GALAPAGOS, DAY 6

Day 2 on Isabela involved more exploring of the island. In the morning, we took a boat ride to the southern part of the island where we got to see really cool lava formations. We also got to spend time snorkeling there. We had a rough ride back to town, because it'd gotten windy and the water had become quite choppy. I basically wasn't a very happy camper for a good hour during that entire ride back.

However, by the time we got back, lunch was ready for us. I gotta say that having three courses for every meal took some getting used to - I really never eat this much food. But having it all ready for you and not having to think about it made it a lot easier. Plus the food was really quite good. For lunch we started off with grilled veggie skewers.

I liked this since it was nice and light. And I didn't feel that I was getting as many veggies as I usually eat. For the main course, we had shrimp fried rice.

This really wasn't Asian in anyway, but it was packed with shrimp. I found it a bit salty, so I didn't eat most of the rice, and just picked out the shrimp instead. And lastly, dessert. They had an Oreo cheesecake for us, and yes, they used real Oreos.

Allright, I don't eat cheesecake, but I love Oreos. I ended up deconstructing this thing - eating just the cookie crust at the bottom and and Oreo cooked on top.

As for the afternoon, we finally got to have some time off to lounge and do whatever we wanted. After spending some time reading, napping and hanging on the beach chairs outside, Tom and I decided that we wanted to wander into "town" and explore. (it was a 5 minute walk) Now the town of Puerto Villamil isn't very big - it's basically a strip about 5 blocks long with a few restaurants, hotels and shops on either side.

Since we hadn't had much of a chance to try local food, Tom and I found a like snack stand that sold various items. He ended up ordering a hot dog, while I got a cheese empanada. Here's Tom's hot dog:It was a pretty impressive variation on the hot dog. The dog itself wasn't vary big, only about a quarter of the size of the bun. But the topped it with a bunch of stuff - ketchup, mustard, mayo and a sprinkling of crushed Ruffles. Kinda unique, and Tom thought it was pretty good.

Meanwhile, here's my cheese empanada:
I really enjoy the salty crispiness of the shell and the gooey cheese on the inside. I found it to be the perfect little snack.

After hanging out in town a bit more (and paying over $12 for a bottle of sunblock) we eventually made our way back to the hotel for dinner. I have forgotten to point out how much Ecuadorians seem to love popcorn - since they always serve it with ceviche and soup.
We always got a few freshly popped bowls if we were having soup for lunch or dinner. Personally, I was pretty happy with it, because popcorn is one of my favorite snacks.

So the popcorn was served with soup, this time we had a bowl of veggie soup.
I couldn't tell you what type of veggies were used (though I'll assume carrots due to the orange color) but I'll once again say that I found it very well made and flavorful. I enjoyed the soup a lot.

For our entree we had spaghetti and red sauce:
Ok, it was supposed to be meat sauce (which is what everyone else had) but as you know, I don't eat red meat, so mine came with mushrooms. And though it was loaded with mushrooms, the sauce was just too salty (I think almost everyone felt that salt factor was very high with this dish), so I mainly ate the pasta, with a little sauce.

I think I once again skipped dessert, but once again, we had great meals on the island of Isabela. Too bad we only had one more night left here.