HorseTravelBooks.com - Latin America

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Latin America

Each of the HorseTravelBooks.com titles has a direct link to its own page on Barnes & Noble and Amazon.co.uk. Alternatively, all of our titles can be ordered from your local bookshop.

Adventures in Mexico George Ruxton ISBN 1590480236	Considered one of the finest travel accounts of its era, “Adventures in Mexico” describes the equestrian exploits of its famous author, George Ruxton, a young British army officer who rode from the port of Vera Cruz to the fabled walls of Santa Fe, Mexico in 1847. It is a true tale of rough adventure filled with detailed descriptions of Indians, Mexicans, and Americans. When the English horseman met famed Mexican General Santa Ana, for example, he caustically noted that his host was short, overweight, sported a peg leg, and married to a woman many years his junior. Social commentary aside, the book is packed with adventurous deeds. At times Ruxton exhibits a fearlessness which borders on insanity. He ignores dire warnings, rides through deadly deserts, and dares murderers to attack him. It is a delightful and invigorating tale of a time and place now long gone. Go to Amazon.co.uk or Barnes & Noble
The Courage to Ride Ana Beker ISBN 1590480414	The world of equestrian travel seldom recognizes international borders, being content to urge its mounted adherents to ride where they will. Few people better symbolize this ancient philosophy of unrestricted freedom than Ana Beker. The only child of Lithuanians who had immigrated to Argentina, Beker grew up surrounded by horses on the vast, wind-swept pampas. Her earliest memories were centered around these four legged friends. She literally grew up in the saddle, ignoring the traditions of the male oriented society which said that a woman’s place was by the hearth, not in the saddle. History might have been content to let her stay in her homeland, until a fateful meeting changed her fate forever. In the early 1940s Beker heard a lecture given by Aime Tschiffely, who had himself ridden from Argentina to Washington DC ten years earlier. When the famous horseman scoffed at the young girl’s idea to ride alone even further than he had, from Argentina to Canada, Beker accepted Tschiffely’s challenge, mounted up, and never looked back. What followed was an equestrian journey of Homeric proportions. With her eyes always on the horizon, Beker began a 17,000 mile mounted odyssey that would fix her place in the annals of equestrian travel history. Amply illustrated, “The Courage to Ride” is thus not only a thrilling adventure tale, it is also a true account of a wild heart that would not be conquered. Go to Amazon.co.uk or Barnes & Noble
Cucumber Sandwiches in the Andes John Ure ISBN 1590481739	No-one who wasn’t mad as a hatter would try to take a horse across the Andes by one of the highest passes between Chile and the Argentine. That was what John Ure was told on his way to take up his diplomatic posting with the British Embassy in Santiago in the early 1970s. Disregarding the sceptics, the author prepared to ride across the hazardous mountains by studying accounts of those who had travelled in earlier centuries. An excellent example was the indomitable Lady Cochrane who was pursued across the Andes by Spanish troops in 1820. John Ure provides exciting passages from these historical tales. “Lady Cochrane rushed onto the bridge, but when in the centre the vibration became so great that she was compelled to lie down, pressing her child to her bosom, suspended over the foaming torrent below. In this perilous situation, Pedro begged of her to lie still, and as the vibration ceased, crept on hands and knees towards her ladyship, taking from her the child and imploring her to remain motionless… they happily succeeded in crossing, when the ropes being cut, the torrent was interposed between her and her pursuers.” Armed with this historical knowledge, the Long Rider author and several comrades made their own remarkable journey. Although they did not encounter Lady Cochrane’s trembling bridge, they had problems of their own - how many mules, for example, do you need to carry 540 eggs, a storm tent and hay for six horses? Fans of equestrian travel and Latin America will be enchanted by this delightful book . Sir John Ure has enjoyed a diplomatic career in which he was ambassador to countries as diverse as Cuba, Brazil, and Sweden. He has written several books including In Search of the Nomads and Prince Henry the Navigator. He was chairman of the judges of the prestigious Thomas Cook/Daily Telegraph Travel Book of the Year award and is a regular contributor to both the Times Literary Supplement and the Sunday Telegraph. Go to Barnes & Noble or Amazon.co.uk.
