So Leroy grabbed his machete from the truck and led the way, with me and Hot, followed by Ginger and Cinnamon. We walked along the road until we came to the power plant where we verged off onto a dirt road that dead ended. I could barely make out a small path that veered to the right up some brush covered rocks. Apparently that is why good ol' Leroy tagged along. He and his trusty machete quickly cleared some of the brush so we could squeeze through and climb up.
In the beginning, Christina had asked if I wanted to ride in the forest or on the beach, and I chose the forest because there isn't much of a beach anywhere nearby. Of course in my head I had pictured a nice, wide rainforest path where we could ride side by side and chat while enjoying the tropical rainforest flora and fauna. I guess I haven't been here quite long enough for my imagination to resemble anything close to reality, because I find I imagine things to be quite different from the way things really are here.
So here I am on a stallion named Hot, on a "trail" leading into the rainforst with a man named Leroy who is wearing plastic sandals and clearing the way with his machete. That's when reality finally broke my beautiful imagined trailride to pieces. The first thing I did was tell our brave trailblazer that I am severly ophidiophobic. He didn't seem to think that was a problem, even though I also voiced concern that even though Hot has a lot of testosterone, he probably wouldn't like to cross the path of any island snakes either. I was assured that there would be no problem and that the snakes here are only aggressive if they feel threatened. I decided to drop the topic because apparently he didn't feel like three horses and four people hacking their way through the forest with a machete was threatening. Besides, he was in the lead, right? Maybe his toes would be a more attractive target than testosterone powered hooves. I hoped we wouldn't find out.
I was surprised to find a real path a few yards up the rocky slope. The trailride continued with Leroy cutting away the random overgrown brush and singing a song that I hadn't heard before. The canopy of trees provided shade and there was a nice breeze. I was still keeping a sharp eye out for snakes, but I relaxed and enjoyed the view. We traveled along without incident for about 30-40 minutes until we came to a small creek. We crossed and climbed up the side of the mountain until we came to the town of Borne. There was a stretch of dirt road that we cantered along, which was a little bit bouncy but still fun. The competitive streak came out in the old racing ponies and I was was glad of two things: 1. Hot managed to keep the lead and 2. I managed to keep control of Hot. Before we turned around to follow the trail back, Leroy climbed up a coconut tree and cut down some coconuts for "refreshing" coconut water. His trusty machete came in handy once again as he chopped the tops off the coconuts creating our very own coconut mugs. Coconut water is an aquired taste. I didn't aquire it at the market with Mrs. Lambert, and I still hadn't aquired it this time either. Before we could get back on the trail, Yasmin jumped off Cinnamon and poured the coconut water down each horse's throat. Yes, that's right. She just tilted their heads back an poured it straight from the coconut.
The ride back passed a lot quicker because the trail had already been cut away. Leroy held up the rear this time, so I was double aware of possible snake encounters. Especially in parts where the trail narrowed so that all the brush was brushing my legs. Where are my chaps when I need them? Do they have snake proof chaps?
If you manage to plan a trip down, bring your chaps (snake proof or not) because we'll definitely go on the rainforest trail ride.
1 comment:
Awesome! Can't even imagine trying to give one of our horses the water from a coconut or even from a bottle!!
Love,
Mama
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