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| On the way to Santos |
Last Tuesday I decided to go to Santos for a few days to enjoy the beach
there. And what a beautiful place it was.
I was supposed to arrive at 5pm, however, the truck drivers were having
a demonstration and they blocked all the highways and bridges going into the
port and the city. So, after seating in the bus for an extra 3 hours, I arrived
in Santos at 8pm.
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| Promenade |
The beach is 7 kilometers = 4.5 miles long, very wide and calm (a little
brown) waters. It is enclosed by a large promenade, with gardens, monuments,
fountains, bike and walking paths. There were many people jogging, bicycling,
walking or just seating at one of the many benches along the gardens.
After walking for 3 hours I went back to the hostel. The next day I
visited the town, walked some more on the promenade and due to rain I ended up
at a mall.
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| Promenade at night |
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| Beach at night |
Finally the next day I went to the beach, first thing a nice swim and
then to lay on the sand to get dry. And there I was, laying peacefully,
enjoying the quiet of the place, relaxing, almost in a deep state of
meditation, when, I felt a hand on my neck. As I open my eyes, I saw a man’s
face over mine and at that moment he yanked my chain and run of on his bicycle.
I jumped to my feet and started screaming: thief, thief, on the bicycle,
thief!!!
I picked my clothes and I started running behind him still screaming at
the top of my lungs. He was on a bike and I was running on the sand, so of
course I did not catch him.
A few minutes later I saw two policemen riding on their 4 wheelers and I
flag them down and I filed a report. And that is that.
Until you are not in a situation
you don’t know how you are going to react, I never thought that I would scream
and run behind a robber like I did, but I did. I was not afraid or scare, I
was mad that I have been robbed.
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| View from across the Aquarium |
I have used that chain for over 20 years on four continents and I never
had a problem, and now…. Oh well…it is just a chain, it can be replace.
I was not going to let this incident ruin my vacation, so the next day,
I went for another walk on the promenade, and I was going to take a ferry trip
around the island and the bahia, however, there were a group of school children
taking the trip and I did not want to spend two hours in a boat full of
elementary school children. So I went to the aquarium instead, after that a
nice dinner of shrimp, and I walked back to the hostel.
Now I have to buy a new chain.
