Caballeros

---

On the top of the mountains surrounding Malaga there's a nice restaurant with a wonderful view over the city and the sea. What would then be the optimal way to reach this restaurant? Helicopter would be one option. Fast, easy, but quite expensive. Car is another very rational alternative, since there are actual roads leading there. For the sportsman a climb or a trek would be good exercise.

For us - Tim, Lisa, Miguel, Nico, and me - the mean of transport is - horse. Horses are very useful animals in many fields, but for climbing a mountain...? At the foot of the mountain there's a little farm where the horses live. The animals are in size quite impressive, but don't really live up to the movie ideals of Shadowfax, Black Beauty, or Jolly Jumper...Besides, our experience from horseback riding extend to pony rides on a tivoli.

So, here goes nothing...Turns out that the old Spanish caballero leading us upwards knows what he's doing. Also turns out that the horses know what they're doing. All we need to do is to sit back and enjoy the ride. No steering, no commands, no breaking, just forward and up. Although the paths are very narrow and it seems they could disappear down the valley any time, the ride feels safer than a train ride. Sure, two of the horses don't really get along and start a little kicking fight, something that wouldn't happen between two trains...some personal stuff according to the caballero, but they manage to walk it off.

The ride down the mountain is as safe as the climb up, although for natural reasons - such as gravity - faster. All in all, a very pleasant experience. And the best birthday gift ever...

---