Costa Rica Frog Sanctuary

Today, we went to a frog farm that is not open to the public with Esteban of Centaura. The owner, raises rare frogs, but the neat thing is that the frogs are left to hop along in the rainforest, so if you walk quietly through, you can spot many of these neon colored frogs . We stealthily walked through the rainforest in search of these small frogs. Beside the trails, there were a lot of them. You have to look closely, but you can find these bright green and black frogs, whose skin and delicate arms look tie-dyed. We also saw bright blue frogs. The neatest of all was on the back of a leaf, where a red-eyed tree frog was resting. These frogs are nocturnal and look like blobs during the day, but once awoken, burst into neon colors with red eyes, red-orange feet.
The horses were trailed over, so that we could ride the rest of the farm, passing by beautiful flowers and plants, on the lookout for monkeys. We hit a patch of howler monkeys in the trees above us. These monkeys make a distinct hollering like sound. Each pack of monkeys is protected by a dominant male. I felt like one monkey was starring me down as we sat on our horses below and starred up at the monkeys.

We next rode by a cacao plant. Ah chocolate! If you cut open one of these pods, you can smell inside. The one that we cracked open was not ripe and smelled just like a melon to me. We passed through a thick forest and then down to the San Carlos River, which was partially dried up, as we are here in the dry season. In the rainy season, the banks where we were riding are overflowing with water.

We went to Monica’s family’s nearby lake house after the farm for a much needed lunch of paella and mango juice and then started our drive to the beach. Driving in Costa Rica is totally nuts. The roads wind around these mountains with tight turns, single lane bridges and big trucks that creep along and that you must pass, but at your own risk.

We pulled into Jaco, a beach area, at night. This area is starting to boom and to me, looked like any Florida beach area with souvenir shops, restaurants, condo high rises and even a bagel shop, which I have to admit, we tried the next morning. American travelers and investors are buying condos here and hitting the beach. Our ride tomorrow would be in a more secluded area.

Watch Equitrekking in Washington, DC area

13 episodes of Equitrekking are starting on Sunday, May 11th in the Washington, DC area (reaching parts of Northern VIrginia and from DC to Baltimore, Maryland) on WHUT, Channel 32, on Sundays at 2:30pm! The series kicks off with Coastal Ireland this Sunday. Please tune in.

You may read a quick interview from the DC Examiner about the upcoming series and check your local listings for other dates and times.

Pacific Coast Beach Ride, Costa Rica

Today, we took a sunset beach ride on the Central Pacific Coast, which was beautiful. Monica and Sebastian of Centaura and I headed off through flat marshland and pastures on the way to the beach. I was on Pinata and Monica rode Perla. The Pacific beaches are a bit more calm and less rocky than the Caribbean side beaches. Cantering and galloping along the beach is a freeing experience, once you get your horses used to the crashing waves. It’s something new if they have never been there before.

It look all of us a little while to get our horses to go into the water. My horse Pinata was very afraid of the waves at first, but we were able to get in after a few tries and after some of the other horses got in as well. We were able to stay on the beach through sunset, a beautiful end to our beach ride.

Centaura Farm Ride, Costa Rica

Today was my first riding day in Costa Rica. We started at the farm and Esteban of Centaura helped me pick out the horse that I would be riding. The horses here are different breed mixes. Some have more Paso Fino in them then others, meaning that they are gaited and very smooth. After trying a few horses, I settled on riding Pinata, an Appaloosa mixed with Peruvian Paso. Pinata is a wonderfully well behaved and smooth ride. We would get along very well.

Esteban rode Chocolate and Monica and her brother Sebastian rode along with us. The area just around the farm is really diverse, with rolling grasslands where cattle graze to fields of pineapple and sugarcane to rainforests, rivers and the grand Arenal Volcano.

The thing about riding in Costa Rica, is that you can really let loose and ride fast. The saddles that we used were McClellon saddles with a nice cushiony seat, ideal for long days in the saddle. Esteban told me about how many people in the area are self-sufficient. They farm and live off of the land. They also have a lot of small dogs. Everywhere, I am seeing these mini dogs, which are very popular in the U.S. They are just par for the course here.

I pointed to a large orange leafed tree in the distance and asked Esteban what it was. This is one of the many trees that Costa Ricans use to make natural fences. We rode into a secondary rainforest on the farm, which Esteban has been working to regrow by planting native plants. Some area forests were cut down for farming, but now many Costa Ricans, like Esteban, have an eye towards conservation for the future.

We rode to a high spot, where we galloped up some pastureland, sprinkled with some skinny cows. At the top, we could see Arenal Volcano, the first in a sequence of major volcanoes. The hill that we were standing on, in fact many of the hills in the area, were once volcanoes. This soil is rich in minerals, making this area so great for farming.
Our ride was not finished. We rode down to the a river, where we galloped through meadows and the water and got in to a place where the water came up to our horses chest. The river was beautiful and the water felt good. Monica warned us not to go down any further in the river, as there were crocodiles downstream. Crocodiles!

The really neat thing about the area where we are riding with Centaura and with the locals is that there are few tourists here, making getting into the local culture, easier and more authentic.

