Monfragüe National Park
21 May 2022
The Riding
The Accommodation
Do you have any comments about the accommodation and food?
The food was just lovely! Really interesting to try the local produce. The tapas and lunch picnic stops were fabulous and Mamen looked after us so very well. Pork was very much on the menu and I don't normally choose it in the UK as it can be a bit bland but was absolutely delicious out there. Lots of fresh tomatoes! Lovely cheese, cured pork and wonderful olives. And the bread was really good too.
Our accommodation in Trujillo was just right and the town itself was so historically interesting - lots of atmosphere in the main square. I particularly liked the Hospederia Parque De Monfrague for the amazing sounds of the birds and the views. Food was very good too.
Before Your Holiday
Did you have all of the information you needed to:
How could we improve the quality of pre-holiday information that we send?
As it turned out the information from ITS wasn't the same as the ride as various things had changed. Mamen acknowledged that it needed updating. That said, there was no problem at all - I was just happy to go with the flow and as long as we had a bed for the night and some food, all was good! It was great to have everything all sorted and even when there was a problem with the accommodation one night (the hotel had cocked up the booking!!) it was sorted quickly and without us having to do anything other than wait for a little bit and walk 2 doors down.
What would have been an improvement is more information whilst on the ride. We all had a lot of questions about various things - animals, farming, wildlife, lifestyle, history etc but as Emilio was very quiet we often couldn't hear the answers to questions asked by riders at the front of the ride and he wasn't very proactive about telling us where we were, what was going to be happening next etc. But he was such a lovely man I hate to criticise and in the evenings he did get asked and was able to tell us more and Mamen was always very helpful too. I do wonder if something like a FAQ for the specific ride might help to answer more area specific questions (or is that the holiday home agent in me getting carried away?!) Doubt they have time to do that though with so many horses to look after (and looked after very well!)
[Becky from In The Saddle replies: Thank you so much for bringing this to our attention. It's likely that throughout the pandemic things have changed with the ride and so we will certainly review our information.]
How could we improve the way we handled your booking and payment?
None, all fabulous!
Do you have any other feedback for us?
Definitely worth checking the weather before going (of course - what idiot doesn't do that - er me!) as there seem to be more extreme weathers out there now. Much hotter for the time of year than usual. But all good as the sun shone and it was fabulous to be so consistently warm after a winter in the UK!
[Becky from In The Saddle replies: Thank you very much for your feedback and we are so pleased you enjoyed your holiday.]
Sue who has been on 7 In The Saddle rides. A really steady tour through some warm and interesting country | The riding was really slow and steady apart from the odd trot and canter but we had been advised of that in advance and given the high temperatures, was just right. Initially I thought my horse - Chile - was probably a bit quieter than I would have be suited to BUT was very sweet and had impeccable manners and I actually ended up being very appreciative of having a steady ride, who could be ridden in a very relaxed way. I very much enjoyed riding him and dealing with him. A real gent.