A Day of Firsts
 in picturesque Caldera, Panama. "Yours truly with Mercedes (the name of the horse) in picturesque Caldera, Panama.")
Yours truly with Mercedes (the name of the horse) in picturesque Caldera, Panama.
Today was a day of firsts for me, including eating cereal out of its own cardboard box with ultra-pasteurized no-refrigeration-needed milk, smoking a few puffs out of a bong (er, “shisha” or “hookah pipe”) in a bar, and eating marshmallows for the first time in, oh, 10 years. But the real excitement was not this super-unhealthy “dinner” but rather horseback riding in picturesque Caldera, which is just south of Boquete.
Franklin, my guide, and I spent a couple of hours riding to the top of the mountain, enjoying some of the most preciosa views I have ever seen. In addition, we had pleasant conversations about everything from songs by Enrique Inglesias (basura or garbage, he said) to U.S. politics (ditto 
).
Here’s a recap of horseback riding in Caldera.
