Ecuador Horse Trek in Aid of Bothar
Friday 19th June 2009
Met group in Dublin Airport for the first time, and so the trip begins...
- 5.15pm on Friday depart Dublin to Amsterdam Schipol Airport.
- Connection to Quito via Bonaire - Guayquai on a KLM plane.
Arrived in Quito at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning.
We spent three days acclimatising to the 3,000 odd meters above sea level. Some of the girl suffered quite badly from altitude sickness. During this time we did some lovely sightseeing of the old town of Quito and some of the neighbouring towns and villages, before heading out to get the horses.
We left bright and early to meet our horses on the Tuesday. A lot where an Arab / Paso cross, not too big, the tallest being around 15.3 hh. All 20 of us trekked down a winding cobble road, passing lots of little farms full of Friesian cows long the way. We spent most of the day going up and down valleys, at one point having to negotiate a very rocky river bed. Here we had to dismount and run down the hill on the rocks in front of our horses - not very BHS!! Cantered across plains - amazing!
Each day we rode on different terrain. This varied from mountains, forest, dirt roads, open plains, but it was all breath-taking and beautiful. The only thing about the mountains was that what goes up must come down and we wouldn't put a goat on the tracks we rode down!!
This really was a once in a lifetime trip. On two occasions we rode our horses over 4,300 meters above sea level. Not very good when you are afraid of heights, which I am! We rode for up to 10 hours a day some days. We did have one "half" day when we only rode for six hours. We were then able to spend the remainder of the day in the jacuzzi at the hostel which was the highlight of our week!! We rode in the Cotopaxi National Park a couple of times and on one occasion a herd of wild horses and foals cantered along side us which was an unforgettable experience.
On our last day riding, as we tacked up at 8 a.m., a majestic Condor flew over us and circled us for a few minutes, just giving us all a chance to get a picture. These are endangered birds and there are fewer than 40 left in the wild in the Andes area, so it was very special to see him and I will never forget it.
We rode for 7 days, before leaving to face the 14 hour flight home. With a seven hour time difference, it took a long time to shake off the jet lag!
We raised € 5,000 each for Bothar, so hopefully our trip will help others in the future.
