Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Rain is a beautiful thing

It's amazing what a little fresh water can do for an ecosystem. What is supposed to be arid suddenly appears lush and almost trop
ical. Life abounds.

Each day since my arrival we've had a gentle morning rain and have been cooled off in the afternoon by showers. I'm not talking rain like back home (that seems to last for days) but quick refreshing rains that seem to last for a half hour at most.



When we first started coming to Bonaire the landscape was very different than it appears now. Sure the topography is the same, but now EVERY
THING is covered in green and is growing. Roads feel a bit narrower as plants start to compete for space. The hillsides are a bit reminiscent of Ireland (if Ireland were to have cactus that is), as what was once brown and rocky is a solid blanket of plant life. Inland, where there was sand and coral, there are succulents and even... grass. The most fascinating element of all this, there is no dirt or soil just clay and rock. Making the life that currently exists fragile and all the more beautiful.


And from all this water comes more animal life. Sure, maybe it's the time of year that we've decided to travel here or maybe it's that some of the stresses of reproduction and survival have been reduced (i.e., access to water and food) that has helped the various animal populations to flourish. I've never seen so many wild donkeys and goats on this island, and beyond that I've never had the privilege to be so close to so many of their babies. Have you ever seen the way baby goats are cared for in their pack? Or how loving and dependent upon each other, pairs of donkeys can be. I've had a front row seat, each day.

And don't get me started on the rainbows... :)

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Photo Day

Well, as you may have noticed, I've been a little remiss in posting.  After my great first day of diving my ears acted up, so no more diving for now.  It's a real bummer, but better to protect them for the future.  This is 2 for 5 on having ear problems while down here, not great.

Dad is also recovering from a pretty bad cold so we have been taking it pretty easy.  We have however been driving around and taking some neat pictures however, so I figured I would post some today.  What follows are all from last night and today.  They start down near the slave huts on the south west side of the island last night, and then continue to various parts of the island, mostly the east side, today.  Enjoy.

Sunset on the southeast part of Bonaire.  It wasn't a
great one, but the sky and the water are just so huge. . .




That same sunset, just zooming way in on the colorful bit . . .
We were waiting a while for the sunset.  While we waited, I took this and the next two pictures.


This is where we were sitting for about an hour waiting for sunset.
Those little white huts were the weekday quarters of the slaves
who worked the salt flats on island.  They are bout 6' high
in the center, and about 6' wide by 8' long.  The slaves "got" to go
home after a half day of work on Saturday, but had to be back
Monday morning for work.  It was a 7 hour walk each way.


Bonaire gets a good portion of its power from these 12 windmills.
These are up on the northeast side of the island.

It is amazing, for an arid island, just how lush everything is right now.
Flowers are blooming, baby goats and iguana's abound.
While its not exactly spring, it is evident that the rainy season is here!


First time seeing these here - honey bees!  

Crested Caracara.  Cool raptor:  Its a member of the falcon family,
but builds stick nests and spends a great deal of time on the
ground -making it, according the the Peregrine Fund, the
most "terrestrial" falcon.

Very cool way that these cactus were growing.  There was
one other group nearby doing the same, but I've never
seen others like this.

And I'll close with view through the bushes on our road.  Doesn't really give the normal impression of Bonaire though - looks lush and vibrant here, not Bonaire's normal state.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Just Some Pictures for Now

Diving was awesome today.  No camera on the first dive (it was malfunctioning) but it worked on the next two.  First dive though had the frog fish.  That was really cool!

Can you see the shrimp in this picture?  He's really hard to see on account of his being translucent and all.

A little arrowhead crab.  He lives with the Anenome

This guy was like 3 feet

And this one was only about a foot.  







Yup, we saw a turtle.  anyone want to ID him for me?

Sunday, December 4, 2011

It's Christmas Time in Bonaire!



Last this Blog saw Liz and I, we were in London.  Now, at the end of 2011 it finds me and my father in Bonaire.  We arrived this morning on a redeye out of Houston.  It wasn't miserable, but there isn't much fun about a 23 hour trip, door to door.

The good new is we have arrived on the lovely Island of Bonaire.  Atypically, it's a bit overcast and not as windy as normal.  It has rained twice in our first 8 hours here.  But that is also kind of a blessing really, freeing us from a feeling of guilt for the 4 hour nap we took post arriving.  Then we headed out to the new "Supermarket" on the island that everyone has been raving about.  This market really helps sum up the island for me.  It's the size of a large corner grocery back home.  If you have an IGA in your town, think that.  But for Bonaire, its the newest, best stocked, coolest thing on the island.  It was described to us with glee by someone who said, "now when we have guests, we don't have to make excuses and just eat what the market has in stock, if we want chicken and pasta, we can get chicken and pasta.  If we want beef, we know they will always have beef."  That's what I love about island life, its the small things that make you happy.

