Itching myself nonstop from my bedbug encounter, I rode out of Loma Bonita. Headed for Isla, we trekked by endless fields of Pineapples. Every hour we stopped for a much needed rest as the sun continued to make our lives hard.

At lunch I found a beautiful spot to eat with the ponies. I removed Frenchie’s pack to give him a break and sat in the shade watching the horses. As I munched on some peanuts an elderly man rode up on a donkey.

“How much for the horses,” he asked me.

“These are my children, they are not for sale,” I told him.

I then explained to him how I was traveling horseback from Canada to Brazil. A simple man carrying a machete and the great knowledge of how to work the land, he was shocked that I had made it this far horseback.

“I am emotional at what you have accomplished young man,” he told me with a smile on his face.

His eyes filled with water as he watched the horses eat. After a few minutes he said goodbye and wished me good luck.

“May God watch out for you on your trip home,” he said before kicking his donkey on.

It was such a special moment. I was left dazed for minutes. This man gave me so much positive energy without even knowing it. His reaction to my story was so powerful.

After tacking up Frenchie again we too continued on. In the late afternoon we arrived in a beautiful horse ranch outside of Isla. Raul Zuccolotto from Loma Bonita put me in touch with his cousin, Rodrigo, who owns the ranch.

“Filipe it’s great to meet you,” Rodrigo said as he anxiously went to see the horses.

A Pineapple farmer and horse lover, Rodrigo was so excited to see the horses who had come from so far. “They are so big,” he said as we watched them roll in the dirt.

In a few minutes Rodrigo had taken me to meet his wife, children and cousin David. They hosted me like family and even paid for me to sleep in a fancy hotel. I cannot thank this beautiful family enough for the love they welcomed me with.