Lounging Loras

Lately, lots of Loras have been lounging around in our Wayaka tree. So after work this afternoon, I did some hanging around too, and got a nice picture of this one.It was pretty windy today, like 20 knots out at the windsurfing spot, so the tree branches, and the birds, were bouncing up and down like crazy. I would have been sea sick for sure.

I set the camera to rapid fire mode hoping that once in a while, an exposure would happen while the bird was stationary at one end of the bounce or the other. This one came out nice and sharp, although when I blew the image up to 100%, I could see that the neck was a little more in focus than the eye, grrrr. The lens was wide open to maximize the shutter speed at ISO 400. Maybe next time I'll try stopping the lens down a bit for more depth of field, and try shooting at ISO 800 to keep the shutter speed up there.

International Bible Church Progress

The International Bible Church of Bonaire (IBCB) is making progress with its building project. We've passed the halfway point in our quest to raise two hundred thousand guilders for the building fund. Construction costs have risen quite a bit since we began the project, so we'll probably need more than NAf 200,000 when all is said and done, but we're still excited to be over the NAf 100,000 mark.

The foundation footings for the new building have been completed and the cement is curing now. As soon as we build up the area with crushed rock, we'll move the steel to the site and start painting it. We hope to raise the structure in a month or so.

New Rules for the TWR Traffic Circle

There is a road crew out in front of the TWR office building this morning. They are putting up new signs and painting the road at the Hato traffic circle.

The right of way rules have changed, which should make things interesting for a while. Vehicles in the circle now have right of way over vehicles entering the circle. Apparently, the new traffic circle that is being built by Lisa gas will have the same rules.

This is a significant change for the Hato circle, so we are going to have to be super cautious while navigating these Bonaire traffic circles in the days to come.

On the other hand, most visitors to the island have always seemed to assume that the traffic in the circle has the right of way, so the new setup should work well for them. I think the Bonaire traffic circles are now the same as the one in Curacao on the ring road. (near the zoo)

Windmills in place

The wind turbines for the new Bonaire wind farm have all been assembled, as seen from the outside anyway.

I haven't seen any of them spinning yet.

I rode my bike to a spot overlooking Rincon last Friday and got a picture of them. The sky had more haze than I expected, so I processed the picture a fair bit. I'll go back sometime when it is really clear (who knows when that will be...) and try again.

When you are on the ground in Rincon, the hills hide most of the wind turbines from view.

The Rincon Catholic church is midway up the extreme left edge of the picture. The Rincon police station and soccer field is midway up on the right side of the picture. I think that you'll have to click on the thumbnail to see the picture bigger in order to see the wind turbines.

Curious George

Well, actually none of the dogs are named George, but sometimes they remind us of that famous monkey.

When they are outside, they want to be inside, and when they are inside, they are constantly monitoring what is going on outside.

Underwater Fun

Wayaka 2 is a great spot for beginning snorkelers because you can stand in waist deep water and just stick your face down in the water and see lots of colorful fish who'll swim right up to you. When we were in the States last year, we bought an underwater housing for our PowerShot SD870IS pocket camera. The lens port fogged over when Sandra was shooting pictures, but I lucked out and got some clear images.

Our friend, Kellie, saw three or four of these Scorpionfish hanging about.

The Scorpionfish is nestled right in the "V" of the branches in this photo, probably waiting for one of those small bait fish to swim too close.

Wayaka 2

Snorkeling at Wayaka 2 is like being in a giant aquarium. Sometimes the water is clear, sometimes murky. This day it was clear in some areas and murky in others. There were quite a few people enjoying the small beach and the snorkeling that day, but the fish, like this spotted Trunkfish didn't care one bit.

Above is a Chub showing white spots. It is amazing how many fish can quickly change their color or shadings.

There is no problem getting close to the fish, as this full frame shot shows.

There were a couple Chubs patrolling the huge school of small bait fish in the lagoon.

TWR President visits Bonaire

New Trans World Radio president, Lauren Libbey, recently visited Bonaire with his son, Grant, and Tim Klingbeil, TWR director for the Americas region. It was an refreshing and encouraging time for one and all. A life long radio enthusiast, Lauren checked out the TWR facilities, including the view from one of the towers.

He met with the Governor, some local business leaders, and toured the Radio Nederland facilities too.