Horses!!!

Today some of us went horseback riding! And let me tell you, horseback riding through rainforests and over hills where you can see the ocean in the distance is NOWHERE near like horseback riding at a friend's birthday party when you're 8 years old. In fact, it was probably one of the coolest things I've ever done - and that was after only two days of being here!

Luckily for us, we had two excellent guides who were able to demonstrate all the basics of horseback riding. For the less Spanishly adept, we also had Jackie Granick, horseback riding afficionado, ready to take on the hills and rocky paths with her trusty sidekick, a horse whose name we couldn't quite decipher. There were 12 of us, and all of us except Jackie had limited-to-no experience doing this, so it was quite exhilarating when the horses broke out into three second trots.

The view was absolutely gorgeous, and we managed to finish the ride right before one of the all to frequent downpours started. The ride through the hills was like being on a horse in Ireland - super green, with massive hills and a view of the ocean. After the hills, we went in the opposite direction and ended up going through a small chunk of a rainforest (in Monteverde, there are rainforests EVERYWHERE), and that was so fabulous. It was a very different perspective from our hike through rainforests yesterday - we were focusing on the "not green" things yesterday, and today we spent more time focusing on trees and things that the horses would want to rub up against or eat in the middle of the trail. All in all, a very successful adventure!

Kavita