Our second day in Paraty was spent trekking through the hills surrounding the town on horse back. Rose had been asking me for months if we could go horse riding (whether in the UK or elsewhere) and finally persuaded me to take the plunge. I wasn’t really sure what to expect and was a little apprehensive as the last time I had been on a horse was when I was about 2 years old.
Our instructor was cool, giving me a quick 5 minute introduction about how to ride a horse and not kill yourself (I was dressed in shorts, trainers and no hat). At first I just wanted to trot along at quite a slow pace, but after a while got up a little more speed to a canter and finally a gallop on the way back home.
The trip through the foot hills was amazing, we passed through lush forest and jungle and stopped off at a waterfall where we had a rest and swam to cool off from the scorching heat.
I would definitely try horse riding again, but I think that it would have to be done outside the UK as I don’t think I was supposed to do half the stuff we did on our trek (you would probably only trot around a field on your first time in the UK, not gallop up a hillside in the middle of the jungle).
