April 7, 2013
Kathy and I are staying in a castle in the town of Zafra, which is in the Extremadura region of Spain. It dates from the 1400s and was converted into a hotel in the 1920s. It's a big sucker and, yes, that is me standing in the shadows at bottom:
![](http://api.ning.com:80/files/kY9puDXSBJZlXaN*lxjw4yGRyeoXiNMdjPNEURrBN6Dj3Nguw6C8f-bDgRxgv2VPtHaTeM29-giOjKiV0QpdZnLvkr9RRQ4O/paradoratzafla.jpg)
We awoke to the sounds of a drum corp marching past our window and later, over cafe con leche (coffee with milk) a man told us today is the feast of Domingo de Quasimodo. He drew us a crude map of the town and a road leading out of it to the south and we set out after breakfast on foot. At the edge of town we saw several people walking up a dirt road and followed along.
![](http://api.ning.com:80/files/kY9puDXSBJb*XT6MKH5ND9bJ6LenOQQCP61S3cI4BvEiS*oOoEh-QxT0f4VvA2r20XE*LKbw49HN*qPt2Ni0MW5mzOIxpNdW/roadtoquasimodo.jpg)
After a mile or so, we started hearing the music and the sounds of the festival. As we came up the hill to a church we saw many locals tailgating with tents and barbeques.
![](http://api.ning.com:80/files/kY9puDXSBJYik4b8pVzAsqexpBp6ls2RMoMrEcbahZTCOR0CNkHq27TyBFcbiewHSUChVcN55JPWpYYxhzKRdkPbsu-NgjVE/tailgating.jpg)
As we came into the festival area we saw many vaqueros including these two from Columbia.
![](http://api.ning.com:80/files/kY9puDXSBJa0CCup*LYE3p1H5cE*CQSxT9EiNK14sw5KG9DQWYZa0v*6nxMhtZe8XBr5PQA38sEdH4*OVRjncnX4-jYyPyTH/botasatzafra.jpg)
Note the botas (leggings) which he calls polainas. If you want to see them up close I am buying a pair tomorrow on the plaza at Equitation Gala (I made the vaquero in the picture write it down). I believe the young girl is his daughter.
Here is a photo of one of the local vaqueros:
![](http://api.ning.com:80/files/kY9puDXSBJYrVLQ1RjCNjIRGiuGQTe46TtHVfM85d0VjqiFYG8umlpx42ZU2oUS19GPPSs8iA8XQV32dwP0RPL7RKD4OB2Zg/armasatzafla.jpg)
And here is an example of female vaqueros standing at the edge of the festival. The town of Zafla is in the distance, high on the hill:
![](http://api.ning.com:80/files/kY9puDXSBJaiGJOvMkeyRPnMgMbB*qY*nv*5KNYcn*0G2tEFue-3ELTIZoJ8xwdFzcCHJQBk1eqKHQldc1Q8KYoWUXiJeAtN/chicasatzaflas.jpg)
The chica closest to the horse is wearing a snap cap which is typical of the gauchos of South America. The saddle has square, metal stirrups and a cloth seat (it has a name but I didn't write it down).
"A horse is a horse of course unless it's on the plains of Spain where it becomes a caballo."
—Old Vaquero Saying