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Published: December 9th 2008
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Three out of eight travelers in my Spanish class have been robbed here in Buenos Aires. All in the last three weeks. One had her big backpack slashed at the bus station the day she arrived, one had his day pack taken from beside his chair in a cafe and one (as in me) had their room broken into and all electronic gear liberated. My friend who´s day pack got thiefed was distracted by one of the robbers being very loud and in his face at the cafe table. Within seconds of the thief scampering out the door my friend realized the pack was gone, rush out the door, started yelling and passer-byes pointed to a slow moving taxi. My friend opened the taxi door and the thieves got out and started running. Both were apprehended. He got his day pack, with laptop back.
The local teachers at the school tell the same kinds of stories. Bottom line is be careful and don´t bring anything you can´t stand to loose. That´s been my mantra for a long time so when my laptop went walka-walka I lost an inexpensive new laptop but no data. The folks at my hostel (Art Factory) were nice enough but didn´t seem to take any real steps to correct the door lock situation that may (or may not) have facilitated the robbery. The police came and I did get a police report without to much hastle.
I´ve not heard of anyone being confronted in person or violently robbed. But on the street you commonly see locals with their day packs on their front. Take some basic precautions, don´t carry a lot of cash. Lock you valuables up in the hostel. It is easy to blend in if you dress like the locals. Almost everyone wears subdued clothes - black or grey or light solid colors, no Hawaiian shirts or mumus... It is a great city this but... you may leave with a lot less than you arrived with, despite the shopping sprees. Hey, I´ve always wanted to leave home with just a credit card and this is pretty close to it!
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Nathan Borson
non-member comment
Doh!
Bill, Greetings from Alaska! Thanks for posting your adventures; we are following along with great interest. I'm sorry to hear your laptop was stolen; I hope that doesn't hamper the blogging you were going to do. Nothing very exciting to report on the home front. The big winter storm we're in the middle of turned out to be just rain (so far) in Gustavus. Cheers, Nate and Chip