Horseback Tours

[Tina0922]

Friends and I might want to do a horseback ridding tour in one of the islands for our Dec. 5, 04 Golden Princess Cruise. We visit St Thomas, St Kitts, Grenada, Guamche(Venz) and Aruba). Which port would be best for horseback tours but not interfere with a possible snorkling tour. FYI....we are debating this because back in '01 we took a horseback ridding tour in Casta Maya and we were so mad at what Princess was selling and upset at the money we spent!

The tour consisted of driving about 25-30min inland...we got to the place and we mounted our horses according to skill levels. We started out it it seemed like fun even though my friend & I were split up due to different levels of ridding. We rode about 30-40min to an area where the tour guide talked about a particular tree that produces sap I believe for bubble gum and showed us a huge (and I mean HUGE) termite hive/nest....whatever it is called. We then mounted back on the horses and rode back about 30-40min and had water or soft drinks. After that we boarded the van and they took us back to the ship. We spent I think $80 per person for this tour!!!! I DO NOT want to spend that much money and a similar horseback ridding tour.

Please, any info on horseback tours would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.

Tina

[Tina0922]

Man....no one knows anything about these tours! Please help if you have ANY suggestions and all. Thanks in advance. :)

Tina

[catmand]

[url="http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001"][img]http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/16/16_3_164.gif[/img][/url].we had a terrific time horse backing with Randi's Happy Horses in Mazatlan.

Oh, you were going to the caribbean?............never mind!

Have you tried posting on the port of call boards? Give it a shot if you don't get many responses here.

[Tina0922]

Thanks ....don't get much, if any responses on the ports of call pages. That is why I tried posting here. I even posted on the Roll Call forum for my cruise to see if any of my fellow passengers have heard and read stuff.

Tina

[catmand]

[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3]Tina, I wonder if you could do a search on your own, something like "horseback riding in Aruba"....or whatever and see what you come up with? If you found something that sounded good to you well maybe then you could post something like....has anyone ever heard of/done .........![/size][/font]
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[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3]It really sounds like the one you went on before was crap so I can understand your hesitation to book again thru the line. As for us, unless it has been highly recomennded like Randi. I like the comfort of booking thru Princess (or whomever).[/size][/font]
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[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3]Good luck to you, hope you find some info: hey, check it out[/size][/font]
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[url="http://www.aruba-travelguide.com/activities/horsebackriding.html"]http://www.aruba-travelguide.com/activities/horsebackriding.html[/url]

i just did a search like i suggested, got a ton of hits.

[crusdiva]

Tina,
DH and I did the Horsebacking Riding excursion through Princess in Aruba and LOVED it. We too have had some bad experiences with Princess' horseback riding excursions but were delighted in Aruba. We were there in October last year and Princess used Rancho El Paso. Patrick and his assistant were the best. We were taken to the ranch and matched up with our horses - fast and painless AND Patrick did a wonderful job matching riders. We mounted and rode through a neighborhood and then through some very arid and desert like areas before arriving at the beach where we rode the horses into the water (they LOVED it). Afterwards we dismounted for refreshments and some quality beach time in a lovely cove before heading back to the ranch. The horses were very responsive to our commands, we were allowed to gallop all along the way.
Now, we did have a very small group - there were only 6 of us - and most of us had some experience which allowed Patrick to serve as a host and guide rather than try to keep others (horses and people) in line.
I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have, but I really do recommend this horseback riding excursion in Aruba.

Sharon

[woodofpine]

They're into riding in Aruba. And if you know how, they'll really let you cut loose through some awesome terrain.

The best two are Rancho Daimari [url]http://www.visitaruba.com/ranchodaimari/[/url]
and Rancho del Campo [url]http://www.ranchodelcampo.com/[/url]

A poster that has done both preferred Rancho del Campo (a little friendlier?) over Daimari. We had a truly thrilling ride though with Daimari. They are both excellent and offer similar products.

I would pick one of them over Rancho Notorious because these ride through the wild national park terrain on the Atlantic side rather than near the less interesting terrain of the hotel region.

Both do 2-3 hour rides that you can do in the AM with pier to pier transport included. You can then hit a beach or beach-snorkle site in the afternoon. We did a ride out to the Natural Pool along the Atlantic for a brief swim with an INTENSE gallop through the dunes on return, then hit Palm Beach by cab in the afternoon. It rates as one of our best days in the islands. There are several posts on the ports of call board. St. Lucia has a nice - more sedate - riding operation too (amazing scenery there).

Hope this helps!
Hi-Ho Silver Away!

[Tina0922]

Wow...thanks guys. That is exactly what I wanted to hear. I will research those stated and see what sounds good to my friends as well. Thanks for your time.

Tina