We began the day to the sound of roosters crowing and dogs barking, but we slept well, securely inside our mosquito netting on a reasonably comfortable bed. Breakfast was cooked and served by Brigitte herself, as her help apparently called in sick today (well, it is Sunday after all). It was a nice breakfast (the first I’ve had without rice and beans : -), and soon we were getting ready for our ride. Raul had the horses all saddled up and ready to go. My horse was a sort of chestnut named Santana, Hubby’s horse was named after the region we’re in (and so was unpronounceable to me and I promptly forgot it), and off we went, albeit around 9:30 rather than 9:00, which we learned is indicative of the laid-back attitude of the region, which frankly, suited us just fine. We trotted across the road straight on to the beach for a short stretch, then back up to the road where we crossed again and started up a village road with lots of foliage around the houses we passed. Soon we reach the main highway, crossed that, then soon started climbing. The footing was almost all gravel and some tarmac (not our favorite), but we saw a few good views along the way. Eventually we came to a utility road under a power line, and that became our next trail, again, not our favorite, but was the trip to a waterfall, and the usual trail required about 45 minutes of uphill hiking, which Hubby was not willing to do, so this was an alternate route that would get us there from the top rather than the bottom, so we can’t complain. Raul had to smack his machete at a few plants to clear the way (especially a particularly nasty one with hook-like horns all the way up the stalks and along the leaves. I had just barely brushed against one in Galan and it burned for two days!), and soon we were making a left into the jungle for a short bit that took us to the top of the waterfall. Being a Sunday, some local kids were hanging out down at the swimming hole at the bottom, and came up to the top as well, while we lunched down on a couple of sandwiches Raul had brought. It was a bit early for us (11:15), but since we hadn’t had to make the 45 minute walk (just a short 5 minute walk from where we left the horses), and Hubby wasn’t interested in climbing down to the pool at the bottom, so there wasn’t much else to do but eat and talk. Raul’s English wasn’t terrific, but he was very interested in learning more, and asked many questions on how he could become a better guide. Well, as giving advice is our business, we were happy to chat with him at length on the subject, and it turned out to be a very informative lunch on both sides. After the long lunch, we walked back up to where left the horses, mounted up and headed back down the same way we had come, until we got to the beach. We turned left (north) and started walking along the edge of the black-sanded beach (thus the name, Playa Negra), then, in an instant, we were cantering, and cantering, and cantering! These horses, which had seemed so sluggish when we began, suddenly came to life, running like the wind, so fast we even found we had to hold them back, they wanted to gallop at full speed, despite the fact we were heading AWAY from home. What a great ride! After what seemed like ages, we finally turned away from the beach, avoiding the many pieces of driftwood, crossed over a line of trash, and went into the jungle that bordered the beach. Inside, it was much cooler in the shade and moisture of the forest, and the flowers and wildlife was spectacular! We saw birds and monkeys and flowers of every conceivable shape and color, with huge palms and other leafy trees towering over us. It was truly beautiful. After weaving through the forest for some time, we came back out to the beach, and once again cantered and cantered and cantered. Then we went through another section of the forest before finally turning around and heading back. It seemed we did like a figure eight, so that we had a different route going than we had coming, at least until near the end, when we had two full-out gallops on the beach before heading back across the road to Brigitte’s. Wow! This was by far the longest, fastest canter and gallop we had ever done, not just since being in Costa Rica, but in all the time we’ve had our horses! One thing we’ve surely realized on this trip is how little we ask our horses to really do, how much we let them get away with, and how much more they are capable of if we work with them a bit more. Now all we have to do is have the time to do it! The entire trip lasted over 5 hours, but we got the impression that Raul gave us an extra special long ride because he enjoyed our company and the advice we had given him. We thanked him, and the horses, who are by far the friendliest we’ve had on our trip, cooled off on the patio for a while, showered, then walked down the road to a local seafood house on the beach called Sobre Las Olas (on the waves), where we enjoyed a delicious candlelit meal at a table sitting right on the beach. The seafood soup I had was excellent, and Hubby had fish and chips, which he also thoroughly enjoyed. In bed early, looking forward to another excellent day of riding tomorrow! (pix to come)
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