Sailing the Southern Caribbean

Today’s post is a little different. Instead of me droning on for an hour, for you slow readers, or twenty-eight seconds, for those realizing they got the wrong site, I would like to present you with a cinematic master piece. A MONTAGE!!!

But before you cringe let me also say that it has music, and dolphins jumping, and oceans, and an amazing car race with scantly clad women….OK the last part is a lie.

It’s a video re-cap of our sailing journey across the southern Caribbean from Grenada to Colombia, over 1000 nautical miles, 7 months, and 2 sailboats later.

So go pop some pop-corn, sit back and relax!

Sailing The Southern Caribbean from Hop & Jaunt on Vimeo.

It’s also on YouTube if you have a preference.

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Hop & Jaunt’s Top Ten of 2009

Happy New Years from the Crew at Hop & Jaunt Travelouges!  We’re excited about the new adventures and travels that lay ahead in 2010.  But before we jaunt into the last year of the decade, lets hop back and take a look at some of our favorite experiences from the past year.   Its Hop & Jaunt’s Top Ten Favorite Adventures of 2009.

10.)  Beach Bumming at Roger’s Bar on Hog Island, Grenada

Roger's Beach Bar - Hog Island, Grenada

Roger’s Bar on Hog Island was our first Caribbean experience after joining Alyson’s parents on Quercus.  Roger’s ramshackle beach shack not only had the appearance of being thrown together with driftwood, bamboo and palm leaves, but it literally was put together with nothing more than driftwood, bamboo and palm leaves.  Many afternoon ’sundowners’ turned into late night ‘howl at the moon’ sessions underneath the glow of the single 12 Volt powered light bulb.  Live reggae music, sand between your toes and always a cold beer set the perfect mood for mingling and socializing with the  locals and sailors from around the world.  To read more click here.

9.)  Baby Sitting a Whale in Curacao

Giving baby Sully a tummy rub.

While boat sitting in Curacao we decided to try a little baby sitting as well.  We volunteered to watch after a 10 foot baby pilot whale that was being nursed back to health.  Sully the pilot whale was beached by his family after becoming too ill to keep up with the rest of his pod.  Efforts by local marine biologist and volunteers helped to restore the baby whale back to full health.  We spent a few nights lying by Sully’s pen keeping him company as he vied for our attention by requesting several belly rubs.  It was an experience we will always remember.  Unfortunately efforts to integrate Sully back into the wild have failed, and there are talks that he will be moved to a tank in Sea World, San Diego.  For more click here.
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Hop and Jaunt’s “Believe It or Not”

While traveling throughout the Westward Antilles we’ve seen quite a lot of amazing things.  Each day is filled with breath taking scenery.  Picturesque white sandy beaches stretch right across our front yard (figuratively speaking).  We have seen dramatic landscapes with towering island mountains that drop off sharp cliffs and straight into the sea.  Living right on the surface of the world’s largest aquarium has given us the opportunity to  view an astounding quantity of tropical sea life, and during our excursions inland we have met dozens of very cool and interesting people.  Yet, on occasion we happen across something that really catches our attention.  Sometimes its something in the local culture that strikes us as different and new.  Other times its an out of place object that doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of the beautiful scenery, or more often than not, it just strikes us as funny.  So here is a compilation of some of the strange and curious oddities we’ve found while in Bonaire.
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These are the people in your neighborhood

The crew on a Swan 86 Racing Yacht.

The time we spent in Bonaire, gave us the opportunity to make several new friends and meet up with old ones.  Since most boats sailing in the westward Antilles have to visit the same islands, you get the chance to see some of the same people over and over.  You come to remember them more by the name of the boat and less by the names of the actual people.  Here is a quick blog about some of our favorite people and most memorable days while in Bonaire.   

