The Bonaire Reporter

More documents

Recommendations

Info

RESTAURANT PRICE RANGE / WHEN OPEN FEATURES Balashi Beach Bar Bar and Beach Service At the Divi Flamingo Beach Resort Waterfront Bella Vista Restaurant Sea Side Restaurant at Buddy Dive Resort 717-5080, ext. 538 Bistro de Paris Kaya Gob. N. Debrot 46 (half-way between hotel row and town) 717-7070 Cactus Blue Blvd. J. A. Abraham 16 (half-way between town and Divi Flamingo) 717-4564 Calabas Restaurant & Chibi Chibi Restaurant and Bar At the Divi Flamingo Beach Resort Waterfront 717-8285 The Great Escape EEG Blvd #97—across from Belmar 717-7488 The Last Bite Bakery Kaya Grandi 70 717-3293 Papaya Moon Cantina Downtown— Kaya Grandi 48 717-5025 Papagayo Downtown, Kaya L.D.Gerharts, opposite MCB 717-8003 Pasa Bon Pizza On Kaya Gob. Debrot ½ mile north of town center. 780-1111 The Bonaire Windsurfing Place At Sorobon Beach AIRLINES Divi Divi Air. Bonaire’s “on time airline” with 16 flights a day between Bonaire and Curaçao. Your first choice for inter-island travel. Now flying to Aruba. APPLIANCES /TV/ ELECTRONICS/ COMPUTERS City Shop, the mega store, has the island’s widest selection of large and small home appliances, furniture, TV, computers, cell phones and more. Fast service and in-store financing too. BANKS Maduro and Curiel’s Bank provides the greatest number of services, branches and ATMs of any Bonaire bank. They also offer investments and insurance. BEAUTY PARLOR Hair Affair. Expert hair cutting, styling, facials, waxing and professional nail care. BICYCLE / SCOOTER/ QUADS De Freewieler rents scooters and quads; professionally repairs almost anything on two wheels. Sells top brand bikes. Have your keys made here. DIVING Carib Inn is the popular 10-room inn with top-notch dive shop and well stocked retail store. Best book trade on Bonaire. Good prices on regulator repair, dive computer H.Q. Dive Friends Bonaire (Photo Tours Divers-Yellow Submarine) -low prices - on the seaside at Kralendijk, at Caribbean Court and the Hamlet Oasis. Join their monthly cleanup dives and BBQ. WannaDive - They make diving fun while maintaining the highest professional standards. In town at City Café and at Eden Beach. FITNESS Fit For Life at the Plaza Resort Mall. Classes in Pilates, Aerobics, TaeBo and more. Professional trainers, fitness machines and classes for all levels. FURNITURE, ANTIQUES The Plantation Has lots of classy furniture and antiques at very competitive prices. Stop in to see great teak furniture and Indonesian crafts. OPENING HOURS FOR MONTH OF DECEMBER: Monday through Saturday: 9 am to 6 pm, non-stop Open every day 8am - 8pm. Happy Hour, two for one, 6-7 pm. Moderate. Breakfast daily 6:30 am - 10:00 am. Lunch daily 11:30 - 17:30 am. Dinner on theme nights 6:00 pm - 10 pm. Moderate Lunch Monday - Friday 11 am–3 pm Moderate Dinner Closed Sunday Moderate-Expensive Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Open 7 days Moderate Breakfast Sandwich Lunch 10 am-12 noon Low-Moderate Open Tuesday through Saturday Moderate Open everyday except Tuesday For Dinner Moderate Open for Breakfast, Lunch, Early Dinner Closed Monday Low-Moderate Open from 5-11 pm Wednesday-Sunday Low-Moderate Open from 10am-6 pm daily, GARDEN SUPPLIES AND SERVICES Green Label has everything you need to start or maintain your garden. They can design, install and maintain it and offer plants, irrigation supplies and garden chemicals. Incredible selection of pots. GIFTS, SOUVENIRS AND LIQUOR The Bonaire Gift Shop has a wide selection of gifts, souvenirs, liquor, dive watches, digital cameras, things for the home, T-shirts - all at low prices. HOTELS The Great Escape Under new management. Quiet and tranquil setting with pool and luxuriant garden in Belnem. Cyber Café, DVD rentals, restaurant and bar. New! Spa! METALWORK AND MACHINE SHOP b c b- Botterop Construction Bonaire N.V., offers outstanding fabrication of all metal products, including stainless. Complete machine shop too. NATURE EXPLORATION Outdoor Bonaire for individually guided kayaking, hiking, biking, caving, rapelling/abseilen and more reservations : 791-6272 or 785-6272 E-mail : hans@outdoorbonaire.com PHOTO FINISHING Paradise Photo in the Galeries Shopping Center offers fast, fine processing for prints, slides, items and services . Full digital services. REAL ESTATE / RENTAL AGENTS Caribbean Homes, “the Refreshing Realtor, ” specializing in luxury homes, condos, lots, rentals and property management. Harbourtown Real Estate is Bonaire’s most experienced real estate agent. They specialize in professional customer service, top notch properties and home owners insurance. Re/Max Paradise Homes: Lots of Choices— International/US connections. 