7-10-11
I love breakfast at El Silencio del Campo. As soon as you come in they bring you fresh fruit and you have 5 breakfast choices to pick from. I got the toast and eggs option. I love their crunchy toast here in CR. After breakfast we went to wait for our transportation to go horseback riding to the La Fortuna Waterfall. Right before our car came to get us we realized that we might need to pack a swimsuit and shorts to swim in the falls in addition to the riding clothes we were wearing. We were the last group to get picked up in our van and the riding stable was only 5 min down the road. This was a popular day excursion so there was a very big group, probably about 30 in all and about 5 guides. Our group ranged from ages 6- 60 so I knew we were in for an interesting ride. They were very efficient getting everyone assigned to a horse and on, it only took about 10 min to get everyone together in the paddock. It had rained earlier in the morning and the night before so the trails were a bit wet, always a fun time. About half of the trials were cutting through pastures, my favorite kind, but we also crossed several creeks and a couple steep-ish hills. I’m not going to lie, I am an arena rider and cross country hills still make me a bit nervous, but we all made it through alright. Mom had a much more relaxed horse than the last time we rode in CR and Devon and Daddy were doing well too, although Devon is not crazy about riding in general. The large number of people in our group (most of whom did not know how to ride and seemed to think steering and giving directions to your horse was optional) did make me a bit stressed out. It was much better to be in the front of the group, out of the herd. Most of the horses were gaited so by being in the front I had a lot more opportunities to pick up speed! In our group we met an Italian guy named Alex and another American family. Alex was actually a really good rider and I was a bit jealous of his horse. The grandmother of the American family, however was kind of nervous about being on a horse and but I was able to get her to calm down and breath which helped her horse calm down as well.
My horse, Fiona, was low man on the totem pole, so when it came time to go through gates we would always get jockeyed out of place, plus several of the people in the group were not polite mergers. At one gate one of the little girls cut me off at the entrance and her horse kicked out at mine. She didn’t do any real damage however but another little boy was kicked (while riding) by the same horse when they got to close to each other. The ride out to the waterfall was about 1 hour and it didn’t really start to get steep until the very last bit. A little ways from the top we dismounted, watered the horses and left them with some of the guides to graze while we spent an hour at the waterfall. The Park entrance was close by with a short trail to the waterfall; however, the trail was a vertical one with about 400 stairs in total. I actually liked the walk down; it was really good to use my hamstrings again! On the way down I talked some more with Alex and found out that I can understand Italian! It was very exciting news for me. I learned that Alex is from Milan but that he enjoys ecotourism and has been several places in the US west; he had even been to Canyon De Chelly! I am so jealous of all of these Europeans who vacation for a month at a time during the summer…Once we got down to the waterfall Devon and I decided to go and swim in it to cool off. We had to clamber carefully a short ways over some very slippery rocks to get to the edge of the water. By the time we were at the water and ready to go in Mom and Dad showed up to enjoy the mist and the falls. Devon and I waded our way in at first, and boy was that water bracing! It was chilly but in a very good way. The water was clear with an aqua tint to it. We decided to swim to the ledge behind the waterfall just to say we had done it. The swim out was not bad; you mainly just had to be careful of the edges where the rocks were. It was pretty chilly on the ledge behind the falls because there was so much wind from the force of the falling water. Our swim back was a bit more difficult as the current kept pushing us into the rocks and made it hard to reach the other side. We finally made it out and dried off during out hike back out of the park. The hike out was much harder than on the ways in, it was uphill the whole way, but we made it! After the hike I was definitely looking forward to the ride back.
The ride back down the hill was not that bad, and on the one remaining incline we were able to give the horses their head and canter up the hill. I am definitely going to take up cross country eventing, it was just so fun! I stayed toward the front of the group again and took advantage of the open fields when I could (I didn’t want to start a stampede back to the barn...). It rained most of the way back but it didn’t really bother me since I had my rain jacket and I kind of like riding in the rain. Alex and I took turns holding our horses back and then cantering up to the lead guide. My whole family did a really good job on the trail ride, although horses are really not Devon’s thing. After the ride we played with the three baby puppies and mama at the barn. Alex and I tried to trade FB info but we couldn’t find a pen and so it didn’t really work out. I was kicking myself for this later…
Once we got back to the hotel we decided to go to Super Christian Number 4 (the local super market chain) to get some lunch. We found all my favorites, sweet bread, milk, empanada and cheesy bread. We ate on our porch while watching for the Volcano. Afterward we went into town to do some shopping but we had to be back early for my mom’s complementary facial. Yeah, I know. I’m jealous too. Devon, Dad and I read down by the hot springs until mom was done and then we all headed into town to get some dinner (after several technological distractions). We walked around on the main street and wandered into a cute little soda. It turned out that we were on the right track since the food was good and apparently it was in the Lonely Planet book (we saw several other gringo groups there with their books too…). After another wonderful meal we drove back to the hotel for daiquiris and a soak in the hot springs before bed. I am now pleasantly drowsy and ready to sleep in and go rafting tomorrow!
** Sorry there aren't pictures, but my camera is currently fighting with my computer...
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