Day 9. Spending the day on Don Lulo's farm

Day 9.

Morning greeted us with the most amazing rainbow! We basked in it's hues while watching parrots dance and mingle in the sky.

Today we got to explore part of the Costa Rican countryside and a beautiful waterfall thanks to local farmer, Don Lulo and his wife Ruth.

To read about Don Lulo and the history of his farm, visit here. It is a story you won't regret reading!

Andres, one of Don Lulo's grandsons, met us to guide us on the trails past his grandfather's farm house to the great Nauyaca Waterfall. If you remember our last horse led trail ride, one horse ran away with Ella on top and another horse carried both me and Claire together. So I envisioned our family of 5 only needing 3 horses. Apparently, though, Andres in his expertise thought more confidently of my children than I did. And, because I wasn't quick enough to form the spanish sentence to explain that my girls might not want to ride by themselves, they were on horses and off despite their protests. Before the first turn on the trail, both girls were happily riding along, charmed by the jokes and smiles of Andres. Once again, I was so delighted that everywhere we went, locals seemed delighted by our children. Kids are happily welcomed and appropriately treated everywhere--something that speaks highly to me! The total trail covered is just over 12 kilometers with several breaks along the way. Our first stop was at the farm house where we enjoyed a Costa Rican breakfast. Included was, of course, hot coffee, fresh fruit, cheese with corn cakes, corn bread and pineapple juice! After we ate we visited some of Don Lulo's farm pets including some peacocks! Monkeys darted from tree tops down to left over bananas as well to the delight of my kids. After breakfast we continued on horse headed toward Nauyaca Waterfall. The trail was often times steep and always MUDDY! At times the horses sank to the middle of their legs. Claire became quite the rider leaning forward and back to help her horse up and down the trails. We each knew our horses names and their pecking order which made riding more authentic, unless you asks Graham who the entire ride tried to urge his horse to the front where it would immediately get passed once again. Eric rode Negro (black), I rode Santo (cut ear), Graham rode Colbri (hummingbird), Ella rode cucaracha (cockroach). The waterfall was quite amazing! It is a group of two different waterfalls, the first one falling about 65 feet and the second one 150 feet. Eric and I both swam to the base of the 150 foot waterfall to feel the pounding water. Andres was happy to show off his dare devil techniques and dove off from the top. After swimming and sunning, we let the horses lead the way back to the farm house where we were going to have lunch. Lunch again was a costa rican meal with rice, beans, plantains, chicken and salad and more of the refreshing pineapple juice. After lunch and conversation, we headed back to the start of the trail. The horses must have been happy to be done with their burden for the day and took off for a gallop on the last half of the trail. Santo being an eager leader led the way and got me to the stables a good 5 minutes before the rest of the family.
Once we hit the road again, we stopped at one of the many road side fruit stands. We got an amazing amount of fruit, some we didn't even know what it was, for about $5 US dollars. We drove through Dominical and Uvita and made a quick stop for a pipa fria and ice cold coca cola! The coca cola was immensly enjoyed by us all. The pipa fria was enjoyed by no one and quickly was tossed from the window for nature to enjoy or compost! One last stop at the Carniceria or butcher to pick up some chirizo for dinner and then home to swim, relax and enjoy the quiet. The hills filled with clouds below us and the day ended with another stunning sunset.


















































































































































To see ALL the photos of the day, click here!