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Travel days - December 30-31
Our trip started with an overnight hop and stay in Toronto, so we could catch the flight from Toronto to Aruba in the morning. Flight to TO and the stay was uneventful. We caught the flight to Aruba, arriving at the airport over two hours before departure, so we could get our seats changed to an exit row, which we were able to do. The flight to Aruba was long, but worth it. When we arrived we had a few hours to kill, so we had a few beers and some snacks at an outside snack bar. It was overcast, and warm, but not too hard to take. After our short hop from Aruba to Bonaire we had reservations at It Rains Fishes. We were able to enjoy a wonderful dinner, but we were too tired to stay awake until midnight to bring in the New Year.
January 1st - New Year's Day
Most stores were closed so we rested and did a little running around. Got the Internet service, a cell phone, and went to Yellow Submarine to find our what time our day would start on the 2nd. Our first check out dive is scheduled for 9:00 am. We spent some time on our upper deck. This area will prove to be an excellent area for critter watching. I have a few photos below.
	Trudy relaxing on the upper deck
	Not sure who this guy is, but our friends have a Birds of Bonaire book that I will check to get the name. I didn't get a picture of this type of bird last year, but the bush behind our place has many of them.
	This guy is called a Grey King bird, and they are fairly common.
	We saw many of these guys last year, but these ones were in the tops of trees. I guess we didn't realize that this was where the big ones spent their time.
	We saw many of this species running around in our yard. This shot was taken looking down from our second floor patio.
January 2nd - 3rd - Four Checkout Dives
The first day of checkout dives started at 9:00 am, and the first dive was just a fun dive on the Yellow Submarine House Reef. We went to a depth of 40ft for 31 minutes. This is better than snorkeling, any day. We had a break, and returned at 2:00 pm for our second dive. For this one we were joined by another couple, who remained with us for the last three checkout dives. The second dive involved repeating various skills we learned in the pool, but now in open water. This dive was to a depth of 30ft, and it lasted 40 minutes. The second day of checkout dives started at 8:30 am. This dive also included a number of skills to perform, but ended with a short dive for fun. On this one we went to a depth of 60ft for 42 minutes. It was very exciting to see the life on the reef. I can't wait to start taking photos! The fourth dive was a fun dive, with no skills required. We simply had a dive with the instructor, and he watched how we reacted. This dive was to 58ft and lasted 36 minutes. A lot more time to look and enjoy the reef. Trudy and I are both certified divers, and I can't wait to start the next dive.
	This is a shot of Yellow Submarine.
	This is a shot of the Yellow Submarine house reef where we did our open water referrals.
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