I've talked in a previous post about traveling out of the country for the first time and all of the preperation for a scuba diving trip. However, I haven't discussed the adventures of the actual traveling!
First and for most - traveling is wears you out. We met at TYS airport in Knoxville at 3:50am. (WOAH). After security and cat naps in the lobby area next to the gate - we flew to Atlanta airport. Let me tell you this place is HUGE. The airport has 192 gates compared to TYS which has 12. After riding the plane train (I highly recommend doing it). We grabbed some lunch and waited to board the plane to Bonaire!
The flight to Bonaire was different than the flight to Atlanta. The flight to Bonaire we were served coffee and snacks (yay!), and we had access to movies, games, and TV shows. I was impressed having only flew one other time outside of this trip. The flight was roughly 4 hours long and consisted of naps in between movies. Also during the flight, we could see the other islands and the view was incredible!
The view from the plane! This photo was not taken by me, but by one of the other students on the trip! :)
An excited crew at 4:30am at TYS airport in Knoxville!
Landing in Bonaire was surreal for me. I have never been out of the country and I was full of excitment! A trip we have been planning (for what feels like forever) we had finally landed! Customs in Bonaire was also interesting. You walked up to the counter and was greeted by a security officer that gave me a stern look and stamped my passport. Coming back into the USA its a little different. We had to answer a few questions, get our picture taken, and then we were sent on our way. Nothing major I just think it's interesting to see that different countries have different procedures.
Traveling around on the island we mainly rode in trucks or the Dr. Duncan van. We took these to get to shore dive sites, downtown shops, the grocery store, and our birding hotspot. Of course they were the coolest vehicles ever because we were in them.
The other form of transportation was boat or bus. The staff at Buddy's Dive resort took us by boat to other dive sites. We were lucky with the boat dives to have the best boat captain ever. He sliced us fruit for after the dive, and eventually gave everyone a nickname.
The bus we took only twice. The first time was from the airport to the resort and vice versa. We were PACKED on the small bus and it's by far one of my top favorite memories.
There is only one word to describe Bonaire and that is: SPECTACULAR. The island is just amazing with the brightest blue water, and abundance of life. We got to travel all around the island, and even though it's a desert island - there is such beauty. The reefs are breath taking, and the views are just WOW.
Here is one of my favorite pictures taken by Dr. John Enz. This is from the front of the boat looking out on to the national park.