Ryan Greenberg

Ryan on horseback. Technically, it’s a mule, but don’t tell anyone.

For one of our last weekends together before Meg, Maureen, and Tom go back to the U.S, Emily had the idea to plan a horseback riding trip with money we raised doing a translation project (that’s another story). We graciously let her do the work. The rest of us just woke up on a Saturday morning and took a van to Campos de Ahumada, about an hour from our house.

There we met our guide, Domingo, who introduced us to our mounts. The experienced riders got horses (there were two to go around). I got a nameless mule, who I quickly dubbed “Indiana.” Maureen got “Queen”; Tom got “Witch”; Roy—the tallest in our group—got a tiny mule, which he said made him feel like Fred Flintstone because he had to move his feet to help it along. It was really a fantastic day. The scenery was gorgeous and the horses and mules were well behaved. We took about four hours to reach a mountain lagoon where we galloped around and rested for lunch, then we took about the same time to reach the base of the mountain.

We’re a hearty bunch, but most everyone had sore backs, legs, and rear-ends at the end of the day. As we got close to home, Domingo told us we could run the rest of the way home. That’s what we did.

Here are a few highlight photos from the day:

Meg with her horse.

Group crossing a stream.

Roy on his Fred Flintstone mule.

Tom and mountain landscape.

Emily and her mule’s better side.

Group at first rest stop.

Caitlin rides home.