Me cai de un cabello

(Following this post is my account of the entire Galapagos trip, this post is just about me falling off a horse)

For those who can't translate that title either because you dont know spanish or because I still dont know it and wrote that completely wrong, it means "i fell from a horse."

Yup, i think i have said that phrase about a hundred times in the past 3 days since we returned from a 5 day trip to the galapagos islands (which are amazing by the way, but you can read my blog about that).


one day we went on an excursion up to the top of a volcanoe by horseback. it was about an hour trip to the top and the same back down. each of us was given a horse and for some reason i was given the smallest one. i never learned its name but i referred to it as 'donkey' the entire time as on numberous occasions my feet hit the ground and apparently i looked rediculous atop it.

never did it strike me as a problem that my horse was too small for me, nor the sensations of falling over during our gallops. how was a kid from philly, with only a boy scout merit badge in horseback riding supposed to predict my forthcoming plunge.

the trip to the top of the volcanoe was easy and we were in full gallop numberous times...no problem. The volcanoe was amazing and the sights were rediculous, yada yada yada.

so after lunch we began our trip back down. our guide was apparently impressed with our riding abilities earlier so he instructed us to eat quickly so we could ditch the other people wiht us and gallop the entire way back. 'a great idea, sounds like fun.', i thought

so, on the way down, we galloped, and a lot. in fact my puny little horse had me in the front most of the time. so we were about 3/4's the was down, on a rather wide path at this point and we were in full gallop and i was like, 'oh this is great we are fine, we are fine, we are fine...oh dear god i am falling, i am leaning to the right, now more the right, damn it my horse just made a sharp turn to the left and I am going to the right in mid-air.' BAMN! I hit the ground in some sort of pushup position and as i remember it I made a ninja-like roll and bounced right up to my feet. Lauren, who saw the whole thing said i actually hit the ground and tumbled and rolled all over the ground.

well, after my ninja roll i was on my feet and looked at my right hand which immediately was throbbing and was able to gaize (sp?) INTO my hand. yup, i ripped an inch long gash into the palm of my hand. this was followed by a bit of light-headedness and my guide telling me to get back on my horse. Oh, and i was completely covered in dirt and dust from the ride and ninja roll so i was concerned about any dirt getting into my gash.

So, i got back on that damn donkey of a horse and held on for dear life with my one good hand screaming of few obsenities along the way. I made it back to the trucks, nearly fainted twice, covered my pants in blood and drove back 45 minutes to the little town on the island.

My guide then dropped off my friends who were in the truck with me and we began our search for a doctor. Remember, this is not a city we are in. we are in the galapagos where nature is in charge and there is hardly more than 1500 people in the town. oh, and it was saturday when this happened, which means...the hospital isnt even open!!! so me and my guide drove all over the town searching for one of the 3 doctros there.

Eventually we found one who was this girl, about 30 years old, lying ont he beach in her swimsuit about to go snorkeling...she was on call that day (yes, in ecuador you can go snorkling while you are on call at the hospital). so after washing off she took me into the hospital which was really a clinic. there i found out that she actually was a med-student and not a full fledged doctor. this is not exactly what i was hoping to hear at the time. Well, to compound my fears, i was very aware of the fact that i had basically nothin left in my bank accound, did not have a credit card and wasnt even sure how well my insurance worked.

well, to wrap this up, the 'doctor' did a great job and she was really cool. i ended up with 3 stitches, found out that i barely missed severing a tendon which wouldve required an immediate flight back to the main land for surgery, and only had to pay $14 (the price of stitching, gauze, antibiotics, ibuprofen and cleaning stuff). the service was free, no co-pay, and to top it off, the hotel paid me back because they felt bad for me.

so, today, five days later, my hand is still swollen although it is getting better, the stitches look fine, and this email was a bit difficult to right so dont complain about the grammar mistakes. oh, and the first thing i get to do when i get to chile this monday is go to the hospital to get my stitches removed.

so, i highly recommend anyone to go to the galapagos and even do the horseback riding trip, but if you run into a tannish donkey-horse, please, please kick that thing as hard as you can.