Centaura in Costa Rica

We’re riding from the Pacific Coast to the interior with Centaura, a horseback riding adventure travel company run by Monica and Esteban, a Costa Rican husband and wife team, and Serendipity Adventures, an adventure travel company that offers a plethora of outdoor adventures around Costa Rica.
Centaura’s horses are amazing. They are well trained, responsive and riders can have their pick based on what they want to experience on their adventures. Centaura specializes in custom riding vacations and offers other adventure activities through Serendipity Adventures. This means, I’ll not only be riding on the beaches, at the base of Arenal volcano and in the countryside of San Carlos, but I’ll also be climbing a twelve story tree, going hot air ballooning and visiting a frog farm and seeing abundant wildlife.

Today, we arrived in San Jose, after flying through San Salvador on Taca Airlines. Though the lines at the airport were long, the flight itself was not bad. Tucker and Reuban from Serendipity Adventures picked us up at the airport in their Land Cruiser and we were off, headed Northwest to San Carlos to the farm. San Carlos is an area of Costa Rica with rainforest, farmland and not a lot of tourists, meaning that I would be riding and hanging out with the locals.

We stopped for lunch along the winding and somewhat scary road from San Jose to San Carlos. I tried the traditional chicken and rice, and was introduced to the great fruit that they have in Costa Rica. Pineapples are grown in abundance here, as is sugarcane. Mangoes, watermelon, blackberries, etc. are all very good and fresh here. Smoothies, or what I would call a smoothie are offered at lots of the local restaurants. Costa Ricans order fruit blended with water or milk, which is great.

We arrived to the stables in the early afternoon, which are immaculate, as are the horses. After a long commute to get to Costa Rica, I was ready to sleep and ride the next morning.

Rolex Three Day, KY

We're in Kentucky, filming a half hour episode in various destinations across the state, including Lexington. I just left the Rolex Three-Day, one of the most exciting equestrian sporting events in the world. The horses and riders in this competition, especially Karen O'Connor and her horse, Theodore O'Conner, are truly amazing. I can't imagine the exhilaration they must feel as they take on water jumps, intimidating hedges, giant ducks, and steep drop offs.

Though the day began with rain, the clouds cleared to reveal blue skies by noon. I was able to gain insight into the event by interviewing Jane Beshear, First Lady of Kentucky and an accomplished equestrian. The First Lady has been closely tied to the Rolex since it's inception. I asked her what she thought it took for these horses to make it to this level. The First Lady emphasized not only the athleticism these horses posses, but also the heart it takes to excel at this level of competition. As an eventer, the First Lady can relate to the riders and their horses.

The day was not without its obstacles. As I write this, we nervously await word on the condition of fan favorite Lainey Ashker and her horse Frodo Baggins who experienced an unfortunate fall early on. It's never easy to see a rider fall. We wait breathlessly for both to get up. Unfortunately Lainey was airlifted to a local hospital and Frodo Baggins received on the spot emergency veterinary care, before he too was taken away. They will remain in our thoughts.

Mont Tremblant Skiing

I haven’t been skiing in years. As a child, we used to go every winter, but I definitely did not have confidence in my abilities going out today at Mont Tremblant. So, I took a lesson, and it was like riding a bike. It was great.

Braham, my instructor went through the basics again with me. He picked a nice, easy, long trail. On a normal run, it would have taken us 20 minutes to get down. Filming made it take 1.5 hours. It was fun along the way though and I definitely want to go back to Mont Tremblant for some more skiing.

After the lesson, Braham and I put up our skis and walked over to Le Shack, a place in Mont Tremblant’s colorful village that is known for its poutine. Yes, I tried the poutine, a comfort food dish eaten all over Quebec and even served at McDonalds. It consists of French fries, covered in gravy and cheese curds. The cheese curds initially threw me off. I wasn’t sure that I would like them, but with the gravy and fries, the curds melted a bit and I have to say that I liked the poutine! Now, that doesn’t mean that I could eat the whole heaping bowl of it, but it was good. To add even more to my junk food fix, I tried a beaver tail. This is a fried dough pastry thing covered in the toppings of your choosing. I went for chocolate sauce, icing, and peanut butter M&Ms. Oh yeah!. I guess for me, Mont Tremblant’s village was a little like a trip to an amusement park. Pure gluttony.

Montreal, Quebec

In Montreal, we were fortunate enough to be able to visit the mounted police in Quebec’s Mont Royal Park, which is like New York’s Central Park. There are twenty Canadian horses that the park police use when patrolling, not only the park, but the entire city. The horses and their stables are well taken care of. They ride all year round in the park, except when it is very, very cold and sleeting. Marie, one of the officers, has a true passion for her horses, especially Diablo, who is a Canadian breed. She talked about how great the strong and smart Canadian horses are for their line of work.

I really like Old Montreal. We stayed at Place d’Armes Hôtel, a hip, boutique hotel, which though modern, has managed to maintain it’s rustic brick interiors as well. The location was great, right in the center of Old Montreal, so we were able to go to a nearby pastry shop, Café Europea, and try these neon macaroons, which give a nice sugar boost in the afternoon. They were light and airy, but also tasty. They were filled with different fillings, like caramel apple whiskey flavoring, hazelnut, mint chocolate, and more. Yum! We also headed to a high spot in Mont Royal Park, a belvedere where you can see the entire city.