5% of profits donated to local community. List your house with them to sell fast. Sunbelt Realty offers full real estate, rental, and insurance services. If you want a home or to invest in Bonaire, stop in and see them. REPAIRS Bon Handyman is here if you need something fixed or built. Ultra reliable, honest and experienced. Electrical, plumbing, woodworking, etc. 717-2345 Extensive snack/salad/burger. Menu available daily from noon. Buddy’s Magnificent Theme Nights: Sat. - Steak Night A la Carte; Mon. - Fish or Meat Dinner Special ($10,-); Wed. - Caribbean Night A la Carte; Fri. - Free Rum Punch Party (5:30- 6:30 pm) and All-u-can-eat BBQ for $ 19.50 (7:00 - 10:00 pm) Real French Cooking in an informal setting Superb dishes prepared with care and love by a French chef Owner-operated Eat in or Take away Trend Setting Menu Bonaire’s newest hot-spot to eat and drink. Margaritas a specialty Owner-operated for top service Biggest BBQ Buffet on Bonaire every Saturday from 6-9pm. Only NAƒ 28 or $15.75. Bar-Restaurant poolside —under the thatched roof. Breakfast Buffet 7:30-10 am every day Super beer selection—Happy hours 5 to 7 daily. NAƒ10 lunch every day main dish with 2 side dishes. Margaritas a Specialty 2 for 1 Happy Hour 6-7:30 Incredible Mexican Cuisine Breakfasts featuring Eggs Benedict Burgers and Salads Open at 8 am Bonaire’s best. The Real Thing! Freshly prepared pizzas made with the finest ingredients. Salads, desserts. Eat in or take away. Nice bar too. Call ahead to eat-in or take out 790-1111 A genuine sandy beach restaurant cooled by the trade winds Top quality food and friendly service. Reserve for the Wednesday Beach BBQ. RESORTS & ACTIVITIES Buddy Dive Resort offers diving, Adventure Fun tours including kayaking, mountain biking, cave snorkeling and exploration. RETAIL Benetton, world famous designer clothes available now in Bonaire at prices less than those in US. For men, women and children. Best Buddies and Pearls—Stunning fresh water pearl jewelry, fashion, gifts, t shirts. Under new management. The Touch Skin & Body—Birkenstock shoes for men and women. New styles SECURITY Special Security Services will provide that extra measure of protection when you need it. Always reliable. SHIPPING Rocargo Freight Air and sea shipments in/out of Bonaire. Customs agents. Professional and efficient. FedEx agent. WATER TAXI Get to Klein Bonaire by Ferry. Ride the Kantika di Amor or Skiffy. Hotel pickup. Easiest landing on Klein WINDSURFING The Bonaire Windsurfing Place can fulfill all your windsurfing dreams and more. They offer expert instruction, superb equipment on a fine beach. Lunch and drinks too. BBQ and windsurf videos Wednesday nights. WINES Antillean Wine Company. You’ve tried the rest; now try the best: best prices, highest quality wines from around the world, kept in a cooled warehouse. Free delivery. Shop at Kaya Industria 23, Monday-Saturday 9 am-12 noon. ATTENTION BUSINESSMEN/WOMEN: Put your ad in The Bonaire Reporter. Tel. 786-6518, 786-6125 Did you know that listing in the Guides is FREE for weekly advertisers? Page 16 Bonaire Reporter - December 29 to January 5, 2007
