Atacama II - Horses And A Sad Goodbye

For our last day together, Maria and I opted for something that Maria hasn't done for a long time or ever - horseriding. I have heard before that it is quite cool to do it here and after my galloping through the Andean plains in Ecuador, I was down to do it again (but it was Maria’s suggestion, so credit to her). By our side were Ruud and Kim who were also keen to explore the surroundings on horses.
So we quickly geared up with helmets and were on our way to the Devil's Throat, a valley/canyon just a short 30 minute horse ride away from the ranch. It was a good intro and compared to last time, my horse actually liked me.

Once we arrived in the canyon, we almost immediately saw why it was such a great thing to do. High walls of rocks revealed a very narrow path that we followed along with our legs tightly pressed against the horses' body. Yes, it was that narrow. And on top of it, the horses sometimes had to climb up steep steps and pathways. It definitely wasn't a relaxed horse ride, but an exciting one. The colours of the rocks were sort of similar to the Moon Valley (maybe not quite as red), which added a beautiful touch to the scenery.

After some time and more climbing up and holding tightly onto the horses' leash, we arrived at the plateau of the canyon and had stunning views over the landscape with towering volcanoes in the background. And I mean volcanoes, plural - we could at least spot 8-9 cone-shaped volcanoes. An incredible sight. In addition, my horse seemed to want to enjoy the view as well, as it was standing on the edge with her eyes focused on the vast landscape that had unfolded in front of us. The horse clearly recognised beauty when it saw it.

Then came the ride down and holy moly was that steep. Our guide even asked us if we wanted to get off the horse and walk, but all of us were too excited about a little adrenalin.
We really had to lean back, as the horses went down on the sandy terrain. It was such a cool experience.

After riding a little bit longer alongside the canyon from the outer side, we slowly made our way back to town. That was after I realised that my horse and our guide's horse hated each other. My horse even tried to kick his horse, almost involuntarily throwing me off his back. Luckily I was holding onto the leash tightly.

But yeah, that was Maria's and my last adventure together. It was a fitting end to our time together and I couldn't have asked for a better and more amazing person than her. Whatever dangerous, ridiculous and funny activity I threw at her, she didn't even think twice and was always up for doing them.
I lost count of how often we laughed together or at each other, how often we called us stupid or cute names or how often we were wondering how crazy we were and what our parents were thinking if they saw what we were up to - esp Death Road, Silver Mines and the Horseriding. We shared countless beautiful moments together in which I wished I had the superpower to stop time.

To this day, I cannot believe that it all started in my favorite place on earth - Antigua - back in July and survived time until this point. Maria coming all the way to Bolivia for her first 'real' trip outside of Guatemala and my birthday was an incredible and amazing gesture.

The adventures and times we shared together in those past 2.5 weeks will always be with me until the end of days. For that, I will forever be grateful to Maria for having the patience, courage and sense of adventure to accompany me on part of my trip around the world. All that, made it, of course, a teary and truly heartfelt goodbye. TQ!もっと詳しく