Quebec Appalachian Mtns Video

Here's a video clip from Equitrekking's Quebec City and Beyond episode, part of our new fourth season starting now on PBS. We filmed in Quebec as the leaves were changing, which made for a beautiful ride in the Appalachian Mountains.

Loch Ness, Scotland video

In this video, I went searching for the Loch Ness monster on horseback in Scotland as part of our Equitrekking Scotland episode (on PBS now). The sun was shining. I was on a spirited horse, normally used for endurance riding, and though we didn't see Nessie, I enjoyed this scenic area of Scotland.

Introducing ShopDarley.com

For the past few months, I have been working on developing a very special collection of jewelry designs, inspired by the locations where we travel to film Equitrekking. This 'Darley Collection' available only at ShopDarley.com includes stunning Kentucky, Scotland and Iceland inspired creations, handmade in the U.S.A. Each bracelet includes gemstones native to these locations including Freshwater Pearls, Kentucky's state gemstone, Iceland's colorful rhyolite, and Scotland's blue lace agate.

On ShopDarley.com, you'll find products that spring from my travels for the Equitrekking television series, including fine art photography with equestrian and travel themes by Chip Ward, whose photographs comprise the Equitrekking Travel Adventures on Horseback coffee table book, DVD's and more. I am excited to have this shop online!

New Wales and Spain Videos online

We've posted new video clips from our new episodes from Southern Spain and Wales on Equitrekking.com and on EquirekkingTV on YouTube, but I thought that you might enjoy this clip from the Derwen International Welsh Cob Centre in Wales.
Thanks!

Equitrekking New Episodes on WLIW-TV in NYC

Equitrekking's new season with episodes from Southern Spain, Scotland, Quebec City and Beyond, Central Turkey, Wales and Alaska starts on PBS stations across the nation in April and May. You may watch the video preview above and see more clips from the new season on Equitrekking.com.

In New York City, Equitrekking will regularly broadcast on Wednesday nights at 11:30pm starting tonight, April 15th, and starting May 7th, you can also catch some episodes on Thursday nights at 7:30pm on WLIW, Channel 21. For a full listing see WLIW's website.

We have a new station finder on Equitrekking.com to locate Equitrekking on other PBS stations across North America.

Ireland Riding Resources and New Video Clips

We've added lots of great riding vacation destinations to Equitrekking's Travel Guide, which has been featured in the Chicago Tribune and other great media, including many new destinations in Uruguay and Ireland. Equitrekking's Travel Guide and Equitrekking.com, the companion to our PBS series, serve as a resource for travelers who want to try horseback riding on their next vacation.

Over the weekend, we also put up some fun Behind the Scenes video podcasts available for free download in the iTunes music store. We've got a "Behind the Scenes Cabalgata" from Costa Rica and "Behind the Scenes Quebec" clip to show you how we filmed our snow riding episode. You can also watch clips on Equitrekking.com and Equitrekking TV on YouTube.

I'm always looking for new places to ride, so was excited to learn that there's a new website that serves as a directory of tourist friendly riding centres in Ireland at www.discoverireland.ie/equestrian. The site also has information on equestrian events, museums and fairs. It was created by Fáilte Ireland, the National Tourism Authority that promotes Irish tourism, and is a good source of all things horsey in Ireland.

When we visited Ireland to film our two Ireland episodes, I did a big loop around the country starting and ending in Dublin. I was able to visit the Irish National Stud, ride on the beach, in the countryside and some lesser visited destinations on the Cooley Peninsula. If you're interested in seeing some footage from some of these rides, check out our video podcasts in the iTunes music store which features a "Best of Ireland's Coast" and "Donegal Beach Ride."

I'll keep looking for other great riding resouces to send your way and continue adding new video clips to Equitrekking.com this week.

El Charabon Cattle Drive, Uruguay

This morning the rain subsided at the estancia where we are riding, El Charabon, so we headed out for a cattle drive. I rode a wonderful, smooth Criollo out to the far fields, where we five of us, including Jorge, me, Paola and El Charabon’s gauchos would gather cattle to move them to another pasture. Jorge let me borrow his wool poncho, which is what the gauchos typically wear when it’s cooler here in Uruguay. At first, I didn’t want to wear it, as it didn’t seem totally fashionable, but once I had it on, I was very glad. As the rain poured down on us once again, I knew that I would sleep well on the flight back to the USA this evening, after riding horses and herding cattle in the rain.

I did have fun though, as we headed up the cattle and moved them on out. They were a pretty easy bunch, but that’s probably because their gaucho has trained them so well. We had more pastries back at the house before leaving.

Check out our new station finder, which will help you search for Equitrekking episodes on your local PBS station, on Equitrekking.com's website.

El Charabon’s Stormy Night, Uruguay

We had quite a night last night at El Charabon, the ranch where we have come to work cattle with the gauchos in Uruguay. We had an amazing candle lit dinner. The lighting was romantic, but also necessary, as this storm that we are having, which has caused them to close the schools here in Uruguay, caused a power outage here at the ranch. Good thing those big grills are heated by good old-fashioned fires.