The Young American Vacationers:

Our first week in Bonaire we met Richard and Tiffany.  They are a young American couple from Springfield, Missouri who had come down to the island on vacation.  Tiffany, who is a dive master, had visited Bonaire before and had returned with Richard to share the experience.  We happened to bump into them while having sundowners at Krael’s dockside bar.  They rocked and exponentially improved the already great time we were having in Bonaire.  It was great to sit, have a few beers and talk with people our own age, especially such interesting people.  Tiffany has spent years diving and told us all the good spots to hit along the waters edge.  She even does spelonking or cave diving.  Richard was awesome, too.  He kept us entertained and laughing with stories of bar tending, his stand-up comedy, touring the states with his band, and driving an ambulance.  We had such a great time with them that we all decided to meet the next day to do some snorkeling together.

We make friends with Tiffany and Richard while having sundowners.

Late the next morning, we headed out together in Quercus’s little dinghy to a spot they recommended.  The reefs along the island sit under about 30 feet of water.  The water is so clear though that the fish and corals are clearly visible from the surface.  We swam along watching the countless varieties of tropical fish passing beneath us.  The colorful coral sloped out of visibility and into the dark blue backdrop of the sea.  We even passed over scuba divers unaware of us swimming through their bubbles above.  I now regret not having purchased an underwater camera to document some of the incredible sights.  

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Bon Bini Bonaire – Island Tour

Bon Bini Bonaire! Welcome to Bonaire!

The Coast of Bonaire

Diving mecca and overall adorable Bonaire was a breath of civilized air for us after traveling through barely inhabited tropical paradises for the past month. Kralendjiyk is a quaint and colorful little town that lines the turquoise waterfront. There are 30-40 mooring balls that are lined across the bay in front of the town where for $10 you can tie up your boat. As John mentions in his post, we spent the first week or so just enjoying the town and figuring out how to enjoy ourselves without breaking the piggy bank. One of the things that John and I wanted to learn while traveling was riding motorcycles. We have dreams of getting a cool old bike and traveling through Central or South America this way. 

But back to the present. Being a 99% tourist oriented island, there are numerous rental agencies around town. You can rent anything from a little Suzuki SUV to weird go-cart like buggies. What we were eyeing was a moped! Though not as edgy as a bike, I had always wanted a little Vespa to put-put around town in. I had grand images of me on a little cute moped, with a long scarf, aviator goggles on my little helmet, and a loaf of French bread in the basket. But being that in America not only would I most likely get run over, but I had also not lived in a big city where it may even be remotely practical my images had remained a fantasy. Plus, how much French bread do I really need every time I go out? The island of Bonaire is very small, with only a few main roads connecting the island. Most people owned mopeds or very small cars as it only takes a few hours to cover the entire island. While on a walk about one day we ran across an advert for a rental moped that could be had for 24 hours for only $30. Well we jumped on it. Not only was it one of the best days we ended up having in Bonaire but we got to see the island three times in that 24 hours…including stopping a lot to take pictures, stopping to eat, sight see, and to sleep at night! So for you at home, I will try to recreate our island tour so that you can enjoy the sights as well.

We first headed South. Along the South Western seashore is where the Bonaire salt marshes are located. These large pools of water are filled with the ocean sea and left to dry out – leaving salt behind. Bonaire has been producing salt since the Dutch began colonizing the island. The mounds of salt rise up several stories and create sparkling white pyramids.

Salt Mound

Salt Fields

On our scooter riding through the salt marshes and ocean!

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Welcome to Bonaire…Land of Flamingos, Topless Dutch Girls and Free Rum Punch

Scene of Kralendjik from the boat

Welcome to Bonaire…Land of Flamingos, Topless Dutch Girls and Free Rum Punch.  The above is all true, but actually Bonaire is really famous for its diving.  Renowned internationally as a scuba paradise people come from all over the world to explore the waters of this exceptional diving mecca.  It was Sunday, June 21st (the first day of summer, Fathers Day, and my little brothers birthday) and we had just motored into the alluring bay of Kralendjik (pronounced Kra-len-???).  We had spent the past month making our way west through the windward islands of the Lesser Antilles.  Finally, we had arrived in Bonaire (the B of the Netherlands ABC isles).  We couldn’t have been more ready.  As we eyed the colorfully painted buildings along the waterfront, we couldn’t help but salivate over thoughts of ice cream, cold beer and cheeseburgers.  Soon those dreams would be coming true, but first things first.

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