Dad and I ate at Bobby Jan's for lunch.  It's good BBQ, and only open on the weekends, so we had to get our fix now.  We then tried the local package store to get some good scotch, but alas, it was closed.  On to Lover's Ice Cream, home of some of the finest ice cream in the world for a take home quart.  While there we noticed that the electronic store next door happened to have free wi-fi, always a plus and good to know.  The house has internet, but not wireless, so with iPhones and an iPod, that's a handy thing to know.

I'll leave you for now with three more pictures.  Pardon the bluriness of the first two, they were taken at some distance with about 35X and my hand isn't the steadiest after 4 hours sleep over the last 36 hours.  While the location of the house if very quite from man made noises, it sounds like hundreds of these parrots surround us.  They are not unpleasant sounding, but they are darn loud!

The Brown-Throated, or Caribbean Parakeet

A Troupial

The view off our balcony to the south.  For those who have been here, those little white dots in the center of the top piece of land are the salt piles for the salt flats.  That's Klein Bonaire to the right.  This view is just as bold and huge to the  right of the picture, I just can't do a full panorama right now.  The view is a full 220 degrees, including the entire south of Bonaire, all of Klien Bonaire, and all the way up to the national park in the north.  On a clear day supposedly we can see Curacao.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Portobello Road, Tate Gallery and The British Museum, OH MY!



What a LONG but wonderful day! We started Saturday off with a quick jaunt to Portobello Road (insert the song from Bedknobs and Broomsticks here, one of my all time favorites!). While the real Portobello Road shows no resemblance to that from the movie, it was an antiquers paradise. Small booths of trinkets were crowded throughout old buildings that line the street. But bargain hunters beware! Things were not cheap and the street was very crowded on this market day.


From the market we went to the Tate Gallery via the tube. Some planned maintenance in addition to police shutting down some of the major underground stations (due to protests) caused some delays, but our confident guide Nathan got us to our final destinations safely and efficiently :)


The Tate has a fine collection of artwork of varying types from throughout the ages. Nate participated on a guided tour of some of the works, while my dad and I walked around willy nilly, ogling those things that caught our interest. We all agree that the gallery is a worthwhile stop for art lovers.




After a few hours we were on to the British Museum. WOW! Is all I can say. The collection is extraordinary and one could easily spend a few days exploring everything from ancient Egypt to Eskimos. We took the audioguided tour which was a tad bit frustrating as it was somewhat slow and while the commentary was good the devices were not very user friendly (far too much screen tapping and clicking, number searching and waiting for our liking).


Best things we spotted at the British Museum: The Rosetta Stone, lots of incredible structures from Egypt, Caryatid from Greece, and the Lindow Man. If you haven't heard of the Lindow Man, it's a fascinating story!


To enthralled in the tele to write a post...

So last night Nate and I were too busy watching news coverage to even think about blogging. If you weren't aware, yesterday London experienced it's largest protest since the war in Iraq(2002). Approximately half a million people marched from the houses of parliament, through Trafalgar Square and on to Hyde Park to show their disagreement with the Prime Minister's plan to increase taxes and cut benefits, jobs, community supports, to help improve England's current economic state.

The protest was peaceful until a splinter group of anarchists (true anarchists) decided to use this as an opportunity to deface public sites and destroy properties of companies they believed to be evading taxes (large banks, The Ritz Hotel, Top Shop and others) in what they called "an act of civil disobedience." Riots ensued throughout the night, ending around 2am with over 200 arrests and over 100 people treated in the hospital.


The city is quickly recovering from the mess and damage done and thankfully our day today was peaceful and uneventful. I'm thankful for my friend Helen's recommendation of a hotel near Nottinghill as we continued on, life as usual :)

Friday, March 25, 2011

Changing of the Guard and Westminster Abbey

Today was chock full of ceremony, history and walking. We started off with a quick bite to eat at our favorite cafe (cappuccino and a bacon and avocado sandwich? yes please) and then took to the underground to get to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard.



Note to readers: if you plan on seeing the changing of the guards, be sure to arrive at the palace early. We got there by 10:30 for an 11:30 changing, and were greeted by thousands of people who had been there for a while. But undetered, we climbed Queen Victoria's monument (across the street from the palace) and took our place in the crowd. The ceremony lasted for a quite a while and had several different moving elements throughout (groups of guards moving in and out of the courtyard, the military marching band, the horse guards). We left the monument a bit early to head to Wellington Barracks so we could position ourselves for the return of the Coldstream Guards and marching band. I'm going to try to post a brief video of the band on my facebook page later on.




