Bonaire Day 4: Polly Want a Cracker?

This morning we awoke to the outer bands of Tropical Storm Emily passing by the island.

The storm only lasted about 30 minutes so we waited it out until the skies cleared.

Then it was time for dive #4 back on Bari Reef. We entered the water and did the standard follow-the-pipe routine out to the reef. I was starting to feel pretty comfortable diving on our house reef so Mike was able to do some exploration on this dive. We made our way down the reef together with him going down to the bottom at 114 feet and me staying above him with a max depth of 87 feet. This was my deepest dive yet.

Sea cucumber

Trumpetfish

Graysby

Purple tube sponge

Smooth Trunkfish

Smooth Trunkfish

School of fish in the shallows

Ocean Surgeonfish and Sand Diver

Black Sea Urchin

Fry underneath the dock

Widestripe Gobies

Blue Tang saying hello

Rainbow Parrotfish initial phase

Princess Leia on the reef

After diving, the plan was to drive into town and locate Echo Bonaire, an organization that recently rescued 112 endangered parrots that had been illegally poached and were bound for the pet trade. The parrots were taken from their nests too early so volunteers had been hand-feeding them for weeks with the ultimate goal of releasing them back to the wild once recovered. I found out about the situation from the Bonaire Talk forum where they posted a request for people coming to the island to bring syringes to be used in feeding. We tracked down a box of syringes at a feed store in Dallas and brought them with us to donate. Unfortunately, when we went out to our truck to head to town, we found this:

Because the terrain and roads are so rough in Bonaire, flat tires are very common. It's not a trip there without one. That didn't make Mike feel any better though.

Tire changed and disaster avoided, we made it to Echo Bonaire and were treated to a visit with the parrots. This little fellow, named Sid by the volunteers, was the youngest one rescued.

These guys were so personable and fun to play with.

We drove back to Sunset Grill, the restaurant at our condo, for Lobster Night. We started with more delicious fresh bread with an olive tapenade that Mike could not get enough of. We both ordered the Caribbean lobster with drawn butter and potatoes au gratin and the drink special of the day, Deep Red Lobster (vodka with four berry juices).

Bellies full of succulent lobster, it was a short stumble back up the stairs where we retired to the balcony. Each night after dinner we spent looking through the day's pictures, catching up on emails, and watching the night divers on Bari Reef play Luke Skywalker with their dive lights.