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| Issue #14 10 October 2000 |
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| Entre Nous Bonaire's Bi-weekly Newsletter |
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Entre Nous is the bi-weekly newsletter from the Tourism Corporation Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles. In this newsletter you will find the accomplishments of TCB in Bonaire, North America, South America and Europe. We hope that you will read it with pleasure and if you have something that you think is relevant for the tourism sector to know just fax it to 717-8408 or email to: tcb@bonairelive.com. |
TOPICS
FOR THIS WEEK
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LOCAL REPORT |
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BY JERRY C. LIGON The Seahorse As it is with parents in most species, (especially so-called intelligent species like humans) males often are in a quandary as to the identity of the actual father of the offspring. They know that their chosen mate is desirable to males other than themselves, and they never know just how close their neighboring rivals have been. This is not something that male seahorses worry about! In this family, (Syngnathidae, which includes pipefish, sea dragons, and pipe horses), the male is the one who gets pregnant and it is he who gives birth. The female does the courting and deposits her eggs into the empty pouch that is an enclosed section separate from the stomach. The lining of this special pouch has high concentrations of prolactin, a hormone that usually is found in the uterus of females, and helps prepare it for reception of the fertilized ova. Seahorses mate repeatedly after the male gives birth. In our two species here in Bonaire, the males give birth usually around 18 to 20 days of mating, but each morning at dawn, the female swims to the male who is usually found attached to the same gorgonian day after day. You may be lucky enough to encounter a pair promenading and pirouetting together, which can last up to 10 minutes. This most likely occurs each day during the male's pregnancy. After the male gives birth, the female and male do their pair bonding for up to 9 hours and this results in remating. Seahorses' extraordinary looks and unique behavior have earned them mythical status, a status that has now placed seahorse populations in jeopardy. In 1992, for example, China harvested over 6 million individuals- that's 20 tons that were consumed for medicine as a cure for male impotence. Now their populations worldwide are severely depleted. (Not the Chinese, but the seahorse) There appear to be 32 species worldwide and adult sizes range from the tiny Hippocampus Minotaur, a newly discovered Australian species that is 10-20 mm (that is less than 1 inch) in length, to the large Pacific Seahorse, Hippocampus ingens that exceeds 300 mm (that is one foot). Their life span depends upon size with the average sized individuals living for over four years. They live among sea grasses, mangroves and, where we most find them here in Bonaire, among both hard corals and gorgonians. They feed entirely on live moving food and their independently moving eyes help them spot tiny crustaceans, like brine shrimp. They are voracious predators, and swallow their prey whole since they have no teeth. Seahorses lack formal stomachs, thus they must consume large quantities of food to compensate for their rapid and inefficient digestion. Young seahorses are venerable to most piscivorous (fish eating) fish and they have been found in the stomachs of tuna, red snapper, and dorado. Also crabs and even some seabirds take them as food. Many of man's activities also deplete them, other than direct consumption as folk medicine. The shrimp industry which uses drag nets, which are dragged across extensive sea grass beds, take a large toll on them, as well as the dredging and filling of mangroves and coastal areas. The genus name for all
seahorses, Hippocampus, comes from the name for an area in the
center of the human brain that is shaped somewhat like a seahorse
and was named by early Greek physicians after they saw the
similarity.
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The
33rd Bonaire’s International Sailing Regatta On
October 8th, 2000, The Bonaire’s International
Sailing Regatta set its sails for the 33rd time. As
last year most of the races are being held at the Kralendijk Bay with
the “Kas di Regatta”, Regatta house, as starting point. The
windsurfing races were brought back to Sorbon, since this bay has
excellent windsurfing facilities. What’s new this year is the
location for the Regatta Festival. The Regatta Festival is being held
along the full stretch of the new sea promenade starting at the
restaurant “It Rains Fishes”. This year everyone interested in
selling products during the regatta festival, were offered a booth.
