Maitencillo Cabalgata

The second day of our stay in the coast town Maitencillo started with a raspberry cheese cake as it was Raphael's 30th birthday.



Cabalgata means horse cavalcade or plainly, horseback riding in the nature. So our present to the birthday kid was a three hour hike with the horses near the Chilean coast.

The ride started from the beach.

A Chilean cowboy, huaso, with his horses. The equestrian equipment differs a lot from what we are used to back home! The rein is just a rope, and the saddle is most likely self made.





Raphael got the strongly built rodeo horse. Chilean rodeo is a different sport art than the bucking horse and a rider which is more known to us. Even though its high popularity, Chilean rodeo is ugly and brutal. In the half-moon shaped arena, two cowboys on horses try to pin a calf against large cushions lining the arena.









Here I'm trying to get my pony Peldita to move but the horses knew nothing about the fine English style commands. Or maybe it was the rider that was clueless and had forgotten about everything she had once learned...

After a lot of climbing and upward hills we have finally reached the goal.

The plain was already taken by colts, cows and a bull. :)

Do you see the beach far back in the horizon? That's where we started! From the plain, we could see all the width of Chile from the coast to the Andes. The vista was beautiful!

On the way back I had to change horses with our guide because my ankle was hurting. With Manzanita, my new horse, we understood each other better and she even encouraged me to try troting and galloping. It was so much fun!

After three hours we were back where we started, in town, on foot. Everyone was aching and tired but so happy!

In town we had to check out the local market.

And pretty soon afterwards Lukas and I drove back to Santiago.

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Only passions, great passions
can elevate the soul to great things.

Denis Diderot

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Maitencillo Beach Day

The city is deserted the minute there is a long weekend holiday in sight. Today, Monday the 10th of October is a public holiday, which means all Santiaguinos take advantage of the possibility to get out of the city.

The second reason why we, too, were heading out was that Lukas's workmate Raphael was turning 30 on Sunday and her girlfriend Sarah wanted to surprise him with a rented cabin in Maitencillo. Friday afternoon the traffic was even more chaotic than normally but after a dose of patience and cheeky driving skills we got out and on our way to the coast.

And it was worth it! We had a huge balcony and more than a pocketful of sunshine.



Saturday morning we had breakfast in Café Ayen, which was one floor below our terrace and belonged to the owners of the cabins.

A holiday is nothing without a heavenly pancake with manjar for breakfast.

After breakfast we took an adventurous walk on the beach. Lukas was dreaming of going paragliding but due to the wind and tangled paraglide's strings finally it didn't work out.

Despite of the chilly wind there were some courageous people bathing in the sea! Brrh.



Empty shells of crayfish could be found everywhere on the beach. It was like a cemetery of sea creatures.

As I was collecting seashells and stones...

... Lukas was admiring the artwork of wind and water.

Up, up we climb!

Definitely worth the climb! What a view! But how am I going to get down...?

Up on the hill was a cute path and lots more to see.

After the afternoon in the sun, beer sure tasted good!

And it was time to barbecue.

When it got too cold to stay outside, the evening continued indoors with some Yatzy and Skip-Bo games.



Stay tuned, because soon I'll show you what adventures did we embark upon Sunday... ;)

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The person who has lived the most
is not the one with the most years but
the one with the richest experiences.

Jean Jacques Rousseau

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