¡Hola a todos!
Today was action-packed. We woke up early and bid a sad goodbye to our brief, wonderful encounter with real beds. It’ll be back to the sleeping pads of Biolley tonight! We drowsily munched on our first breakfast of gallo pinto, eggs, and toast at Hacienda Baru, and promptly loaded up our luggage into our bus to head to the day’s main attraction: horseback riding!
After a short drive, our guides introduced each of us to our horse by 8:30 AM, ready for a long day together. Our horses’ names were Gaviota and Mosca, and while I can’t say we became fast friends, I can declare that our friendship was an evolving one, with many layers. We saddled up for the first portion of our ride, about 25 minutes, to “Don Lulo’s house” where we ate our second, and equally delicious, breakfast of corn bread and yuca tortas. At Don Lulo’s house, we were also able to spot some white-headed capuchin monkeys and a couple of peacocks. After loading up on doughy-goodness and coffee, we headed out for the second portion of the ride, another 25 minutes by way of horse, which brought us to the impressive sight of the Nauyaca Waterfalls.
Look at that waterfall… that’s a BIG waterfall!
The topmost waterfall is 130 feet tall, and thunders down from above, swaddling the surroundings in a fine mist. After admiring this sight (and cooling off in the mist!), we descended to the lower waterfall, which is lower, wider, and much better for swimming. We were given the opportunity to cool off in the area at the base of the waterfall as well as climb up to a landing, with the help from our Costa Rican guides, and jump into the pools below! The water was frigid, but it made for a refreshing break in a humid day.
Charlie’s Angels album cover art.
On the return, everybody was feeling more comfortable on their horses, and a few people even broke out into a little canter. We stopped for lunch at Don Lulo’s and, as we ate, the afternoon rains arrived early. But our guides were prepared. They passed out ponchos and we carried on with our trusty steeds leading the way. When we reached the bottom, we spent a moment saying goodbye to our horses. Though the beginning had been tough, these stubborn creatures had really captured our hearts. Real recognized real.
After wrapping up the ride at about 2 PM, we started back toward home, sweet home: Biolley! A few stops along the way to change money and pick up fruits slowed us down, but we still arrived in time for a late dinner back at Asomobi (shout out to our driver, Melvin, for driving a million hours today and doing it all cheerfully). We have a new cook for the week: Vera, another associate of Asomobi. If this first meal of roast chicken, salad, and baked potatoes was any indication, she is going to be great as well! In other exciting news, Charlie, Dylan, and Alex managed to lock themselves inside their room, so we took off the window screen so they could climb out. I mean, we all missed Biolley the past few days but that is just melodramatic, ya know?!
Anyway, it’s getting late and our sleeping pads are starting to look awfully seductive.
Hasta la proxima,
Alia y Cody
Your fearless leaders in a rare moment of tranquility.