After spending a great day in Uvita with the Sibaja family, we trekked towards the Panamanian border. I had been imagining this moment since I was a child – getting to the final country in Central America before loading my ponies on a boat for South America – Just as my hero Aime Tschiffely had done almost 100 years ago, but in reverse.
The legendary Long Rider loaded Mancha and Gato into a boat in Colombia and navigated to Panama after nearly a year and half in the saddle. Unfortunately, this romantic notion of loading my ponies onto a boat was quickly shot down with research. It is impossible to find a boat that will carry a horse from Central America into South America. The only way for us to get to our final continent will be to fly into Colombia, Ecuador or Peru – Since crossing the Darien Gap jungle would mean almost certain death for the horses.
Although the thought of loading my horses onto a cargo plane and having them fly at 40,000 feet in a metal stall scared the bejeezus out of me, it was our only option.
With a couple of days to go before arriving at the Panamanian border, I focused on my ponies health. Costa Rica has proven to be a very difficult country to ride through due to the extreme heat, humidity and a lack of country roads. I travelled next to one of the main highways almost the entire trip. A narrow road full of trucks, buses and cars zooming by all day. It definitely takes all of the fun out of riding.
After a few tense and hot days, we arrived in Rio Claro – only 20 kilometers from the Panamanian border, it was the perfect place to rest the ponies and get all of our paperwork ready to cross into the final Central American country we will ride.
As we arrived in town, Johnny Valverde was waiting for us at his family’s ranch.
“Wow your horses are so big and beautiful Filipe, I cant believe you have come from so far,” Johnny said as we got the horses settled in.
After letting the boys into his pasture it was time to head into town for the annual night ride.
“You got very lucky to arrive right for the night cabalgata. There will be many horses there,” Johnny said.
With hundreds of horses and riders jammed into the main square, Emma and I were welcomed into Rio Claro with open arms. The local television interviewed us as the cabalgata began. We had a lot of fun with Johnny, his family and all of his friends and loved being apart of Rio Claro’s night ride!
