“Filipe you must wait to leave on Thursday, we will ride with you to Jose Bonifacio in the afternoon and night. It’s a full moon,” Milton Liso told me with a wide grin.
“You had me at night,” I replied laughing.
My favourite thing in the world is to ride horseback at night under a full moon. The animals feel way better because it’s fresh out and the moon is so big, there’s plenty of light to see the way.
On thursday, april 21, loaded with a trailer full of beers and snacks, we rode out of Milton’s ranch. Alongside 11 riders on mules and burros, we told fibs and joked with the afternoon breeze blowing on our faces. Every rider holding a cold can in one hand and reins in the other.
“We are going to miss you Filipe,” one of the riders from the comitiva said placing his left arm over my shoulders.
Truth is I was also going to miss these boys. But just like when I said goodbye to them at the end of my last journey, I knew this would not be the last time we saw each other. The horse makes brothers out of men who come from different lands and different realities. And that brotherhood cannot be broken by time or space. It may take another year or two for us to meet on some the dusty trail. But when that day comes, it will be like this time – like we never left each others side.
With the sun peaking under a pasture to our right, the large white globe began to rise to our left. She was colossal. Breathtaking. Beautiful.
“Wow look at the size of that moon,’ I said atop Life, mesmerized by her shear size.
As darkness fell upon us we found ourselves in a sugar cane plantation. Shadows of the horses and riders could be seen floating on the red dirt. All that could be heard was the sound of hooves hitting the hard ground and chit chatter. The night was so bright, at times it felt like we were riding in the middle of the day.
Just after 1 am we arrived at the ranch where we would rest the next day. I untacked Life and turned her and Doll out in an immense pasture. As they munched on the green grass I simply stood in silence, starring up at the bright night sky.
“I’m so lucky to live this life,” I whispered into the night as an orchestra of crickets played all around me.