Prizes will be given to the one that has decorated their area in a
creative way. The
regatta was dedicated this year to the boat Brisa with Son and Lito
Domacassé as owners. This year makes it the 20th time that
“Brisa” has participated into the Bonaire International Sailing
Regatta. Son and Lito were honored, at thepening the Regatta
Boulevard last Sunday evening with the help of Byron Tromp, Regatta’s general
coordinator, and Germaine De Jongh, president of the Bonaire Promoting
Foundation. The
Regatta Foundation has its own site with continuous updates. A
complete schedule of the races and the festival activities can be
found at the site www.bonaireregatta.org
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Son & Lito Domacasse in Brisa (courtesy of the local newspaper EXTRA) |
Opening of the Regatta Boulevard (courtesy of the local newspaper EXTRA) |
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October
2000 Bonaire/Air Jamaica Road Update Final
plans are being coordinated for the Road show with the new dates
of October 9th –13th. We’ll be starting
the week with sales calls in the Detroit area and participating in
the Detroit Free Press Travel Agent Trade Show, then
continuing to Chicago, Minneapolis, Chicago, for more sales calls
and hosting two CTO Chapter Seminar Presentations. Along with the
destination, the following properties will be represented during
the week’s activities: Aqua Viva
Apts, Belmar Apts. &
Lagoen
Hill Bungalows, Buddy Dive
Resort, Captain Don’s
Habitat, Divi
Flamingo Resort and Plaza Resort Bonaire and Port Bonaire. On
October 16th, there will be sales calls scheduled in
the New York area with a representative from Divi Flamingo and the
Air Jamaica New York Sales Office. If interested in participating
please contact the TCB-NYC. - The October issue of Dive
Training (circulation 90,000) featured a placement in the
Industry Notes section that highlighted the Rediscover Bonaire
program. Encouraging
travelers to experience the adventures available in Bonaire, the
placement included TCB’s 800 number and web site address. - Both the September and October 2000 issues
of Caribbean Travel & Life (circulation 115,000)
featured a placements on Bonaire in the Calendar of Events sections.
One of Bonaire’s many holidays, Bonaire Day was included in
the September issue along with a synopsis of the event and
TCB’s 800 number. The October issue included a listing of
the International Sailing Regatta, with the event’s dates and
TCB’s 800 number. The October issue also featured a full-page
article with two four-color photos on Karel's Bar. - The Sunday September 24, 2000 travel
section of the Miami Herald (circulation 462,606)
featured an article on the top ten spots to dive.
Included in the article was Bonaire, which was sighted for its
ease in diving and great underwater visibility, and as a bird watchers
heaven with its many species of birds including flamingos.
Above water attractions mentioned included windsurfing in Lac
Bay, and Harbour Village Beach Resort was touted as the “coolest
resort on island.” - On September 23, 2000 the Washington,
D.C. area was flooded with fantastic media coverage on Bonaire!
A feature article, including 4 four-color photos, written by
Brain and Denise Eckert appeared in The Journal Newspapers’
(circulation 375,000) travel section and featured all that
Bonaire has to offer. The
article included information on many of Bonaire’s activities from
snorkeling to mountain biking, with The Eckerts’ wonderful trip
island well documented for readers to see. These placements are
a result of the press visit of Brian and Denise Eckert to Bonaire in
March 1999. We worked
with The Eckerts upon their return to provide them with the photos
that were included in the article.
The
Journal Newspapers
is a group of newspapers distributed in Virginia and Maryland,
having a combined circulation of 375,000.
The Journal Newspapers include, the Montgomery Journal
(circulation 29,906), Manassas Daily News (circulation 25,000),
Arlington Journal (circulation 9,118) and the Alexandria Journal
(circulation 6,525). - The August 28,
2000 issue of Travel Agent (circulation 59,813)
included a feature article focusing on diving in Bonaire.
This feature article highlighted the island’s many resorts
and dive shops including Divi Flamingo Beach Resort, Bon Bini Divers,
Buddy Dive Resort, Deep Blue View, Dive Inn, Harbour Village Beach
Resort and Plaza Resort Bonaire, as well as information on resort’s
new piers, the ease of shore diving in Bonaire and the island’s
continued efforts to protect the reefs.
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News Bits We would like all the hotels to contact us by e-mail flamingorep@telcel.net.ve, so we can include their promotions in our promotions.
In their special edition for August, this magazine dedicated two pages to our island..."Bonaire paraiso terrenal intacto", inviting the reader to enjoy the gastronomy, land and underwater activities all year round.
After attending seminars by "Discover
Bonaire" this newspaper published the following article "
Paquetes especiales para Venezuela ... Bonaire ofrece un paraíso
en l Caribe". Not only did they include all the regular information about the island, but also the special information about packages and Air ALM.
