Santa Cristobal Island
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BARS AND RESTAURANTS
DEEP BLUE RESTAURANT
Deep blue restaurant is situated on the corner of Av. Charles Darwin and Española. As its name suggests, this place serves some excellent fish dishes including “arroz con camaron” at $5 (friedrice with prawns) arroz con pescado a la plancha at $4 (grilled fish with rice and salad) and a selection of not so cheap ceviches. The menu also serves different meats that range between $3.50 and $5.00. In the afternoon, $2.00 “almuerzos” are served and usually include a soup, followed by “seco de pollo” (chicken + rice) and accompanied by a fresh juice. The portion size in very good and food is very fresh, which makes this place a popular haunt. The normal range of drinks are available and it’s nice to sit “Al fresco” and enjoy a cold beer, watching orange sunset over the ocean and greeting passing people in the street. Although it’s nice to sit outside, there is currently a lot of noisy construction under way but this should be finished by the time the high season arrives and at night its stops completely.
Inside are tree tables covered with blue chequered table cloths, dotted with red apples. It’s a rather scruffy joint with pastel painted walls in need of a wipe down and empty bottles and buckets of fruit sit on the floor. The ubiquitous pictures of ocean life adorn the walls and Galapagos posters decorate the windows. The usual mix of South American music spill ant from the speakers and a small TV sometimes shows soaps. In spite of its tatty appearance, the food is always tasty and severed on spanking clean plates, so my advice is to stop by and enjoy a area meal fresh from the sea.
IGUANA ROCK
Run by the ever amicable Zurita family, Iguana Rock is by far one of the most popular bars on San Cristobal. Situated on Juan Jose Flores, this lively joint kicks off at 8.30pm and finishes at 3am, when you will always find a bunch of hard to extract stragglers still wanting to party. And who can blame them when the DJ plays song after song of salsa and merengue and couples hit the dance floor to spin the night away. Swirling bodies, damp with sweat move to the seductive sounds that pour from the speakers and with the tempo changing as regular as your partner, you'll find yourself lost in Latino land, whirling your worries away. The atmosphere here lingers and when you walk out the door you'll be swaying your hips all the way home. A large drop down screen and small T.V.s display scenes of salsa dancers and other music videos. Don't mistake this place for a salsa club though! The night normally starts off with your favourite rock and pop whilst a few good dance tunes are thrown into the mix throughout the night.
There are some comfortable sofas, and chairs and tables to sit at but most people prefer to converge around the main bar and sit on the tall stools or short wooden tree-stumps and watch people play pool. The game is free and the table is good so it's usually occupied throughout the night but you'll always get a game. Drinks are reasonably priced with good Cubre Libres and other various cocktails at $4 and beers cost $2.50. When you take into consideration that pool is free and that there is no cover charge for the disco then you are in fact on a very good deal. Monday night is movie night where you can watch one of a choice of three films. There is a happy hour from 9pm-10pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays when certain cocktails are two for the price of one. The interior is adorned with large flags from around the world and there's a photo gallery of visitors that emphasizes the down to earth welcoming atmosphere of the bar. To locate this busy hangout, look for a wall painted with a huge iguana and proceed through the big black gate up the gravelly path that leads right inside. Usually quieter through the week (depending on the seasons) Iguana Rock is a great place to dance your weekends away. Highly recommended.
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