We hear all the time about the little towns up in the mountains that have no car traffic and are only accessible by foot or on horse. So, on Saturday, we decided to set out in search of such a town. We were looking for one called La Naranjita (The Little Orange), but the directions Josh had gotten (from a guy who lived there nonetheless) weren't right. So we ended up in another "town" called El Toro, which was a steep hour and a half hike from the main road. We use the word "town" loosely, because El Toro consists of about six houses scattered over a couple acres on the side of a hill. We talked to one old lady who lives there, and she said she goes down into Balfate maybe four or five times a year. Other than that, she is content to stay up in the mountains.
It was interesting the contrast between the houses and people there and those we see every day in the villages on the main road. There was very little plastic garbage. Although made of adobe and thatch, the houses were in good repair and very neat and clean. They had fields of corn, plantains, and bananas. We concluded that this little group of people who essentially live "off the grid" probably have a better lifestyle than their more worldly counterparts, simply because they aren't trying to compete in an economy that just can't support them. It makes you think about "progress" and what Westernization does to people who aren't accustomed to western thinking.
A few pictures from our journey......
Guildy and Josh taking a little break. Guildy has definitely outgrown her little backpack, but she was a trooper.....and so was Josh!
Of course, this isn't a bull. It's one of the Brahma cross milk cows that everybody has. But since we went to El Toro (The Bull), I thought we needed a picture of a bovine.
As we got higher and higher up, the view of Balfate and the Caribbean just got better. And, best of all, it got COOLER!! Down by the coast where we live, this time of year is miserably hot, but apparently a little elevation makes all the difference. We were actually cold, which was a pretty nice change!
On our way back down the mountain, we were overtaken by a string of four horses and mules hauling lumber down. Josh knew the guy from work because the hospital has bought lumber from them in the past. They cut it up in the mountains, mill it down with a chainsaw, and pack it down with horses. Pretty labor intensive logging operation! This particular batch of wood was headed for Luis, the carpenter in Balfate.
This horse had lost his load and was being repacked.
On the main road on the way home, we passed these guys with their load of plantains. It is high plantain season right now, so this is a very common sight.
And that, in a nutshell, was our Saturday adventure!
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