Monteverde- Horses and Sunsets

Day 3 ~ Horseback Riding with Desafio & Terra Viva B&B

We woke up with the sun shinning on the georgous farm land at Terra Viva! 

Eric and I were picked up at the Terra Viva farm by Ivelio of Desafio Tours, on horseback.  I had not been on a horse since I was a kid, so I was a bit intimidated by these large majestic beauties, but was excited at what lay ahead. We went up hills and down into valleys and canyons; we went on roads less travelled and roads we had to share with cars; we went through farm lands home to grazing cows and horses and neighborhoods with small children waving hello and their family dogs barking the same!  

It was a spectacular day for a horse ride; the sky was clear and blue with occasional clouds perfectly white and fluffy moving ever so slowly.  We took a break from riding at a vista point overlooking a valley with the Gulf of Nicoya off in the distance.  It was amazing to feel so high up in the mountains that you could see something so far away.

On our ride back home, our horses started to speed up to a nice little gallop, which probably wasn’t really as fast as it felt like to me, but it was pretty thrilling.  I imagined myself in a James Bond film on a crazy horse chase ready to fight off the bad guys hiding in the nearby bushes on crazed stallions.  The trip was exciting and at times relaxing…thanks to Ivelio, a great guide!

So tired!  The ride had worn us out, so naps in the green field under the sun at Terra Viva were exactly what we needed.  A bit of quality relaxation time, soaking up some rays, we went on a mission to find my favourite tree. It had been four years since I had visited this tree, so I was frustrated but not surprised when I could not find it.  I had no doubt we would get there at some point, my local friends would be able to guide us in the right direction the next day. 

After the disappointing 'tree hunting' mission, I took my friends to Bromilia’s in Monteverde proper.  I remember going there to watch live music and eat really tasty vegetarian food and socialize with the hippie community that inhabited the nearby forests and farm land of Monteverde.  Like many other places, it had changed into more of a café than a restaurant, but we had a great snack and checked out their retail section filled with CDs, musical instruments, hand-made crafts, and books. 

Moving on down the road we found ourselves back at the Argentinean restaurant once again just in time for sunset!  With a light dinner to hold us over for a while, we retreated to Terra Viva for some peace and quit before starting another night out on the town.

We woke up an hour later feeling refreshed and hungry, so the logical choice was to start our evening at Bar Amigos for some ceviche and good salsa dancing.  We made the usual circuit around town to visit all my old friends and actually got to see one of them performing in a rock band!  Such good times for such a small town!

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