I am sweating. The horses are finally tacked. It is just after 7:00am. Time to start riding south.
From the small border town of El Ceibo I start making my way to La Libertad, where I hope to be in 5-6 days. The traffic plagued highways of Southern Mexico have transitioned into a quiet little country road. With a car going by every 10 minutes, I ride in peace.
Beautiful mountains covered by tall green trees follow us to my right, while large pastures lie to the left. I feel as if I´m in heaven. This is supreme Long Riding country! There is water everywhere and grass as far as the eye can see.
Just after 3:00 pm I ride into a ranch to see if we can spend the night. I stop the horses in front of a yellow home and yell, “Buenas Tardes.” A man appears with no shirt on. I explain to him what I am doing and ask if we can rest at his ranch.
“Yes, of course you can, it will be our pleasure to host you,” Pedro Ramos says as I dismount Bruiser.
In a few minutes the horse’s are untacked and Pedro and I are already good friends. He is astonished that I have ridden up to his home having left Canada.
“What an amazing adventure you are on Filipe,” he says to me.
Originally I was going to set up my tent and camp by his corrals but he insisted that I sleep in his house. It turns out he lived in Arkansas for 14 years and just returned to Guatemala a year ago. He really enjoyed talking to me about life in North America.
“I miss going to the Chinese restaurants,” Pedro told me as his eyes opened wide.
Like many Central Americans living in the United States, Pedro took the train and walked through Mexico to get to the US. According to him it took 15 days to get to the border and another 2 to cross the desert.
“I worked really hard up there and today everything I have is thanks to my time in the United States,” He said.
Today Pedro’s life is stress free. He lays in his hammock as much as possible. Goes to check his cattle. And when there’s work, transports cattle with his brand new truck.
“I suffered a lot in the US, working all day 7 days a week, but it was definitely worth it. My family was dirt poor,” said Pedro.
Life is simple here. There is no electricity, although the government says it’s coming. Pedro has set up a solar panel so he can watch his novelas (soap operas) at night. He doesn’t miss one episode.
“I love watching my novelas with my Mrs. at night,” Pedro said.
Pedro and his wife were amazing hosts and I will never forget their generosity. They offered an amazing place for my horses and I to rest and cooked me dinner and breakfast. The next morning Pedro rode Frenchie for a couple meters down the road before we said goodbye.
