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I had been adventuring on the island for a week before my
daughter arrived, and I collected a fun list of things to do when she joined me.
Sitting in our warm, sunlit studio apartment while snow piled up in my driveway
back home, with smiles on our faces, we made a schedule of things to do. We
confirmed with the owners of Rancho Washikemba that Tuesday, we’d go to the
ranch to ride the horses. Just as promised, Marc and Bregje arrived at our
apartment in the morning in their pick-up truck.
We drove out past the seaside town where the moist, windy
ocean air gradually changed to a dry, dusty breeze. Foreboding cacti stood
shoulder to shoulder silently along the bumpy dirt roads. High up in the hills
of this expansive wasteland rests a golden haven. We pulled up to the ranch
with the tires slowly crunching along the dirt road to a stop. Marc got out of
the truck, his footsteps breaking the silence as he opened the wide gate. After
we pulled up to the stalls, we hopped out of the truck with the sun beating
down on us; it was very hot even though it wasn’t close to noon yet. I was wondering
whether I had brought enough water when my thoughts were interrupted by their
friendly dog, Fleck. His warm welcome instantly made my cares dissolve.
When the horses were ready, my athletic daughter mounted her
horse effortlessly, but I had some difficulty getting up on Blondie. With a
little help, we were settled and on our way. Clip-clopping down dirt roads, the
ranch eventually was out of sight. Bregje’s voice explaining the history of the
area punctuated our peaceful ride. Among the desert landscape, we come upon a
long drive to a beautifully kept estate on the side of a hill. Once a
plantation where the owner mistreated slaves, the current owner took meticulous
care of the landscaping, but no one dared live there, or stay on the property
after sundown. In the hot breeze, I said a silent prayer for those who perished
there.
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| The haunted estate |
The sun beating down had me concerned about how much water I
had, but it felt a bit cooler as we reached the coast. Descending from the
hilly brush, Blondie’s footing took on a faster stride over the vast volcanic
rock cliff overlooking the vigorous surf. The riding was easier along the shore
and eventually, we turned inland to a protected bay. There was a tall rock where we tied up the
horses and changed to go for our swim. I opted to cool off in the bay while
Bregje took my daughter into the water with the horses. They entered the water
and instantaneously everyone was having fun! The horses were actually swimming
and my daughter was gliding along, Bregje confidently leading the horses with each
new direction. Bregje is a beautiful woman, with a body as magnificent as the
horses, powerful and strong. She puts you at ease and has the presence of a
confident proud animal.
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| Going for a swim in the bay |
At the end of the swim, we were all smiles, as we headed
back to the ranch basking in our new experience. After arriving, we had a
chance to relax while Marc and Bregje tended to the feeding, so we played with
the dog and visited the horses in the stalls. One of the horses had chickens in
its stall; they came freely through a small entrance in the back of the stall
to visit their favorite friend, Poco. The chickens that were best friends with
a horse was just one of the many charms of this magical place that I remember
well.
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| Poco and his chicken friends |
I was curious about how this was possible, it was truly a
wonderful gift that it even existed. I asked them about how they managed all
this; developing the ranch, sourcing out the ideal horses from different
countries and arranging the transportation to this remote location had to have
taken careful planning, funding, and confidence. It was impressive how they
managed to pull it off, and now it seemed they were quietly enjoying their
accomplishment -- in control of and content with their lives.
Considering they spent a good part of the day with us, and
knowing how much they charged us, I asked whether they were able to make a good
living with the riding – providing for the animals alone was surely a big
expense. She told me that it didn’t always cover the expenses, and they
supplemented their income in other ways, for example, they raised chickens and
sold them. Even that wasn’t a lot, but they managed, and they were happy.
Two years have passed since then, and a lot has changed in
my life. My company was closing and I didn’t have a job, so this could very
well be my last time visiting Bonaire or seeing the ranch. I wanted to write
about it, and Bregje was kind enough to allow me an interview. I was happy to
be back on the island and excited about going back to the ranch.
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| The landscape the same as it was a hundred years ago |
This time, I was driving out to the ranch in my rental car,
slowly guiding the car through the continuous ruts in the dirt road that went
on for miles. I hadn’t remembered the place being so far out of town, but I
guess it doesn’t seem as far when you’re not the one driving. I stopped my car
at the entrance to the ranch where I could see down the hillside a riding
lesson going on. The absence of sound invited my mind into the past, standing
on a dirt road among cacti in the hot breeze where the timeless landscape is
just the same as it was hundreds of years ago. I decided to take some pictures
of the scenery while waiting for the lesson to end. It was hot and windy in the
harsh landscape – way out in the middle of nowhere. As the saguaro cactus stood
several stories tall all around me, the birds entertained me while I snapped some
pics. Looking West through the brush, in the distance I could see the haunted house
on the hill, where time stood still.
After the riding lesson ended, Bregje welcomed me and I
greeted each horse as we walked past the stalls to the tack shop where we sat
at a table to talk. She grew up in the Netherlands, and she met Marc in a
restaurant where she worked when she was about fifteen. He was much older, and
they liked each other, but he was her boss, so nothing happened between them.
