Horseback ride to Los Pilares

Mancora has stolen a little piece of my heart. We have been here three nights and four days and it doesn´t feel like it´s enough. Last night we switched hotels since we were in the heart of party land... come to find out you can´t escape party land. They blast music until 6am (sometimes right on through the next day) and all the hotels are made with nothing more than bamboo walls. I became one with the techno music (all night). Last night was open mic night near Laguna Camp. At one point I woke up under the mosquito net at 3am to a mosquito buzzing in my ear and Prati reading with his headlamp on (once again... at 3am). He said ¨this band is pretty good, I feel like I´m front row.¨ Couldn´t sleep but I still love this place. I am closer to the equator than I have ever been which means I am closer to the sun which means more sunscreen for Peyton! I must have applied 13 times yesterday (at least) and still got too much sun.

This is what we did...
Yesterday we went with a guide (Ursula) into the Dry Forest with two other Danish couples. The ride out there alone in the back of an old pickup sitting on pillows was worth the $50! We crossed rivers went over bumps and small jumps... it was enough to give Evil Knievil a rush. I have decided (and this is a broad generality, but true to the past 6 countries I have visited) people drive like maniacs in foreign countries! Especially taxi drivers. You know it´s bad when you see old ladies get into taxis and do the shoulder should forehead chest Catholic cross. Now I don´t blame them... I was doing the same thing yesterday in the back of the old pick up sitting on a pillow and holding on to the cooler. When we arrived to the village where the horseback riding began I was already windblown and battered. Ha! All the boys of the group got small mules that looked about 10 years old and the girls got stunning young large stallions. I thought that was sooooo funny. It looked like a parent trying to ride their childs tricycle! (I´m laughing right now just picturing all the boys!!!) It was Prati´s first time on horseback so they gave him the nicest and mellowest (aka oldest) ¨horse.¨ Oh that´s funny!
Anyway, we rode horseback for about an hour in the ¨dry forest.¨ I had never heard of such a thing before but it´s quite beautiful.


Side note... Prati and I like to play the ¨where in the world are we¨ game where you close your eyes (try to forget where you are at the moment) and open your eyes and guess what part of the world you are in. I thought I was in Africa. Except it wasn´t flat like I picture Africa´s landscape. But the trees had Africa writen all over them! You know what I´m talking about... the ¨umbrella¨ trees is what I call them. The tops are flat almost like a bonsai tree... but large. I love those trees. Throw in some large white crane-looking birds and you would think you were in Africa too.

We rode to an oasis. Really! The spot we hung out at for a few hours had a waterfall and two cliff jumping spots. The water was clear and the fish nibbled on your toes. Ursula made us a fresh vegetarian lunch. Priceless. We waited for some clouds to roll in and the breeze to pick up so the ride back wouldn´t be so hot. The horses get so excited to go home they all gallop... EVEN PRATI´S old mule! Back in the pickup... we rode out to the Los Pilares mud bath where we covered our bodies in some hot mud. It wasn´t anything more than a brown bubbly hole in the ground but my skin feels amazing! We took pictures with painted mustaches and unibrows. After the tour ended we showered up and went all out at El Tuno for dinner. When in Rome! (or Peru) Prati ordered a delicous almond encrusted tuna and my TNT chocolate dessert was unforgettable. Three glasses of wine later, we called it a night. But not for long... thank you open mic night!