Costa Rica Discovered: Bailey's Tico & Los Torres Cabalgata!

Last Sunday May 26 saw us head over to the small town of Los Torres for their annual Cabalgata. Always a fun event as I have said before and for horse lovers, every Cabalgata is equal to Christmas morning:-) Cabalgatas are a chance for horse lovers to get together, drink cerveza, visit with old friends and actually go for a beautiful horse ride. The village of Los Torres sits at the base of beautiful Volcan Miravalles. At a higher elevation than Guayabo, one gets beautful views of the lush valleys and off in the distance Volcan Rincon de La Vieja. Donna and I were invited by our Costa Rican friends and neighbors to accompany them for the day - Hubert, Milady and their daughter Genesis, along with Manuel and Leyla. A great bunch of fun people. So now the problem is how do we get 6 horses from San Jorge to Los Torres about 25 miles by road. No problem - Hubert and I would ride and trail four horses over to Pueblo Nuevo then meet Leyla's brother with his truck. They would then truck the horses to Los Torres - always a Tico solution. Hubert and I left about 9:30 AM and rode for about 1 1/2 hours, met the truck, loaded the horses and we all arrived in Los Torres at noon in plenty of time as the Cabalgata was scheduled to start at 2 PM which is usually 3 PM or later - Tico Time! So for a few hours we had some great tico food, drank a few cerveza and watched some of the riders perform with their beautiful paseo horses - high stepping and actually keeping time to the music. At about 3 PM, the ride started and off we went through this beautiful Costa Rican high country. Cool fresh breezes with some heavy cloud cover but no rain. About 75 horses and riders - some having a little more cerveza than others and some having over indulged in Bailey's Tico. Now here is a new drink to us. Bailey's Tico is a local drink that tastes exactly like Bailey's liquor BUT wow is it potent. It seems like this drink is very popular in Los Torres as there were gallon jugs of this stuff everywhere. Donna and I tried some and it was very tasty - it is made with evaporated milk, condensed milk, coco syrup AND alcohol made from Coyol palm. You cannot buy this stuff from any liquor outlet - this is a real home grown hooch! A couple of drinks will knock you on your butt so if you ever get a chance to try some - drink it with caution. Lots of fun for the rest of the day with our old Costa Rican friends and new friends we met that day. The ride was beautiful single track through the lush country side for about 2 hours with a few tricky river crossings thrown in. We made a huge loop and ended back at Los Torres for the draw prizes and dancing and more food. Donna won a rope and saddle blanket and I won a rope and a great leather clad bottle for Baileys' Tico I guess :-) After the prizes were all handed out, we loaded up and made for San Jorge - Hubert and I had to trail the horses back after the truck ride so it made for a long day as we arrived home about 10 PM. Tired but looking forward to the next cabalagata! Pura Vida!