Not a great night sleep, I’m afraid. The wind kicked up around midnight, slamming doors all through the house and generally disturbing the peace. The smell of the thinner remained fairly overpowering, and the hard bed and pillows made it a rocky night. The banty rooster started crowing at about 4:45, then the howler monkeys started howling around 5:00 (though I only heard them once before going back to sleep. Bill said they kept going about an hour). Finally, the house was waking up by the time the sun came up at 6:00. Anna the cook had already been hard at work over the campstove just outside our open door, clattering pans and washing dishes and grilling food, etc. Breakfast was served at 7:30, and we chatted comfortably, getting to know each other better, having some good laughs and generally spending the rest of the morning relaxing and trying to reserve our energy. Bill went on a short walk to a waterfall with the rest of the gang, Hubby and I were just too darned tired, so we lay down and read, and fell asleep a bit, before everyone came back. Anna, who had gone on the hike as well, quickly went about the business of getting lunch ready, and before we knew it, we had another big meal in front of us. Afterwards, Stanley and Bolivar got the horses ready for our afternoon ride, after apparently giving them a B-12 shot this morning to help in their recovery from their exhausting day yesterday. (Could have used some of that myself!) Rode back down the road away from the ranch, getting a good view of what we didn’t see in the dark last night, some beautiful views (the lodge is pretty high above a valley), lots of cows (Bill was going crazy, he’s a bovine-loving boy!), though we stayed mostly on the roads, eventually arriving back in the village at the cantina (must be somebody’s cousin), where we had drinks (whiskey and ginger ale for us, cervezas for most everyone else) before heading back up the hill to the lodge. Arrived back at about 6:00, just as the sun was setting, took some more cold showers and had another nice meal courtesy of Anna. By now the tension of the previous day had waned, and we were all looking forward to a good night sleep, though we did hang around at the dinner table having some good conversation for some time after dinner. Very much enjoying Bill, he’s quite the fun guy!
Archives for March 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012 – Transfer to Galan
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.Thursday, March 15, 2012 – First Full Day of Vacation!
Comfy beds made for a fairly good night’s sleep, woke up a few times, probably because of the sugar in all the wine I drank last night. Slowly made our way down to breakfast, which was a lovely buffet with lots of fruit, poached eggs in a sauce, and, of course, the Costa Rican requirement, Gallo Pinto, a black beans and rice concoction that is the national breakfast food. Afterwards, we relaxed in the room awhile, before finally getting into our bathing suits and heading for the pool, where we enjoyed a few hours of sun and sauna, then came back and showered before heading down to the bar for ice cream and coffee for lunch (albeit at nearly 4:00), then came back to our lovely room and sat on the balcony for awhile before it got too chilly (we’re practically next to the equator, who’d have thought it would be this cool?), had a bit of brandy before heading out to dinner here in the hotel. Had a fabulous piece of bass, while Hubby had a beautiful curry chicken. Came back to the room and relaxed for the evening, doing some packing and watching some HBO with Spanish subtitles (we’ve been practicing all afternoon and evening), before heading off the bed for an early morning call.Wednesday, March 14, 2012 – Winging our Way to Costa Rica!!
The day started early, first by hearing my brother’s truck start up at 5:30 in the morning to take my other brother to the airport for his early morning flight back to Austin. Sleep was fitful, no doubt because of the anticipation of our trip. Up early, finished packing, fed the horses (though we both twisted our respected backs doing it, unfortunately), drove to Miami for our flight to Costa Rica. Left right on time at 3:00, arrived on a bumpy landing (there was a very stiff wind swirling around) around 4:40 local time, breezed through immigration and customs before meeting up with Paolo, our driver and guide for at least the first part of our journey. He took us to our hotel (Hotel Beaugonvillea), which was not the hotel we thought we were going to (El Rodeo near the airport), but it turned out to be very nice, so no worries. We got a lovely corner room with a balcony looking south towards the city of San Jose, though if we had know we would have requested something overlooking the garden to the north, but it was still nice nevertheless. Had a nice glass of Argentine wine in the bar before heading to the restaurant for a fabulous dinner, steak with mushroom sauce for me, salmon for Hubby, delicious! We were both thoroughly exhausted by the long day, and crashed early once we got back to the room.Tuesday, March 13, 2012 – Last Dinner with Family
Packed most of the day, and also spent an inordinate amount of time on the phone trying to get a hold put on our package so that it won’t go on the UPS truck, but rather would be held at their office so that I can pick it up on our way to Miami tomorrow. As hard as it is to believe, this was a Herculean task, as there wasn’t anyone willing to take responsibility to change the delivery. The company I bought it from said it was a third party shipper, but refused to tell me who the third party was. Eventually I was able to get UPS to confess that the actual shipper was Amazon.com, who took three chat calls before someone (in the Phillipines) was able to confirm the shipment and make the appropriate change (at 11:00 at night) so that I could pick it up. This took HOURS!!!! Customer service just ain’t what it used to be! Got to bed later than I would have liked, but c’est la vie! Still excited about tomorrow, just didn’t need the stress leading up to it.
Monday, March 12, 2012 – Work and Packing Day
Spent the morning finishing up on some last minute work, and the afternoon packing everything for the trip.
Sunday, March 11, 2012 – Shopping Day
Time to pick up some last minute things we needed for the trip, otherwise tried not to get too physical, we need to rest a bit before our big vacation, our first REAL vacation in 26 years!
Saturday, March 10, 2012 – Hay Day
Before leaving, we had to restock our hay supply so that my brother will have enough hay to last for the duration, so we headed out to Okeechobee once again a got a full pickup of hay. Spent some time with the family again.
Friday, March 9, 2012 – Doctor Day for Hubby
Hubby’s back has been giving him some problems, so with the doctors suggestions, we finally schedule him for a couple of shots that are apparently designed to alleviate the pain once and for all (or at least for the foreseeable future, hopefully in time for our vacation in Costa Rica), so we spent the morning taking care of that. Afterwards, we headed out for a little shopping as we prepare for our trip, and probably overdid it a bit because he was quite tired by the time his anesthesia wore off. Got him home in time for a good night sleep, though, hopefully he’ll be on the road to recovery! I spent the evening socializing with my brothers before coming home to join Hubby in bed.
Thursday, March 8, 2012 – Ride Day to Cypress Creek
Slept late, then took a ride, probably our last before we head out on vacation to Costa Rica, though we’d like to get one more in. Headed over the canal, out Old Indiantown Road, along the canal, crossed Mack Dairy Road into the Cypress Creek WMA, where we followed the equestrian trail for a bit, until we could see the road and parking lot, before turning back, letting us have a nice 8+ mile ride for the day. Another great day on horseback!