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After our meal and discussion, we went back to the Posada to get ready for our New Years eve party (it seems like this is the Guatemalan place to be on the Lake for New Years). There was a 7 course meal, drinks, fireworks, and a ton of fun - an incredible way to ring in 2006! View Lake Atitlan Photo Gallery Day 4 - Lake Atitlan < | Index | Photo Galleries | > Day 6 - Back to Antigua © 2007 Blue Ocean Studios, LTD. All rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Services | About | Contact Prints | Return Policy | View Cart World Travel Galleries | World Travel Blog | Links |
On tap for today was a rugged 2.5 hour horseback ride followed by breakfast. We got off to an early morning start - with some lakeside pictures - the clouds have made it tough to get a good shot of Volcano San Pedro, but we had some luck getting some good shots. We were then picked up by the ranch owner, Nancy, and our guide, Chris, who took us back to the ranch. We had delicious coffee cake to get us started - baked by Nancy herself (incredible). We also met Jim, Nancy's husband, and owner of the ranch. Jim had recently broken a few ribs and other bones while giving a group a riding tour - so Chris was leading the ride. After a few minutes of chatting and getting to know each other, Jim warned us that this will be the toughest trail we have ever ridden - and he turned out to be correct! 
As I had told Nancy and Jim that we were intermediate riders, and Jaimie more an expert in english style, they were excited to put Jaimie on "Zeus", a horse that they said was challenging - after hearing Jim rant about how tough the ride was going to be - and that Jaimie's horse was challenging - we were getting a bit nervous! We saddled up with Chris and were off on our morning ride with a few of the ranch's dogs to keep any would-by bandits away - the dogs and Chris's gun made us feel safe :). So - we now have Chris, carrying a gun, fierce dogs, seeing Jim who had broken a few ribs and other bones, Nancy who has a bad leg because of a horse injury, and Jim telling us that this is a terribly difficult trail, + Jaimie on a challenging horse - sounded like it was going to an interesting ride! 
The ride was incredible - we started off with galloping down the road at an almost uncontrollable speed. We broke off into a corn field and began our trail. We passed through many fields, by workers, by other "wild" dogs that would chase and bark at our 3 guard dogs, through areas where the mud slides from Hurricane Rita had killed hundreds, through steep rocky terrain, and went into 3 foot wide 5 ft deep trenches that were washed out from waters. It was an incredible and challenging ride which culminated into an incredible view of the Lake, Santiago, and Volcano San Pedro. There were a few clouds off to the West, so we couldn't see the Pacific ocean (although it is sometimes visible from this "mirador", or lookout). While I rode Roceo, Jaimie followed me on Zeus - who kept chewing Roceo's behind, as I guess Roceo was going too slow for Zeus. This caused Roceo to kick up (fun to try to hold on) - at least once when Jaimie tried to keep Zeus back, he bucked - fun!
We then returned back to the ranch for a special breakfast from Nancy - peach juice with strawberries, a baked pineapple, waffles, filet mignon, and potatoes. We sat down and talked with Jim and Chris for about an hour. Jim is definetly one of the strongest, bravest men I have met. Jim and Nancy moved here ~15 years ago, during the Guatemalan civil war. Just as I was starting to feel safe in Guatemala, Jim talked about all of the craziness of Guatemala, and about their concrete shelter in their "basement" that they have had to use during the war. He spoke of his own surgeries he's performed on himself, recovering from his broken ribs and other assorted bones without the need for a doctor, realigning his own bones, etc. Nancy and Jim had built their own incredible stone ranch themselves and continue to expand it over the years - quite an amazing sight and lifestyle. The entire experience felt like we had gone back 100 hears into the outlawed wild west - where only the strong survive.