Tag archives for Horses
Posted by Iceland is an amazing island filled with bubbling volcanoes and icy glaciers. One actually erupted just two years ago leaving many towns under ashes.
As we were getting ready for London my cousin was chosen to play on a professional soccer (or, as they say, “futball”) team in Iceland so we did what any good family would do and took a slight detour to The Land of Fire and Ice.
We drove into Praia do Forte not knowing what to expect, but within a few minutes we knew we were going to love it. Gallego, a smiling, surfing, and snorkeling caretaker greeted us and welcomed us into our friend’s beach house. Before we even got our suitcases from the car we went to the beach and felt the warm water on our toes. The house was beautiful and had a pool in the backyard, but best of all we were ten steps from the ocean. We were all super excited to explore the cute beach village and the coral reef full of little critters.
Our first night in town we explored and met Alexandre the owner of the Billabong surf and skate board shop and decided we would take our surf lessons with him the next day. Alexandre, Marcio and Lideo, three amazing guys with electric personalities picked us up in the morning. We spent some time on the shore learning the basic moves and then we hit the waves.
We crossed an amazing suspension bridge from Argentina to Paraguay with one more stamp in our passports.
It was a rainy morning when we arrived at the Trinidad Jesuit Mission. The ruins of the church were spectacular and there were beautiful remains of living areas as well. The Jesuits set up a type of living for the native Guarani people that was very communal. Each family was given a small home and the children were schooled. There was a big central plaza with the main church, a hospital, a coligio which housed the priest and also contained art workshops, and the cabildo which was where the Guarani’s chosen leader lived. The food was shared equally between every one. The missions were growing throughout Paraguay and Argentina but in 1641 an army of 3000 slave traders took over and there was an abrupt end to the Jesuit Missions. Many years after the missions had been buried in to the earth they were discovered and found in great condition, especially considering they were almost 400 years old. Well that was my history lesson for the day.
Pasado del Jamon. We pulled in to The Ham Hotel happy to be there. This was one of the coolest hotels in Argentina. There was a big playground, a soccer field and vines to run and play in. There were also all kinds of animals; dog, cats, horses, guinea fowl, puppies, peacocks, and parrots. Mom and dad had fun touring the beautiful wineries and Everest and I had fun playing at the hotel.
From riding horses like the wind to riding water slides as fast as can be… Our next stop was Salto, the land of thermals in Northern Uruguay. Thermals are pockets of hot water that bubble out of the earth because of uneven heating under the earth’s crust. We spent hours each day relaxing and playing in the water. Since we were in the land of the thermals there were lots of hot springs and water parks.
On Valentine’s Day mom and dad surprised us with tickets to the biggest water park ever. There was a lazy river, pirate ships, rafts, a flying fox and awesome water slides. My favorite was the one that took us slowly at first and then dropped us strait down from 0 to 100.
It was insanely fun.
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We are now in gaucho country, where instead of surf boards all of the Uruguayans have saddles. Our first Estancia or ranch, Pinos, was named because the owner had planted 450,000 beautiful pine trees on the property. We were so happy and excited to ride horses and see all of the animals.
Our first day there we held baby goats that were only two days old; they were soft and super adorable. Their mom refused to feed one of the babies so the owners had to feed her warm goat’s milk from a bottle.
We are back on the road again in South America. Our first stop is Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. The town was full of excitement and so were we. Our first night we went to soccer game or, as they call it, futbol. It was a rivalry game so it was extra crazy. There were people in the stadium lighting off fireworks and chanting anthems. The crowd was filled with black and yellow bumble bee jerseys and red, white and blue jerseys. They were the most energetic fans I had ever seen.
Posted by Hi this is Dewey!
Today, after breakfast we had a meeting on our itinerary for the next week. We also had a slideshow from Bruce and Amy about their job as photographers and different techniques they can give us to become better at photography! After that, we jumped onto our tour bus and headed to the Mamacona Country House, which has Peruvian horses.
Once we got there (after a 40 minute bus ride) we walked down a dirt rode and entered the gates to the horse ranch. Instantly a Peruvian folk band started playing for us and we spotted the most BEAUTIFUL horses ever. The host (owner of the ranch) directed us to a fancy backyard with a row of seats and seated us to watch a horse show and Peruvian dances!! The show was wonderful, we got to see some men direct the horses in a neat show with the horses practically jumping in the air!! As the horses and their riders showed off their moves some Peruvian dancers showed us some very difficult looking dances, they also wore very pretty dresses and outfits!
Veronica and Zach
Hi, this is Veronica. This morning we got up and checked out of our hotel nice and early and headed for Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures. We saw lots of different animals there, from crocs to cassowaries. We hopped in a boat, equipped with metal grid and glass windows for protection against the croc’s massive jaws. Every once in a while, Andrew, our guide, would hang a chicken head out the front of the boat and the crocs would jump and claw for it. Which made for great shots. The boat was a frenzy of camera clicks and kids running from one side of the boat to the other trying to get a killer shot. I think I got a couple good ones. After the (life-threatening) boat ride, we went on a walk around the park with a guide to see the rest of the animals. When we started our walk we were greeted by a little swamp wallaby…
Video courtesy Tourism Australia
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