadium, where there were rides set up, music blasting and massive celebrations and dancing. The setting closely resembled the Tech Fair, except for the public intoxication and the giant statue of a king that was burning and spewing out fireworks way too close for comfort. It was an incredible cultural experience, to say the least, and I'm glad I was able to participate in something so obscure (and fun).

Fat Tuesday festivities

Burning MoMo

Part of the parade

I spent the latter part of Carnaval break well too, but in more constructive and perhaps healthier ways. On Thursday, Devon and I rented a moped for 3 days. Mopeds are common and practical commodities on the island, and it's a great way to see all of Bonaire in a short amount of time. After the initial ride, Devon really got the hang of driving the scooter, and I almost got the hang of not being terrified on the back. We encountered minor obstacles such as dirt cliffs and donkey crossings, but the moped (deemed 'Betty') was returned without a scratch 3 days later! During our time with Betty, we checked out the North end of the island and went "cliff jumping" (the boys jumped 50 feet... I'm working my way up from 10). We also checked out the South end of the island and hung out at Lac Bay, a beautiful beach with the best windsurfing conditions in the world. Moped-ing is a surprisingly tiring activity, but not nearly as tiring as our next adventure.

Devon and I with Betty the moped

Saturday, when we reluctantly returned Betty the moped, we had already scoped out some good campsites about 5 miles north of Kralendijk. Devon, Max, and I rented bicycles, grabbed our hammocks, some food, and our snorkel gear, and headed to Tolo dive site for the night. Of course we picked one of the only rainy nights thus far, but it ended up making the expedition even crazier. After debating whether the trees at the campsite were poisonous or not, we hung our hammocks from them and built a fire. Devon now has a rash covering his whole body. Sleeping in the hammocks was okay, but I awoke several times throughout the night to the sound of near-by goats. The next morning we all woke up with the sun and enjoyed the comfort of our campsite for a few hours. Then, we packed our bags, strapped our fins to the back of the bikes, and set out on the journey that Max had planned out for us. 

Our campsite-- red hammock is mine!

The idea was to take the bike trail indicated on our map to the Northern-most dive site  before reaching the protected no-dive zone. Once there, we'd snorkel for a while, have lunch, and slowly make our way back to Kralendijk, stopping to snorkel at various other sites. It seemed easy enough and didn't look too far on the map. After an hour of biking up and down dirt/rocky hills, I realized that this was an undertaking of far greater magnitude than any of us had anticipated. Max kept assuring us that our destination, Playa Frans, was only right around the big mountain. At this point we were too far in to back out, and after making several wrong turns/detours, we made it to Playa Frans in just under 3 hours. Whoever claimed that to be a bike trail is either in incredible shape or seriously, seriously deranged. We were the only bikers on the whole trail and the few other people we encountered were all in trucks. Playa Frans was like an oasis. There were a few old houses that appeared to be abandoned aside from a greenhouse and some clothes left out on the line. We were greeted by dogs and a flock of chickens, but for the most part we were the only people around. The snorkeling immediately made the treacherous bike ride totally worth it. The structure of the reef is completely different than anything I'd seen before. There was a forest of Elk horn coral so shallow that parts of it stuck out of the water. Almost all the Elk horn coral is destroyed in Bonaire (and other islands) due to a variety of factors. The reef was so shallow that you had to weave in and out of it to avoid bumping anything. Since it's so close to the protected area there were tons of fish, many of which I had never seen before. I spent a lot of time hanging out with two giant Rainbow Parrotfish, each about 60 pounds. I had a great time following them around and watching them go about their every day business on the reef. We spent about 3 hours at Playa Frans and then repacked out bags and started the long journey home. 

Needless to say, the trip back over the mountain wasn't nearly as fun as the first time around; however, the view of the open ocean was breathtaking. We stopped to snorkel and relax at an other popular dive site, Karpata. The reef there was also beautiful, with some of the biggest stony and soft corals I've ever seen. The reef at Karpata explains why Bonaire is rated as the best diving in the Caribbean, so you have to see it while it lasts! This coming weekend we plan on diving it. We made it back to the campsite just in time to watch the sunset, and we pedaled home just in time for dinner. It was hands-down the biggest adventure I've ever been on--we covered a total of 44 km-- but I can't say I'd do it again, at least not without a vehicle.

en-route to Playa Frans