What a day!! We were up at dawn and down by breakfast by 6:30. At the end of breakfast a man came over and introduced himself as the additional companion to our tour. We were surprised because we had been told he was a German, turns out he’s an American veterinarian from Santa Barbara who happens to be of German descent, though from Ohio originally. Bill turned out to be a delightful and festive companion, though we had yet to learn all that. Anyway, we went up and packed up and were ready for our pickup by Paulo at 8:00. He arrived a little early, but we ended up having to wait for a couple of “real Germans” who were being transported to another tour put on by the same outfitter. We finally got on the road by 8:15, dropping off the Germans and finally arriving at a dropoff where the horses were located just after 10:00. After a short fruit break, we were introduced to our horses, true Criollos, with McClennan-type saddles (similar to the old cavalry saddles of days gone by), so the gait was choppy and not too comfortable, but they were sturdy and well-equipped for the terrain. Hubby’s horse was a blue road named Tornado, mine was a red roan names Peluche (meaning stuffed animal, or Teddy Bear), and Bill was riding a horse names Relampago, Spanish for lightening. Our two wranglers were Stanley, who was from the CienFuego EcoRanch, in charge of the horses, and Bolivar, who knew the local terrain and was our guide. We all mounted up, Paulo included, and headed out across a river, and started climbing. And climbing. And climbing. We stopped by a river around 1:30 for a typical farmers lunch that Stanley provided (a sort of burrito with rice and beans and meat that was so big Hubby and I shared one and handed the other back in), then headed out again. Eventually we came to a small village and stopped at the local cantina to rest and to have a cerveza (beer). After another rest we headed out again, climbing and climbing and climbing along gravel and dirt roads. There were a few points where it was so steep, and the horses were so tired, we actually had to get down and walk alongside them. It seemed endless! We learned later that the plan had been to cut a trail that would have been a shortcut over the mountains, but that it didn’t get completed in time so we had to go the long way on the roads. Despite being promoted as a four hour ride, it eventually turned into a seven hour ride, arriving after dark and after several walks up steep hills. Hubby wasn’t too happy, he hates hiking, but we finally arrived around 6:15. Thank goodness we didn’t have to do anything with the horses, we just had on final climb up to the cabana above the stable, and that just about did us in. The building was a small one, with a dining area, one bedroom with a king bed where Hubby and I were stationed, and two others with multiple beds, one for Bill and the other for all the rest of the help. We were all hot and grubby so we respectively jumped into the shower (which was cold, as there was no electricity, but at that point, I don’t think anyone cared), then joined the pack for dinner prepared by our on-site cook Anna, who did a marvelous job with very little to work with, serving hefty pork chops and red wine that went a long way toward alleviating our exhaustion and hunger. None of us were long out of bed, though sleep was another matter. The mattresses and pillows were quite hard, and they had apparenty recently treated the tile floors with some kind of thinner that made the air almost unbreathable. I finally had to open the door to the outside and spray myself and my sheets with perfume just to be able to breathe. Eventually sleep came, though stiffness prevailed, and thus began our first full (and I do mean FULL) day of riding.
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