Honduran Hooky - Part 7, Horseback Ride

The next morning after breakfast, we went to the location in town that was marked on a map. It was a corner store near the Copan River where some horses that were already saddled were tethered. Of course I love horses and was dying to go for a ride, so I had to suppress my excitement to appear normal and not go, “Oooo horsies!” in a high girlish voice. Though, I probably did anyhow. I have no shame for some things as Sean can tell you.

Some bored looking Indian local began choosing our mounts for us. I was sure he did this every day. He picked one out for me and gave me a leg up, but would not adjust the stirrups, which were too low. I kind of hoped that it would not be a problem since we were riding Western. Once everybody was mounted, we set off.

We rode out of town and across the Copan River which was really picturesque and not very deep.

Then we rode up a hill into the mountains where the terrain got more forested.

We began to see groves of trees and some fruit trees. We rode on for about a half an hour and then we came to Hacienda San Lucas. Here we got off our horses and were told that we could have lemonade and sit on the porch before we set out on our hike. The Hacienda was really quite lovely and the birding was fine there also. The ground dropped away from the porch towards Copan and really was breathtaking.

We hiked to a nearby “authentic” Indian town, which turned out to be a tourist trap. It was made of brightly painted concrete blocks. I was embarrassed to be there. There were people who were there were selling the same hand made dolls as the beggars in town. Fortunately we didn’t stay long.

From there we hiked into the jungle. The day was getting ungodly hot and I was glad I had brought water. We went through a grove of limonetta trees and some of the fruit had fallen to the ground. These are grapefruit sized limes that are used in the Caribbean to make limon juice and you cannot get them in the US because the fruit is not considered to travel well. It is unfortunate that while there I developed a taste for its sweetness.

We came upon a cistern and Sean decided to dunk his head in it. We all worried that he would catch some tropical disease or other. This photo shows the actual cistern with the Hacienda's dogs in it. It looks pretty unthreatening with the labs cavorting in it, doesn't it? Sean is okay, thanks for asking.

Dr. Fairview, I presume?

Eventually we made our way back to the Hacienda and after a quick rest; we remounted our horses for the ride back. My horse decided that it wanted to be back sooner than the rest and a canter was the way to get there. I was okay with that, so off we went. But, I soon realized that the stirrups were too short and my back was taking a hammering since I could not move with the horse. So, I pulled him back to a walk. But, then some other riders galloped past me and he took off again, and again, I had to pull him back to a walk. But by then it was too late, and my back (which I had injured long ago) was killing me.

All I could think was that I was going to take advantage of the massage on Roatan when we got there.

Finally, we crossed the Copan River and were back. I got off the horse and stretched my back. Yup, it was hurt alrighty. Where was my masseur? In Roatan. So I had to wait until I got there. I gritted my teeth and joined my party for dinner that night.