When I arrived in Santana do Livramento, the border with Uruguay, I was but a zombie. Barely alive, it was painful to breath, never mind ride.
I had contacted Thiago Lima, a horse trainer in Livramento weeks back while I was still in Santa Rosa. I needed to find a good place to rest the mares, because I knew I would have to stay put at the border for a while figuring out how we would enter Uruguay. Thiago’s training facility was the perfect spot.
He met us a few kilometres outside of the city to make sure I was ok. He knew about my flu and wanted to insure I was going to arrive alive. I assured him all was under control and he guided me towards his barns.
When we arrived, just after 1 pm, his workers were barbecuing to celebrate our arrival.
“Welcome to Santana do Livramento Filipe, and congratulations on ending your ride through Brazil,” Thiago said with a big smile on his round face.
I wish I felt like celebrating. We had every reason to! My mares and I travelled 2 200 kilometres from our starting point, Barretos, Sao Paulo. We rode through cities and towns, up mountains, into valleys, across bridges… We faced freezing temperatures, wind, torrential downpours, scorching days… Together we worked hard and met our goal.
But celebrating required too much energy and that is what I did not have. I was so sick and groggy I wasn’t even hungry. I ate a few pieces of meat but it just wasn’t going down. I was dreaming of a bed. Yearning to sleep – to rest my tired body.
In the late afternoon, once the barbecue ended and I had taken care of the mares, I finally got to rest. Thiago showed me to a cheap motel near by and I died. That first night I slept 16 hours straight! I only woke up to feed the mares and went back to sleep.
Laying in a mattress with heavy blankets hugging my aching body felt exquisite, I wont even mention having a warm shower – orgasmic.