“I was born in Berlin in 1940, just at the beginning of World War II. It was a very difficult childhood: everything destroyed, nothing to eat. From when I was very little I learned what it was to be hungry, and until today I can’t understand why people throw away food because there are still very many people in this world who are hungry. When I was 14 I started working in a motel near Hamburg. I learned to clean, to cook, to serve - anything. Later I worked in restaurants and hotels in Germany, Switzerland, Spain and the Canary Islands. In 1962 I met my first wife in St. Moritz, Switzerland, and we married in 1963. That changed my life because we went to Frankfurt where I went to study at the Orthopedic University of Frankfurt to become a physiotherapist. My wife was a physiotherapist and so I thought it was time to stop drinking so much alcohol and living the nightlife and start doing more decent things. I studied two and a half years in Frankfurt; then came the hospital practice, but in between I had to do military service, and that for me was really a waste of time. After a year and a half of practice in the hospitals I was ready and got the certificates from the government. I worked in my mother-in-law’s practice for a year, and then I opened my own physiotherapy practice. I worked well and very hard – too hard - because in three years I had two practices and three souvenir-art shops where I was selling arts and handicrafts imported from Africa, India and Ceylon. I was making a lot of money, but I got very tired of paying a lot of taxes. So, in 1982 I sold everything and packed up all our things, and my wife and I and our three children went to Paraguay in South America. I had visited a friend of mine in Asunción, and to me the country looked very inviting. It was a very big change though, especially for the children who had to learn everything all over in Spanish. I opened an art shop, just like I had in Germany, but later I went back to my physiotherapy profession because I love my job; it means a lot to me when people can move again and feel good. We had a nice life in Paraguay but then my wife died of cancer in 1987. In 1989 I met my present partner and that was the best thing I found in my whole life – I found a diamond.” He caresses his wife’s arm and looks at her and she gives him a gorgeous smile. “Maria Isabel was born in 1946 in Asuncion, Paraguay. She studied to become a commercial secretary in Argentina; then in Paraguay she studied cosmetic aesthetics - everything about skin care. She specialized further in Spain, the US and Argentina and later in Venezuela Bonaire Reporter - December 29 to January 5, 2007 where she lived and worked while she was married. After her divorce she came back to Paraguay in 1987. When a mutual friend introduced us in 1989 I asked her out for dinner and then I was lost… Six months later we went to Argentina to get married in Formosa. It had rained a lot and everything was flooded and we had to go in a little boat to the office of the justice of the peace to ask him how to go about it if we wanted to get married. The judge said I had to pay 200 pesos. I answered that I wasn’t prepared to get married right away and that I didn’t bring any witnesses, but he said, ‘No problem!’ and he whistled on his fingers and two men came from somewhere and he made out the marriage certificate and we signed and 10 minutes later we were married! We had no photo, nothing! It doesn’t happen every day like this. In 1990 my children went to Germany. They’re still living there; everybody is “Most of our clients are locals and we’re happy about that because now I can see results in a client and that gives me the inspiration to do this work.” married and I have 10 grandchildren. My wife has three daughters and four grandchildren, all of whom live in Paraguay, except for one granddaughter who is studying in Venezuela. She’s now here on Bonaire and we’re very happy to spend the holidays with her and we’re going to show her every corner of the island! Well, in Paraguay we had our own practice - massage and cosmetics - but in 1997 we got the idea of working and living in Venezuela where Maria Isabel had lived for a long time. There I met the previous owner of the thermal baths in Trincheras, close to Valencia. We talked and he asked us to come to work for him. It was a very nice spa and we both worked as therapists. My work is therapeutic massage; every massage is relaxing, but I specialize in back pains, headaches, shoulders, everything