Back from Bonaire

Got back from Bonaire yesterday, and this is probably the first time you'll hear me say this about coming back from a trip: it's great to be back. I'll explain more later.

Bonaire's an interesting place. I imagine it looks much like Aruba did 10-20 years ago -- a chunk of reef and volcanic rock covered in cactus, desert and mosquitoed marshland, floating just barely within reach of Venezuela. Unlike Aruba, which has been overdeveloped and commercialized to resemble a resort land complete with every fast food chain restaurant known to North America, Bonaire has retained much of its local flavor and natural features due in part to much of the island being either a nature reserve famous for its pink flamingoes and beaches (click on the link to find out why they're pink, since flamingoes are actually born gray), marine park or donkey sanctuary. The island is small enough to be easily driven in a day, and consists of two main towns: the capitol Kralendijk and Rincon. Its primary exports are solar salt and radio, and it's most known for diving and windsurfing.

Part of the Dutch Antilles, locals speak Dutch, Spanish and Papiamentu. Like many Caribbean islands, Bonaire seems to have a disparity between the rich and poor, the dark and light skinned. And, like many Caribbean islands, Bonaire was a pawn on the imperialist world stage throughout the 15th to 19th centuries; it was at various times a British, Dutch or Spanish territory, a penal colony, a refuge for South American fugitives, and a plantation island where African slaves and indigenous workers harvested solar salt by hand. It's still possible to see remnants of its oppressive past scattered throughout the island in the form of salt pans and abandoned stone slave huts. The huts are approximately four feet tall with dirt floors and no doors or windows, so it's hard to imagine anyone sleeping comfortably in them. For more on Bonaire's history, click here.

As for windsurfing, it's hard to imagine a more ideal setting than Lac Bay. The wind and water conditions were almost always perfect and consistent, even on rainy or light wind days. The staff at Jibe City, the shop where I rented my gear, was nice and helpful. Tonky Frans (pictured here and currently ranked 4th in freestyle) was working the week I was there, and his cheery outlook and positive disposition always brightened my day. (Check out this video of his hella cool moves.) I sailed better than I've ever sailed before -- due in part to the conditions at Lac Bay, but also because I went snowboarding in MT two weeks before with Katie G and PW. I hooked in and stayed that way, pivot jibed without getting pulled over, and got more comfortable using bigger sails. As always, the ABK Boardsports crew (Andy, Lu, Ben and Mark) were fantastic.

EH and I took some time to drive around the island, and I've posted both his and my pictures in the albums below.

All Carbon's Bonaire Pictures

EH's Bonaire Pictures

Sleep: The Kon Tiki Beachclub features short-term rentals owned and operated by husband and wife Miriam and Martin van Bekkum. One of the few places to stay on the windward side of the island, the cozy family oriented resort is a convenient 5 minute drive to Lac Bay. Ask, and the van Bekkums can also arrange for car and windsurf rentals as part of your stay. Be sure to request a unit with hot water in advance, as it's common for homes in Bonaire to have only cold water.

Eat: The Mona Lisa Bar and Grill - Hands down the best restaurant on the island. Make reservations in advance, as the restaurant is closed on weekends and almost completely booked the remainder of the week.
It Rains Fishes - Tucked in a residential area overlooking the water, this restaurant is whimsically decorated with paper fishes fluttering from the ceiling and pet parrots perched next to the bar. It's a local favorite.
Wil's Tropical Grill - It's easy to miss this small restaurant, but don't. The food is great, but save room for the best part of the meal: the chocolate lava torte dessert.

Gear: Jibe City - The nice and knowledgeable staff make for a positive experience. Jibe City also features The Hang Out Bar, a nice shady place to take a break from the sun and water to refuel.

Despite the fantastic windsurfing, I am glad to be back home. Windsurfing on the East Coast tends to be a male dominated sport, and the group of regulars that I run into when I sail on weekends here in New York are no different. In fact, we purposely planned to be on the island the same week so we would have some familiar faces around. While it's good to see the guys every other weekend over the course of the summer, I had always assumed that we'd all do our own thing while in Bonaire, and I was looking forward to spending my week unwinding, vegging, exploring, sleeping and getting up early to read, run or do yoga. Instead, I was roped into "group" activities and was oftentimes assigned den mother responsibilities through no action or desire of my own. I wouldn't have minded or noticed except that some members of the group underwent drastic behavorial changes when in predominantly group male settings. For ease of reference, let me just refer to them as "the sub species."

Before I get in trouble for what I just said, let me clarify: Not all men are like this, and not every one of the group of people I regularly sail with are like this. I have spent a lifetime studiously avoiding this particular type of male on both a platonic and romantic level, and I'm probably lucky for it. Here's what I learned about rules of behavior when dealing with this particular type of male:

1. Everything is a contest. This ranges from the obvious (who can windsurf better, or who can drive faster) to the inane. A dirty joke is outdone by someone with an even dirtier joke, and eventually, any conversation with a passing reference to a dirty joke deteriorates into explicitly crude comments about women or sex. Even friendships between various members of the group became a contest. At times, I felt like I was stuck in a bad high school sitcom. It seemed to get to EH as well, as he ended up doing his own thing or hanging out with me towards the end of the week.

2. A member of the sub species must be "the decider" and the center of attention at all times. The sub species is best when operating in herd formation. Non conforming members must be brought to submission by way of criticism, ostracization, or ridicule. And, as I've already mentioned, since friendship is a contest, if other members of the group are friends with each other without including the sub species, they are ridiculed or ostracized for being non-confirmists.

3. The same dirty joke or sexual innuendo is always hilariously funny, especially when it's told by a member of the sub species. Uh, am I missing something? By the end of the week, hearing the same (always unfunny) p*ssy or t*tty joke over and over again at five minute intervals got old, but the sub species continued to be greatly amused. And no, I don't find comments such as, "Her tits are hot, but her face isn't" deeply profound.

While I hated that the sub species was comfortable enough around me to be themselves because they were annoying, I was also relieved because it meant I wasn't the subject of their observations. There were half-hearted comments thrown my way from time to time, but they were usually deflected with sarcasm, a look or someone else in the group telling the sub species to shut up. Ok, I admit I finally lost it at the airport the day we were supposed to fly back to NY, but what can you expect when it's 5am and you've heard the same joke for the 75,000th time and it's still not funny???? The week showed me that I've always suspected: I'd like to meet more women that windsurf.