In September this electronic magazine posted two important news stories about Bonaire. One about the new dates of the next Dive Festival in June 2001.The other is about the first underwater camera that sends images to the Internet. Caribbean Web Cams LLC chose Bonaire for the camera's location because they admire our efforts to preserve the marine environment. The address of the site is www.bonairewebcams.com
Full color page " Viaje una aventura bajo el
mar.... de Holanda para el Caribe ". Describing the most valuable
treasure of Bonaire, the underwater world. Also information about hotels,
restaurants, shopping, flights from Maracaibo, etc. Press Trip
Alfredo Garrido, Director of Travesías, a full
color magazine about extreme sports describes his diving and kayaking
experience in Bonaire in its last edition. He was invited to the island by
TCB and Captain Don’s Habitat acted as host hotel. He liked the island so
much that he will include photographs from the Dive Festival in future
editions AVAVIT - Caracas November 27
/29 Hotel Caracas Hilton from 27 to
29 of November. Bonaire's display will be 12 mts2 and it is
already booked therefore we would like to ask all our friends to get
in touch with Bonhata to participate and to get further information. Last year AVAVIT was visited by more than 3000 travel agents and this year we are expecting it to be even more. ANATO - Bogotá February 26 /
28, 2001 Bonaire's display, 17.60 mts2, is already confirmed so get in touch with Bonhata for more details. We hope to count on you in these trade shows and participate in promoting the island. |
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Lydia de Jongh's exhibition at KONTIKI The artist Lydia de
Jonghe is organizing an exhibition of her work at the KONTIKI beach club.
The exhibition will take place on 14th October from 4:00 PM
to 6:00 PM. Lydia has developed an expressionistic style of painting based on reality, visual impacts, feelings and memories that she translates into her paintings. Several journeys to Bonaire have inspired her to this exhibition. During this exhibition
the brothers Gerritsen, Guus (saxofoon and Pieter (piano) Gerritsen,
will be providing live music. |
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This weeks dialogue shows how easy it is to understand Papiamentu. Send your translation to us at tcb@bonairelive.com. The first 3 persons who send in the correct translation will have the opportunity to share a story relating to their visit to BONAIRE, which will be posted in the next EntreNous. When sending your translation write your name, country of residence, and state.
Palabra Nobo New words Selador customs officer Ata
e aki
here it is Bini
come Awor
aki
now here For
di
from Pasa
pass Unda
where Deklará
declare Permiti
allow Kuantu
how much Yená
fill
Na
ordu
in order Tempu
time Papel
paper Su
possessive adj. for, his, her, its, their |
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At the airport dialogue Selador: Pasport mener. Turista: Ata e aki mener. Selador:
For di unda mener ta
bini? Turista:
For di Miami. Selador: Mener
tin algu di deklará? Turista:
Wèl, mi tin dos bòter di ròm. Selador:
Esei ta Pèrmiti! Kuantu tempu mener ta keda aki? Turista:
Tres siman so. Selador:
Tur kos ta na ordu. Tur
papel ta yená, ata mener su
pasport. Pasa bon
fakansi. Turista:
Mashá Danki |
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October
2000
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| 1 | Road Bike Race 60k | |
| 7 | Marshe di Rincon (Rincon Market day) | |
| 7 | Underwater Cleanup Dive | |
| 8-14 | 33rd Bonaire International Sailing Regatta | |
| 11 | 5 km Regatta Run sponsor ABN Ambro | |
| 21 | Antillean Day | |
| * | 4th Bonaire Mountain bike speed challenge Race | |
| November 2000 | ||
| 4 | Marshe di Rincon (Rincon Market day) | |
| 4 | Underwater Cleanup Dive | |
| 12 | Cycle Tour South Coast 40km (Bonaire Cycling) | |
| 26 | Arrival of St. Nicholaas (tentative) | |
| * | 1/4 Triathlon - Swimming 1km | |
| * | 10km Run | |
| December 2000 | ||
| 2 | Marshe di Rincon (Rincon Market day) | |
| 2 | Underwater Cleanup Dive | |
| 3 | 10 Km Lac Bay Run | |
| 5 | Sinterklaas (St. Nicolas) Birthday Celebration | |
| 10 | Road RAce 54K and 70K sponsor Rose Inn | |
| 18 | Bari Festival | |
| 19 | End of year Sailing Race | |
| 25 | Christmas Day (Holiday) | |
| 26 | Boxing Day (Holiday) | |
| 31 | Fireworks all over Bonaire!\stores close early | |
| 31 | 5 Km run | |
| * To be announced | ||
| For a complete calender of events visit our website at www.infobonaire.com | ||
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For a complete calender of events visit our website at http://www.infobonaire.com/ Note: Dates are subject to change. A full cruise ship schedule is available upon request at the TCB Office. If you have any additions, changes or corrections to this planner please send these to S. Pourier via fax (8408) or e-mail: statistics@tourismbonaire.com - thank you. *To unsubscribe or subscribe go to http://www.bonaireentrenous.com ********************************************* Tourism Corporation Bonaire Kaya S. Bolivar 12 Bonaire Dutch Caribbean Tel: 599-7-8322/ 8649 Fax: 599-7-8408 E-mail: tcb@tourismbonaire.com Website address: http://www.infobonaire.com/ **************************************************** |
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