About us and Ayobonaire
After selling our home on Bonaire, we actually wanted to enjoy a quiet retirement. We intended to sell our building plot on the island, but due to local developments, things turned out differently: we decided to take a leap of faith and shape this unique spot close to the sea ourselves. That is how AyoBonaire was born – a project born out of a passion for the island, where we awarded the drawings and construction contract to local companies, and our daughter Gabriëla supported the build with 3D visualizations. As a family team, we did this with all our hearts: Winnie focused on the warm styling and interior design, and Tjerk acted as project manager. Are you curious about the process behind the construction of Villa Carolina? Feel free to take a look via this link.
After much deliberation, and above all listening to our feelings, we chose to truly enjoy our well-deserved free time and not expand the building any further. We are letting go of the broader permit plan for multiple houses; that is for later, for whoever takes over the reins in the future. For now, we are keeping it to this single house on a wonderfully spacious park, where you can fully enjoy the cooling trade winds.
Because we are not expanding the park any further, Gabriëla’s role as host took on a permanent form. Driven by her passion for hospitality, Gabriëla decided to follow her dream of running this as a remote host. It is a wonderful adventure in which she combines managing the property from the Netherlands – in close collaboration with our local team on Bonaire – with her work as a flight attendant for KLM, regularly flying back and forth to the island.
Villa Carolina is the wonderful result of our shared journey – and we are more than happy to share this piece of our dream with you.
Inspiration
The inspiration to name our project Ayo (Bonaire) came to us because:
1. It is easy to remember
“Ayo” is one of the most frequently used words in the Caribbean Netherlands. It is a friendly greeting used to say goodbye, much like “see you soon.” For many tourists, it’s one of the first words they pick up and enthusiastically begin to use. The common use of “Ayo” helps make the name “Ayo Bonaire” more recognizable and contributes to a warm, positive experience for everyone staying here.
2. It has a connection to Suriname
“Ayo” is also the name of a former wood plantation on the Suriname River in Suriname, where Tjerk’s ancestors worked as enslaved people until the abolition of slavery. After the abolition in 1863, the plantation was handed over to the freed people. Today, the former Ayo plantation is a beautiful recreational area. Many of the holiday homes there are still owned by descendants with the family name Helstone, ensuring that the history of this special place lives on.
3. It deepens your historical awareness
An interesting detail is that the name of the Jewish wood plantation “Ayo” in Suriname means “why” in Hebrew, while “Ayo” in the Dutch Antilles means “goodbye.” This historical connection inspires us to offer future owners and guests a stay that is so surprisingly positive, that they will say “goodbye” to “Ayo Bonaire” with a smile, knowing exactly why they surely want to return.