around the spinal vertebrae. Also I am a Reiki Master in Usui Reiki, the Tibetan system of natural healing. Maria Isabel is the esthetic specialist in cosmetic treatment and especially here on the island it’s something you need because the sun is very strong and we have a lot of dust too. She also is a specialist in aromatic Hindu Peter Benekendorff and Maria Isabel Calvo de Benekendorff massage and she does cellular nutrition by injections. We had a very good life in Venezuela and we built our house in Valencia thinking we would never leave Venezuela ever again, but then the political atmosphere made us change our minds. In the Trincheras spa we met our best friend that we have here, Rosemary Winklaar from Bonaire. She came to the spa as a client. We talked and she told me she was from Bonaire, and I asked, ‘Where is Bonaire?’ as I’d never heard of it. She told me that we should come over one day to see the island. So we came to visit for a few days and we fell in love with the island because of its beautiful nature and its quiet life. We applied for the permits and Rosemary helped us very much, but we also got help from James Kroon, Jonchi Dortalina, Nerry Gonzales and Alejandra Dolleman. That was very important. It took a year and a half to get the permits, then we found this location next to the Government building, across from the Post Office. Maria Isabel named it ‘Pedisa’ – Pedro and Isabel! We came to live here in 2004. At first it was a big change because we were without all our friends and Maria Isabel felt very much alone, also because she speaks only Spanish. But when we started working it went better and better. My wife has found new friends – even someone from Paraguay named Daisy. Together they are the only two Paraguayans on the island, and last year they were together in the parade of the nations representing Paraguay! We’re doing fine now, except around this time of the year we long for our families. Paraguay is a very colonial country and its music is beautiful, the people are sensitive and gay, they like to dance and they like the barbecue! The country is in the heart of Latin America, in between the big ones: Brazil, Bolivia and Argentina. I love to visit Germany, but not to live. I am terrified of the cold. I can’t stand it anymore. I really love this island. All year round you can wear short sleeves and I’ve never seen such a crystal clear sea and it also inspires me to paint. We work five days a week, Tuesday through Saturday, and when we have time we go snorkeling and swimming and we go to the famous Saturday market in Rincon to have breakfast. We are very lucky to be here on Bonaire. Most of our clients are locals and we’re happy about that because now I can see results in a client and that gives me the inspiration to do this work.” “We work with knowledge and the heart, and that’s the difference,” Maria Isabel says, smiling. Peter looks at her - there’s a lot of tenderness between them – you can sense it and it makes you feel good to be with them. “She’s my best comrade and my best wife,” Peter says “and we do everything together and we have a lot of things in common – we are inseparable.” “He is the most beautiful thing that ever happened to me in my life,” Maria Isabel says and then they laugh and I take their picture. And when that’s done Peter says, glowing “It’s the most special thing, something you will never find again in your life. In this kind of world where we live in it is so important to have somebody on your side that you can trust with closed eyes – that is something so special – I have no other words.” Story and photo by Greta Kooistra. Page 17
Page 2 and 3: T he Province of North Holland has
Page 4 and 5: fter half a year of A hard work, le
Page 6 and 7: SELIBON staff enjoy a light moment
Page 8 and 9: onaire’s last Regatta of B the ye
Page 10 and 11: Hóbennan di Bon Kurason team Wrapp
Page 12 and 13: S uDoku means “the digits must re
Page 14 and 15: I t’s all about dating, love, sex
Page 18 and 19: R eporter readers Pete and Diane Gu

The Bonaire Reporter

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?