Witches' Brew

Last weekend, the Mini-Menace and I joined a group of about 6 other Embassy folks and went on a horseback ride--we drove about 30 minutes to a farm, saddled up, and then went on a trail ride through this small town and then up to a small viewpoint overlooking the Laguna de Apoyo, one of my favorite spots.  I hadn't been on a horse since I was about 16, and the MM had never saddled up.  The ride up to the viewpoint took about an hour, so this was no pony ride at the county fair.  There may have been been some trotting and / or cantering--I'm not too sure since I was more focused on not falling off and cracking my head open.  At any rate, we had a great time, enjoyed a lovely lunch at the viewpoint, and I astonished even myself by partaking in a non-bottled beverage: chicha bruja, or witches' brew.  It's some kind of fermented corn beverage...where I come from, we call it white lightning; it did have that charming moonshine aftertaste, with undertones of nail polish remover.  The floaters were an especially nice touch:

For part of the ride, we were cutting through town, but for most of the ride, we were on dirt roads, rambling through the woods:

But as you can see from this second picture, moto-taxis will go just about anywhere.  My rear end might have been more comfortable the next day, but I wouldn't have had as much fun in a moto-taxi.