The nice thing about a Cabalgata, as Monica of Centaura explained to me, is that everyone rides together, regardless of social status or class. Whole families, young and old, ride their horses with each other. Monica has ridden in countless of these events.

We got on our horses and began the ride down the road. I was on Perla, a beautiful bay horse that is very smooth. Some people get a little crazy during the Cabalgata. Perhaps that is because many of them drink heavily while riding. Motorcyclesand ... ...

I felt like we were floating as we rose up over the pineapple fields and lush green environment and headed for the rainforest. Though it is the dry season, to me everything is still really green here. You can get pretty close to the tree tops as you float over the rainforest. We did! It was early morning, so we heard the sounds of the rainforest waking up; monkeys and birds called out. We saw parrots and macaws flying below us and even a sloth.

As we rose higher, the cows in the distance looked so ... ...

To ride here, is to ride among lava rocks, listen to the rumblings of the Volcano, see the smoke billowing from the top of the cone and see the lava billowing down its side, especially at night. Arenal can throw rocks the size of cars and its flow has been known to change direction.

We also visited nearby hot springs, but non-touristy ones. The heat of the springs is determined by how active the volcano is that day. On our day, the volcano apparently wasn’t really, really active, though it was a ... ...