When she was twenty, she started college, working towards a bachelor’s degree in
human resource management, and at the same time, working in a fitness center.
She enjoyed sports; she was very athletic, and at the time also doing some
acting and some modelling. She liked it a lot, doing so many things. At the end
of her study she had to write a paper about something she was interested in,
and she wrote a business plan for starting a modelling agency. Having some
modelling experience, her motivation was to make a difference because of the
problems in the industry. She saw things happening in that industry that she didn’t
like, and she envisioned something different that was the basis for her paper.
It wasn’t the original plan to start that business, but when
she finished college, she had the completed plan, so she started her modeling
agency at the age of twenty-three or twenty-four. She was doing great -- at the
peak, she had 200 models or so, and not just fashion models, but also
commercial models. The most interesting part for her was the fashion industry, especially
the parties and fashion weeks in Amsterdam. It was a nice period in her life
with good friends, and being a newbie youngster in the business. She gained
credibility by behaving as though she had already been doing it for years, and
the more established agencies soon took notice of her. She had some very
successful models, and others were forced to acknowledge that there was
something she was doing right. They took her seriously because she had the
skill to find the right models in the right spaces. Even though some of the
models she discovered are still working, she’s not involved in that business
very much anymore. Among her models, a girl that she discovered when she was
fifteen is still working for Victoria’s Secret today.
Now that she’s living on the ranch, she’ll occasionally refer
a model to an agency, but she doesn’t do the management of models anymore. Of
course she can do it, but for now, it’s more of something from the past. She
admits though, she can’t stand it when she sees a perfect, beautiful face
because she can tell when there’s potential or not. There’s a girl from this
island she discovered and she’s been working for about five years now. Talking
about the modeling, she admits she still likes it; it’s nice.
With the modeling agency, she never made that big, big money.
She says they were doing OK; she had a nice life, and then there came a point where
she and Marc started talking again on facebook. They still liked each other,
and he was living on the island of Bonaire. Soon, she wanted to find out if
this could be something for her. She had been to the island once before, and
decided to come and live with Marc, and together, they would figure out some way
to make it happen.
She was twenty-seven and still had the agency, and thought she’d
continue it while living there, but it didn’t work out. When it became too hard
to keep contact with everybody, she didn’t enjoy it anymore. She was working in
Bonaire, and would be in her dirty clothes, and someone was calling from Milan
about a model, well… they didn’t know, but it felt strange, and it didn’t feel
that right anymore. Between the two worlds, the surroundings of the ranch felt
more natural to her. In her life, she’d always had animals, and always two or
three horses – even throughout college and while owning the modelling agency.
Thinking she was done with horses, she sold the horses, saddles, and everything
before coming to Bonaire. She was going to start a new life – just go for it
and see how it goes and it will work out.
Within a year she already had a new horse here on the island
but not a job. Marc had a construction
company at the time, but she didn’t know what she would do. The lifestyle was
not that enjoyable or profitable, and they were living in a neighborhood down
the road from here. The first horse they had, they boarded with their neighbor.
At the time, they had some money but not a plan for the future. She was riding
and playing with a friend, and they were thinking that maybe there’d be others who
would also enjoy this. They discussed this with a neighbor who had the piece of
land from their family, and they thought it would be a good idea, that they
could make it profitable, and they made a business plan.
I asked her about the business plan, whether it evolved or whether
things turned out the way they planned. “Better,” she said. They’ve been in
business for six years now. Most of the time it takes up to five years for a
new business, but within three years they were above their target for five
years. “We won’t get rich here. But that’s not the point.” she said. “We don’t
need that. We just want an easy life.” She and Marc have been together for nine
years, and that’s their story.
They both thought the plan would work, and there were
challenges, but still, she never doubted it.
Sourcing out the horses was challenging, it was hard to find
the right horses. They bought them one or two at a time. They were very careful;
it took a lot of effort and much more money than you would expect, and she says
they’re lucky with the ones they have now. She said they needed good
characters, and were not concerned with what they look like. The horses truly
are all a part of a great family.
On the island, this is a special place, but not visited as
much as other attractions. Most tourists stay in the city or go to the National
Park up north, but not a lot of people come out this way. They expect that to
change now that they’ve established a new nature park in this area, so more
people are coming out, but not too many so far.
I asked her, looking back, what would she tell her younger
self? “Just go for it. Just do it. But I
didn’t need to hear that. I didn’t have fear for anything. Just trust yourself
and go for it.”
When I originally asked her how she managed this monumental
task, she answered succinctly, “we made a business plan and then we did it,” as
if anyone could do the same. She explained, “you’re going to die anyway, so why
not just go for it?”
To me she seemed like such a remarkable person, but perhaps
she is not so extraordinary – maybe it’s I who hasn’t yet become extraordinary
as I could be. I was forced to examine
my own desires, and ask why have I not been able to realize my own dreams?
There was nothing holding me back more than my own limited thinking.
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