We awoke a bit later than usual this morning, to the unexpected sound of rain! Of course, by the time we got ready to go downstairs for breakfast, the brief shower was over and the sun was out. We had a hearty continental breakfast (with spice bread, instead of croissants, for Jess), then headed back to our room to make our plan. After some indecision, we got our swim gear on and walked to Aqua Windies, the only dive shop in the low-rise area. The staff was very nice and helpful, renting us top-quality gear (we loved the Nature's Wing fins!) for a very fair price, plus giving us tips for snorkeling at Arashi Reef — plus we bought a box of Apple Jacks in their café as an emergency snack. We then walked back to the MVC Eagle Beach and waited for the bus to Arashi (there's only one per hour), but the driver of second bus that came by told us to get on, his last stop was Malmok, a 5-10 minute walk from Arashi.
Arashi turned out to be a small, sandy beach in between expensive homes, with a few palapas and not much else. There were a few sunbathers and some other snorkelers, but it didn't feel crowded. We put on sunscreen, grabbed our snorkel gear and headed into the water. We explored the seaweed grassland in front of the beach, where we saw tons of starfish, a few sand dollars, and some colorful fish (sergeant majors, boxfish/trunkfish, damselfish, bluehead wrasse, surgeonfish, etc.) and a bunch of white fish. A local guy noticed Jer's underwater camera and motioned for us to follow him, then free-dived to coax an awesome finned fish into motion (we later learned this was a flying gurnard). It was so cool, and we would never have spotted it ourselves. What a treat! We paddled around a bit more, then came into shore to rest and dry out Jer's camera case, which was fogging up. We had our snack (Apple Jacks and water) and caught our breath, while watching whiptail lizards fight for territory on the little hill by the beach.
On our way back to land, we'd spotted the edge of Arashi Reef, and reef snorkeling is always best, so we headed back out to see what exciting finds awaited us. It was a veritable goldmine of tropical fish — in addition to ones we'd already seen, we spotted triggerfish, angelfish, parrotfish, lots of squid, a needlefish, and a couple of eels, plus schools of big silver fish (likely palometa and cera). In addition to full-grown specimens, we spotted a lot of juveniles, hanging out in the relative safety of the reef's nooks and crannies. Because the reef is only a few feet under water, it was like swimming in an aquarium with schools of midnight tangs, smallmouth grunts, etc. By the time we finally dragged ourselves out of the water, it was much later than we'd intended. We dried off a bit, removed the sandiest bits of our clothing (using our towel as a privacy screen) and changed into dry bottoms (since wet clothes aren't allowed on the bus). We then packed up our gear and went to the parking area above the beach, and a bus soon came by and picked us up.
Back at the MVC Eagle Beach, we took quick showers and then headed down to the Tulip Restaurant for a snack. We got a tosti (Dutch-style double-decker grilled ham-and-cheese) and an orange soda as a snack, then went back to the balcony, where Jer wrote out his postcards and Jess did a little work. Jer eventually returned to Aqua Windies to return our snorkel gear (and the nice sales clerk told him the name of the flying gurnard), and when he got back, Jess was looking up the details for our chosen dinner locale. We looked at our day's photos and were thrilled to find some good ones, especially of the flying gurnard and the squid. The snack hadn't done much to sate Jer, so we got ourselves ready and went to out catch a bus to the high-rise area. It seemed like we waited ages, but it was probably 15-20 minutes (and we did get to see the sunset over Eagle Beach, then a bus came by headed northward. We got off at the Radisson and headed inland, following the signs to Gasparito.
Like the Old Cunucu House, Gasparito is a restaurant set in an old house and known mostly for its typical Arubian cuisine. The bread basket contained garlic bread and wedges of slightly-sweet Dutch pancake, both of which were quite tasty. Being hungry, Jer got a main course (goat stew with red wine and olives, served with polenta-like funchi); Jess was less hungry so she got an appetizer (ragout — scallops and calamari in a garlic butter sauce, served in puff pastry with mashed potatoes). Both were quite good, though Jer's stew was less gamey than he had hoped it would be. For dessert, Jess had the pineapple and pear strudel (which turned out to be more tutti-frutti, since it also included raisins and maraschino cherries) and Jer had the house specialty, banana na fourno (bananas braised in cinnamon syrup and served à la mode). Jess liked hers quite a bit, Jer thought his was more interesting than tasty. It was good meal in a lovely setting (a breezy courtyard lit with lanterns and fairy lights), but we preferred the food at the Old Cunucu House.
We took a short-cut back to the high-rise area and caught a mini-bus back to the MVC Eagle Beach. Since March is within the sea turtle nesting period, we walked along the beach for a bit in the moonlight, but we weren't lucky enough to spot any turtles. So we returned to the hotel and Jess updated this journal while Jer treated his sunburn and played his game until it was time for bed.