El Charabon is a working ranch that raises cattle and Hampshire Down sheep. After eating and learning more about life in Uruguay from Jorge and Graciela, the owners, we went to bed. The power had come back on briefly, long enough for us to finish downloading our HD footage.

Luckily, I had just gotten into bed when the lights went out again and I was in utter darkness. I live outside of Washington, DC in an urban area, so it never really gets totally dark. Here in the countryside of Uruguay, it does, meaning that you can look up at a million stars, but also that when the lights go out in your room and the moon and stars are obscured by stars, it gets so dark that all you see are the colors that your eyes seem to flash when you can’t see a darn thing. I’m looking forward to the sun rising tomorrow!

Torta Frita Recipe from Uruguay

Estancia El Charabon is a lovely working ranch in Rocha owned by husband and wife couple Jorge and Graciela Zuasnabar. Graciela is an artist, whose work populates the walls inside the estancia, giving it a unique, eclectic feel.

We arrived in the rain to find Graciela, who gave us a tour and then presented us with a medley of decadent pastries and teas. We had one amazing pastry called Torta Frita, which I was told by several people in Uruguay is typically made on rainy days. It’s like a light funnel cake sprinkled with powdered sugar or a big airy donut. Greg, our cinematographer, and I each had three!

Alicia from La Salamora has been so kind as to email us the recipe so that we can make this decadent pastry at home in the USA. Here it is for all you Torta Frita fans like me.

Ingredients
2 tbsp. butter or margarine
1 tbsp. vegetable shortening (or beef lard)
3/4 cup of milk or water
2 cups flour
1 tbsp. salt
1 tbsp. baking powder (Royal is suggested)

Approx. 2 cups shortening (or beef lard) for frying.


Preparation
Melt the 2 tbsp. butter or margarine and 1 tbsp. of shortening together in a pan or in the microwave. Heat the milk (or water) until hot, but not boiling. Combine the melted fat with the milk (or water).
In a bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder. Mix well. Make a hole in the mound and pour the liquid in the middle. Gradually incorporate the flour mixture. Once mixed thoroughly, turn the dough out onto a flat, clean surface and knead well. Separate into 12 equally sized balls. Roll out each ball into a circle 1/2 cm thick. With your finger, poke a hole in the middle of each circle. In a large frying pan, melt 1-2 cups of shortening or lard over medium high heat. Fry each circle to a golden color in the melted shortening or lard. You might need to lower the temperature to medium while fying the batch. Transfer tortas to a plate with paper towels or paper bags to remove excess oil. Eat while still warm with dulce de leche spread or mermelada. Enjoy with coffee, tea, or better yet, yerba mate.

Guardia del Monte, Uruguay

We traveled to Guardia Del Monte, a historic estancia in Rocha owned by Alicia Fernandez. The estancia is over 100 years old. Surrounded by marshland, interesting Ombú trees and palm trees, it seemed like a nice setting, though we mainly rode right around the ranch because of the rain. Today we had a lot of rain, so didn’t get to do much riding. That’s the problem with filming a show like ours, where you are always outside. The weather does dictate what you can do. Yes, you can still ride in the rain. It’s just not as pretty.

We were able to explore the estancia buildings, where Alicia houses guests. Alicia has collected interesting items from area shipwrecks, like old tiles and a big wood burning stove recovered from a English ship that wrecked off the coast in the 1870’s. Alicia still uses it to cook and it is huge! Alicia cooked us shrimp from the Castillos lagoon for lunch and told us stories of her history. These tiny shrimp are tasty. We’ll be staying at Estancia El Charabon tonight and hopefully the rain will go away so that we can film tomorrow.

Pirates Beach, Rocha, Uruguay

Having grown up in a beach area in South Carolina, I am always keen on visiting beaches around the world. Uruguay has some famous beach areas like Punta del Este, popular with Argentineans, and also some really nice natural beach areas like in Rocha, where we are horseback riding. When I imagined the gauchos of Uruguay, I didn’t imagine that I would see them on the beach. Sure enough, Alexander, whose well-trained horses we were riding today, rode with me and Lares guide Alejandro near the Brazilian border.

I felt like I was exploring an unchartered territory, as we cantered through the shallow water on the shore. I was on a smooth Criollo horse, the native breed here in Uruguay and much of South America. We had ridden through an area of dunes down to the beach, where there were a variety of birds, besides seagulls for us to watch.

Alejandro pointed to the rocks jutting out of the sea in the distance, to show how dangerous the shores of Rocha have been throughout history. He told stories of shipwrecks and of the locals who have collections of goods taken from the wreckage. A lot of people in the area have pieces of furniture, tiles and other items taken from the wreckage. I guess that makes for an interesting conversation piece. Further down the beach, I could see the black top of a sunken submarine sticking out of the surf.

We took a break in the inter-dune area to have lunch under the shade of palm trees. On these rides, the outdoor lunches are amazing. Alejandro’s friend laid out sandwiches, beef, salad and fresh fruit on tables and a picnic blanket. We ate well, including tasting some delicious lemon pie, before heading to the Santa Teresa Fort (Fortaleza de Santa Teresa), which dates back to Colonial times.