A Lady's Ride Across Spanish Honduras in 1881 Mary Lester ISBN 1590481615	Few Englishmen, and still fewer women, had ridden from the Pacific port of Ampala, over the mountains of Honduras, to the Atlantic in the late nineteenth century. Yet that is what the refined Mary Lester set out to do. The intrepid traveller was laboring under a handicap as reliable maps were rare and what verbal advice was on offer turned out to be dubious and out of date. Yet such inconveniences did nothing to dampen the adventurous spirit of the lady who preferred to ride under the pseudonym “Maria Soltera.” Regardless of what they called her, the people in Honduras soon leaned to respect the courage and determination of the foreign Long Rider. “I do not fear hardship,” she told them, “as I am the daughter of an English soldier and circumstances have compelled me to depend on myself.” Lester wasn’t making an idle boast. In excellent Spanish, she haggled over saddles, hired mules, deflated bullies and outwitted nefarious guides. She was, in a word, a fire-cracker whose combustible ride across the verdant mountains is still a tale to remember. Thus “A Lady’s Ride Across Spanish Honduras” is a gem of a book, with its entertaining account of Mary’s vivid, day to day life in the saddle. Yet the hardy amateur author was a keen observer who noted the exotic animal life, social customs, and political conditions of a jungle-trail-world that belonged to that simpler age. Complete with drawings from her journey, Lester’s colourful writing brings the “lost” civilization of Spanish Honduras back to life more than a century later. For more information, please go to Barnes & Noble or Amazon.co.uk.
Riding Across Patagonia Lady Florence Dixie ISBN 159048018X	When asked in 1879 why she wanted to travel to such an outlandish place as Patagonia, the author replied without hesitation that she was taking to the saddle in order to flee from the strict confines of polite Victorian society. “Palled with civilization and its surroundings, I wanted to escape to some place where I might be as far removed from them as possible. A longing grows up within one to taste a more vigorous emotion than that afforded by the monotonous round of society’s so-called pleasures,” Dixie wrote. “Riding Across Patagonia” tells the story of how the aristocrat successfully traded the perils of a London parlor for the wind-borne freedom of a wild Patagonian bronco. Her equestrian exploits became legendary. One of the first Europeans to ride Criollo horses, on one occasion Lady Dixie escaped from a rampaging prairie fire by riding directly through the flames! Long considered a classic of equestrian travel, Lady Dixie’s book is illustrated with pen and ink drawings that show her mounted entourage during the course of their remarkable adventures. Go to Amazon.co.uk or Barnes & Noble
The Tale of Two Horses Aimé Tschiffely ISBN 1590480120	In the world-famous travel book, "Tschiffely's Ride", the Swiss author recounted how he and his two Criollo horses, Mancha and Gato, set off from Argentina in 1924, bound for faraway Washington DC. Their legendary 10,000 mile ride took them through the mountains and jungles of South and Central America, where they encountered a host of adventures, including rope bridges, vampire bats, sand storms, treacherous mountains, quicksand and hostile natives! Now here is the same story but delivered with a new twist. For the first time in history, the story is narrated by the two equine heroes, Mancha and Gato. Their unique point of view is guaranteed to delight children and adults alike. With a preface by famed horseman R.B. Cunningham Graham, "The Tale of Two Horses" is amply illustrated with drawings by the author. No equestrian travel collection could be considered complete without this wonderful book! Go to Amazon.co.uk or Barnes & Noble
This Way Southward Aimé Tschiffely ISBN 1590480147	Tschiffely rides again ! But this time in a 30 horse-power Ford. With the Second World War raging across Europe, the most famous equestrian explorer of the twentieth century decides to make a perilous journey across the U-boat infested Atlantic. His mission? To return to his old haunts in South America and undertake a harrowing 7,000 mile journey through Argentina, across the inhospitable regions of Tierra del Fuego and over the majestic Andes mountains. One of the finest travel writers of his day, Tschiffely packs his story with a host of adventures and colourful characters including riding with gauchos and staying with the legendary Ona Indians. In addition “This Way Southward” details the adventurer’s emotional last meeting with his two legendary Criollo horses, Mancha and Gato. These were the equine heroes Tschiffely had ridden for 10,000 miles in 1925 from Argentina to Washington DC, and who were now living in retirement on the wild South American pampas. Lavishly illustrated with maps and numerous photographs taken by the author, “This Way Southward” is a rare treat for anyone interested in the travels of this famous traveller. No equestrian travel collection is complete without this famous classic. Go to Amazon.co.uk or Barnes & Noble for more information.

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