Leo Hoogma
From origin he is a Yacht Broker but in 2002 he changed the cold Netherlands for the sunny Spain. At the 11th of April he left his country with his Honda Shadow motor bike to Spain, without knowing the destination but with the goal to start his own yacht brokerage company.
In the summer of 2002 Leo worked in the North of Spain and after an accident with his motor bike that summer, in Oktober 2002 he finally continued his journey to Cádiz. After a couple a great days in the city he took the ferry to the Canary Islands.
Once he arrived on the island Gran Canaria Leo was determined to find a job. Within a week time he started to work as a guide on the tourist ship Timanfaya. Every cent earned he invested in his new company Sonrisa Yachting SL.
Because of the lack of information on the internet about the Canary Islands at that time, Leo started in 2004 a new project under the name Canaryinfo.com. To promote the website and to sell the online advertisements, he visited many companies on Gran Canaria.
As well he visited the restaurant La Paloma and soon he became friends.
Verónica
At an age of 17 years old she changed her native country Ecuador for Spain at the continent Europe. A big and difficult step which requires a lot of courage. After a lot of paperwork she finally left het country. With 50 kilos of luggage she started her journey to the complete new world.
Soon Verónica found a job in the kitchen of a restaurant and after a short time she became a waitress. Because her nature is to work hard soon she settled there and stayed for many years at the same restaurant La Paloma in Puerto Rico. Together with her sister Jenny who arrived a few years later on the island they were the face of the business and many clients returned year after year.
Leo and Verónica, both two hard working singles, hardly never took time off to relax. Chef Oliver decided that it was time for action and at the end of 2004 he invented a way to connect them. Very convinced he told Verónica that Leo had a question and that she had to call him that night. Oliver gave Leo's phone number to Verónica. He told Leo that Verónica had an eye on him and that she asked for his phone number.
And so it happened that Verónica called Leo that night. Surprised and finding out that they were set up they decided to go out for a drink at the WigWam cocktail bar. They had a great evening and sat on the rock at the sea watching the full moon.
Soon they were seeing each other more often en started to live together in Leo's apartment. At 18th of December 2005 Leo arranged a surprise flight with the Para Cending boat and high in the sky he did the marriage proposal. In May 2006 they got married for the law in the Netherland and directly after that they took the flight to Ecuador for the church wedding. Two amazing wedding parties in two completely different worlds with at the end an unforgettable honeymoon to the Galapagos Islands.
At the end of 2007 they moved to the village Valdeltormo in the mainland of Spain, where they bought a bar restaurant at the busy road N-420. After more then a year hard working they converted the restaurant into a buzzing place with many clients. Because of the many hours work that the restaurant needed Leo didn't had enough time to run his internet business and they decided to sell the restaurant.
After a few intense moments in 2009 (like forest fire, car accident) and after a great holiday to Ecuador they decided to move to the Netherlands. After a temporary stay in the castle Bruynhorst in the village Ederveen they moved to their final destination in Beerta.
In the mean time they are settled and doing their daily things in Beerta. Leo is busy as always with his websites and Verónica supports him with that and is a great help. Besides that Verónica works part-time in Winschoten at 5 minutes from home. Their free time they spend at renovating their 130 years old house.
Incredible
Because of heavy rain and bad weather in Puerto Rico in December 2002 a big part of the park and the road was submerged with water. In the heavy rain Leo went outside to take some photos of the weather conditions. At that moment a car with driver was in distress and the strong river dragged the car away.
Leo took a few pictures of the situation. At the same moment Verónica stood at the other side of the road and took as well a photo of the distressed car.
In 2006 they found out the Verónica has a picture of Leo and Leo has a picture of Verónica, both with the car in the middle. And that two years before they met!