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4th June 2013- Had arranged for am early breakfast by mistake so woke up for that and ate inside the house in the families formal dining room which was a little strange. Tried to read over some of my Spanish notes to see if that would help me during the day. Then after breakfast back to bed to try and catchup on some more sleep. The heat and humidity makes me feel really tired. Then packed the bag and went out to meet the group to set off on our horse riding expatiation through the Topes de Collantes Mountains. All six of us plus a driver piled into this tiny horse drown cart and went out to the edge of the city. We meet our guide there and got on our horses. They were small and fairly thin animals. We walked then down the steep hill as the road is concreted so very slippery. We then rode for an hour through farmland. It was all so green. Stopped at a local farm and sampled some sugar cane juice. It was very refreshing and had a almost lemon taste to it. Was nice to get off the horse and have a break in the shade. The farmer also had a large bull ox in the yard that was enormous. Then back on the horse to keep riding another 20 minutes or so till we reached the end of the path. My horse was slightly checky and kept trying to bit the other horses ears. We tided up the horses and then walked the last 15 minutes along the path to the waterfall and swimming hole. It was small waterfall but was so refreshing to swim in the cool water. There were a couple of crazy locals that would climb up the rocky sides and then drive into the water. Once we had cooled off then headed back to the horses. Stopped half way back for a coffee at the local little shack. The man selling the coffee was so happy. He was singing the whole time and ground the coffee by hand in a large mortar and pestal. It smelt so good and tasted very mild and delicious for coffee, which I don't drink. Back to the horses for the ride home. We took a short cut so it was less than an hour ride. It also went quicker as the guide keep shacken this metal chain pipe which the horses had been trained to go faster when they heard. We finished off the ride and then got into a slightly larger cart for the ride back into the Casa. Dropped off the towel and changed into shorts before walking back up the hill to the old convent which has been converted into a museum. It was a very small collection of photos and artifacts from the revolution. Could climb up the bell tower for a view over the city. Then walked around the city of Trinidad to a handcrafted market, which was essentially a few streets lined with carts selling a variety of different goods. Brought a small beaded bracelet. There are a lot of craved wooden products and crazy paintings. People selling are generally friendly and only slightly pushy. Back to the Casa for a quick nap and shower before heading to the neighboring Casa for dinner. It was a nice meal served in course which was a nice change as normally they bring out masses of food at once and it is a little over whelming. Tonight we headed back to the Casa da la music in the old step for one drink. It was similar music been played as the night before. At 10pm walked over to the Afro-Cuban music club and watched the show. It was an interesting spectacular. The dancing I think were trying to represent something just quiet sure what, there was a lot of satin and sequence in the costumes. Went on stage to help with one of the dances. Headed home after the show for an early night.
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