Hold Your Horses! ... Literally

 This day started and finished at a gallop; we sprinted through our itinerary at a break neck pace only to come to a halting stop at our pillows. From our first day of science inquiry to many people's first day of horseback riding, today was filled with new discoveries and fantastic experiences.

We woke up to a muy delicioso breakfast, which included stuffed omelets with mozzarella, pico de gallo, toast with exotic jam and the famous white pineapple. After that we went right to work. We quickly gathered with our lab groups to finalize our experimental design and start our first official day of experimentation.  Experimental topics are mainly focused on deterring the leaf cutter ants from destroying valuable crops.  To create these deterrents, groups concocted solutions involving ant genocide and mutilation to the far less grotesque concoction of all-natural bug spray.  After these pleasant endeavors had been thoroughly pursued with varied results our next step was to present our ideas and experiential design to the rest of the ready to listen groups. 

After a mentally enthralling morning everyone was ready for lunch. The lunch of the day consisted of a taro chips (which is everyones new tastier and healthier replacement for potato chips), a baked chicken dish, and something involving rice, cheese and hearts of palm, which was unexplainably delicious and somehow reminiscent of homely favorite, 'cheesy potatoes.' Right after lunch everyone piled into a safari van and sang along to childhood favorites like Taylor Swift, High School Musical and Miley Cyrus. A music video may or may not appear in the near future.  Once arriving at the ranch they quickly had us line up in order of riding experience. One of our group (Caelen, obviously) led our party in knowledge, having recently seen much success at Youth Nationals. 

We then set out on our grand adventure, following a trail through terrain ranging from an almost-paved road to grassy mountain pastures to treacherously mud-slicked hills. The horses were generally cooperative and easygoing, and they behaved well according to our specific instructions regarding steep slopes and one loitering bushmaster snake. The end of our excursion culminated in an opportunity to race, at a tremendous speed of a gallop. 

When we returned to our lodgings at La Finca Anita, travelers chose between leisure activities including hammock-encased naps, expeditions in search of Ofelia's ice cream, and shopping trips to the village. Dinner was roast beef with baked veggies and salad, eaten to the thunderous noise of a torrential downpour of biblical proportions.  It's still raining (in preparation for a 40-day flood, probably) now, two hours later.  Dessert was caramelized bananas served with cacao-chip ice cream.

After dinner we listened to short summaries of the scientific projects carried out by some other American college students, who are staying nearby. Their topics of inquiry ranged from turtle and monkey behavior to medicinal plant ecology and were a wonderful preview into possible future endeavors in biology. We also received the sacred notebooks of previous student work, which was similar to our research projects. One group, however, is pursuing an entirely new topic since they are blazing the trail of new scientific discovery.

"How do you stop?!?" is our quote of the day, which was shouted in a panicked moment of uncontrollable full-tilt horseback racing. The quote is a perfect way to tie up our day, which finished as energetically as it started, but now it's time to pull the reins in and go to bed.

Sincerely, 

Frances, Caelen, and Claire

See the Horseback Ride to Cerro Frío Slideshow here