Today I decided to walk downtown and see the action since there was another cruise ship, Ventura, in the harbor. It is a big one again. I could see that a lot of people just stayed on the boat. Probably a good thing for Bonaire, but it seems to me to be a waste of a cruise to not see the places where they stop.

Vendor selling to cruise passengers and to us

I like to see what kind of food the vendors are selling for the tourists. It’s easier to buy food there than to try to hunt down a restaurant that sells the type of food I want to try. Most of the restaurants seem to be mainly bars, so buying from the vendor, helps the locals and we can eat it wherever we like.

Shark steak with tufu, rice, cabbage, green peppers, onion and pumpkin

Today, the vendor had fish that she said was shark. She put some yellow spice on it before frying it. She served it with saute’ onions and green peppers. She also served some pickled red cabbage, pumpkin and rice. And she included some Tutu, which is a local dish. I found a recipe for you to look at or try. I am not sure that she used black-eyed peas or just regular red beans. She told me it was beans and maize, but she may not have known black-eyed peas in English. It looked like regular beans to me. It was very tasty. Would be a fun dish to try. She did not put butter or cheese on it either, but I think this is probably close to what we ate.

Tutu
(Corn Meal With Black Eyed Peas)
Adapted from The Jewish Kitchens of Curaçao

1 cup corn-meal
16 oz. packaged dry black-eyed peas
6 cups water
3 cups water
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups funchi or corn-meal
4 tablespoons butter or margarine

Cook the black-eyed peas in the 6 cups water until soft. Drain.
Add 3 cups of water to the peas and bring to a boil, then use a whisk or “lele stick” to break the peas. Add sugar and salt and whisk again. Taste for seasoning, and adjust if necessary.

Add corn-meal, and in a combination of beating and mashing the mixture, blend it well to avoid lumps using a wooden spoon. Reduce heat. Continue the beating/mashing technique until the meal disappears and the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan. Add butter when done and either invert on a platter or use an ice cream scoop (dipped in water before each scoop) for individual portions. Serve with butter and cheese.

Rent-A-Bike $5/day

Rent-A-Bike by the trailer load

We took a picture of a trailer load of bicycles on their way to the cruise ship. Bicycles are a popular mode of transportation as well as a big sport on Bonaire.

Unusual Sign!?

I also took a picture of this sign advertising unusual things for sale. I have not yet had time to explore what the unusual things are.

Ice cream shop in Harborside Mall

In the evening we went for a walk and stopped in the ‘Mall’ and had ice cream. I had mango ice cream and it was very good and refreshing.

Larry standing in the hall of the Harborside Mall

Harborside Mall is actually a walk way from the main street to the beach front, the width of two buildings. There are several small shops and an ice cream shop. There is also a second floor that has an art shop, a restaurant and other small shops.

This is what we saw walking to town this evening. From right, just crossing the setting sun is a oil tanker (heading for BOPEC), the Ventura (heading for Aruba), a luxury yacht, tugboat (to help oil tanker dock?), fishing boat and sailboat on the extreme right. Sorry for the poor quality, we do not have a telephoto lens and had to greatly enlarge this one.

NOTE — To see a bigger (and in some cases, expanded) version of any of the images, just click on the one you want to enlarge.