After a week riding through the state of Santa Catarina, we made it to the shore of the Uruguay River, where we would enter the state of Rio Grande do Sul. I cant thank the people of this great Santa Catarina enough for all of their help and hospitality. Although it only took us a week to cross the state, I left many friends behind.
Our final day in Santa Catarina proved more complicated than I had imagined. We traversed rocky-dirt roads made slippery by recent rains. The mares fought to climb up steep mountain faces only to fight their way down again. I walked for a lot of the day to help the girls and by the late afternoon was panting with Life and Doll.
When we made our final decent the sun emulated our steps. Dusk took over as we rode through a small village next to the wide river. My last hosts told me to look for a sign on the right side of the road to find the ferry that would take us into Rio Grande do Sul, but what they forgot to mention is that the sign was the size of a notebook. I ended up riding right passed it and trekking 3 kilometres out of the way.
Just before 9pm we finally arrived at the ferry. The mares and I were exhausted and ready for a break, but first we had to cross the Uruguay River. The ferry’s floor, made of metal, made it a challenge to load the mares. When they stepped onto the platform and heard the noise their shoes made, they spooked and shot back. It took some time to convince them the ferry was safe to step on. Once we loaded the mares onboard it took 10 minutes for us to cross the river. I held the mares tightly as they nervously looked around. Luckily I managed to keep them calm.
When we stepped onto Rio Grande do Sul, the captain of the ferry showed us a place where we could camp for the night. I tied the mares to a tree and gave them a bale of hay to munch on. When I finished feeding them, the captain returned with meat for us to barbecue and a bottle of cachaca.
“A man who arrives on horseback in the land of the Gauchos deserves a celebration,” the burly captain said with a wide smile.