After the procession we hiked over toward Westminster Abbey and stopped for a pint and a bite to eat at the Westminster Arms (which is where I learned that the British enjoy putting butter on their sandwiches... not my favorite, but the beer was good and everyone else loved their meals). Cozy spot, friendly staff and great proximity to Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the House of Parliament.



When our bellies were full we crossed the street to the abbey and began our tour. Did you know that there are over 3000 people buried (starting with 17 monarchs whom I shall not name, Geoffrey Chaucer, Dr. Samuel Johnson, Charles Dickins, Robert Browing, Alferd Lord Tennyson, Thomas Harding, Rudyard Kipling, George Frederick Handel, Sir Laurence Olivier, Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, a bunch of prime ministers, the unknown warrior, and on and on and on) in the church and cloisters, and over 600 monuments within the buildings? The abbey has been the coronation church of England since 1066 and the church that is present now was established in 1245 by King Henry III. The architecture of Henry's church is striking, with my favorite section being the Lady Chapel.


Nate's commentary: Westminster Abbey? It hasn't been an abbey for over 500 years! People should get around to calling it by its "new" name (given in 1560 by Queen Elizabeth I) The Collegiate Church of St. Peter at Westminster. Geez

Thursday, March 24, 2011

What to do in London . . . ? How about a draught at an olde pub?


Does rebuilt in 1667 sound olde enough to you? I dragged the family to it, since I learned of it on my last (and only other) visit to London back in college with "the boys" (no, not college mates, Tom, Doug, Dad and Rick Sullivan). As Liz mentioned in the last post, we spent the morning and early afternoon reveling in the history of London, so we decided to follow it up with a beer and lunch at one of the oldest pubs in London. It has been a pub in its current form since 1667 when it was rebuilt after burning down in the Great Fire.


Its down a small little alley off of Fleet Street and while it is barely noticeable if you aren't looking for it, there is good reason to look. Starting from the bottom up, the vaulted cellars (which are set up as dining rooms) date back to the 13 century and were part of the Carmelita Monastery which first occupied the site. It is only as recent as 1538 that the pub has been there. It is best know for it's literary associations, one of which is being mentioned in A Tale of Two Cities (a good book if you haven't read it). The notable literary folks who are said to have dined there, and possibly even penned some of their works in dark light of the coal fires are: Mark Twain; Alfred Tenyson; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; and Samuel Johnson.






We had a good british lunch. Rusty had fish and chips (check), Dave had pork loin (check), Liz had a chicken salad with pesto (wait huh? Liz, we're at a british pub, get with the program here!) and I had, of course, a lamb shank (check).




If you are looking for a laid back atmosphere with a whole lot of history (and coal smoke) check it out the next time you are in London - 145 Fleet Street. (But they do their numbering weird over here, not alternating left and right as we do. At least that is how they do it on Fleet Street. Very confusing.) Oh, and it is just inside London City. Know how I know? Well that's easy, just look for the dragons that mark the entrances of City of London. Not to be confused with the rest of London. Which is made up of the City of Westminster and bunch of other boroughs. Yeah, I don't get it either (how can a city be made up of cities) but that's the way it is. trust me.

The Tower of London

It's amazing how a guide with a passion for his/her job can really inspire tourists to be much more invested in their own experience. Today for example, my family and I had the privilege of meeting Ken, a Yeoman Warder at the Tower of London. Ken was nothing short of incredible. Witty, sarcastic, extremely knowledgable, and most of all, a showman who is not only proud to share his country's history but also of the privilege bestowed upon him and his current position. To learn more about the Yeomen click here.



The history within The Tower area is very dark and chilling to say the least. However, to gaze upon the various buildings on a warm and sunny day, like today, one would think it is nothing more than another old, charming castle/village (which it is, as the Yeoman live there with their families). But I was humbled, sitting in the chapel at The Tower, learning of all the people who had lost their lives and were interred in the floor and ground beneath my feet.







But this history is not completely bleak. There are 6 (actually 7) beautiful ravens that live within The Tower confines. It is believed that if they ever were to leave, the kingdom and the tower would fall. And the Crown Jewels are housed here... or as Ken called them: The Queen's Bling.


We spent 3 hours here and could have spent several more. If ever in London, do check out this spot and ask to have Ken as your guide. You won't be sorry you did.