Trans-Costa Rica Horseback Trip

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(left) Granito and Titan wait in the background behind our Costa Rican border guard buddies. These guys had held us at gun point the night before when we approached their post in the dark. As we were so close to the Nicaraguan border, we had assumed that they were Nicaraguan bandits! Once the confusion was cleared up, we ended up spending the night playing cards with them at their post.

In 1993, I rode horseback across 370 miles (610 km) of Costa Rica. This is the same distance as traveling between Detroit and Washington, D.C. The trip took five weeks, and I spent much of it fasting for 24 hours at a time or subsisting on a few stale packets of chips or a couple of cookies a day. The expedition included 19 very tough days climbing mountains, bushwhacking and crossing more than 80 rivers. I bought my four year old horse, Titan, the previous year for $130, just prior to his being auctioned off for meat.

(right) Typical of many Costa Rican highways, one lane of this one recently washed down a mountainside. This landslide happened near Upala.

(below) Stabbing a pencil through a tiny ring at a gallop is harder than you'd think! Rural schools often hold these races and accept small bets on the riders as a way of funding extracurricular activities.

(left) Just after this picture was taken of me riding around Lake Arenal, Titan sprained a tendon. We didn't realize what had happened at first, as he had an almost unnoticeable limp and seemed perfectly willing to keep going. Since we were two days from the nearest road or telephone by that time, we walked the horses slowly down this oxcart path until we reached a road where a truck could take Titan to the vet. After "cooling down" for a couple of days, Titan began dragging his rear leg as if paralyzed, which continued for the next three months. Every vet who saw him told us the tendon was severed and that he should be put down. Instead, we provided total rest and daily injections and he eventually made a full recovery. Although no longer suitable for long distance riding, Titan was able to participate in his first parade just six months after his injury.

(right) Arenal is the most active of Costa Rica's 113 volcanoes, erupting something like once every 40 minutes. We rode within sight and sound of Arenal volcano for several days while circumnavigating nearby Lake Arenal. One night, we heard jaguars on the slopes.