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Rating 9
On friendship and feeling thankful
Arthur Tolsma a 18/09/2015
Today, on my holiday in Portugal, I had a the most curious tour guide ever: meet Eusebio. A beautiful black dog.

I was up for a hike of 10 kilometer on my own, and after 600 meter, when I was passing by a café, the dog walked up to me. He sniffed, probably testing my bouquet, and strolled around me while I walked on. Another 100 meter further, when my map told me I should go of the road and into the wild, he followed me to the hiking path. I was curious when he would stop and walk back. But he didn’t. Eusebio just went with me along the whole hike, just like he felt I needed a guide.

And he was a great guide. He was completely silent so I could enjoy the view, and focus on the difficult climbing. Sometimes he started panting, to show that I was not the only one getting tired, thereby showing his empathy with my fatigue. He was always walking behind me, to support me and giving me the feeling that I was the guide. Of course he was always in control.
Whenever I would feel tired and stop for a while, he gave me a few seconds. But if it took too long he would walk further and look back. Not saying a word, I could read in his eyes the pity he had with my human stamina. And probably the pity every animal feels when he sees humans walk on just 2 feet…
From time to time he would jump in the little stream to drink some water, but of course mainly to remind me that I should drink something myself. He never barked along the whole trip, but did come closer to get a pat. When I lost the way (yes, I guess I walked 20 instead of 10 km) he just kept on supporting me, however sometimes looking a bit in doubt.
Travelling became more difficult when I got ‘lost’: I knew the direction more or less, but lost the path. Through rough terrain, climbing more than hiking, he followed me. I just tried a path, through bushed or by jumping from stone to stone, and he would follow. However, he could not really climb, so sometimes I tried a path and looked back if he could follow. If he could not, he would just stand still, with his wise and ever-friendly eyes. So I would climbed back and try a different path.

When we finally managed to get onto a normal road and found out where we were, I decided it was time for a break. Sitting next to a small waterfall he kept me company, sharing some bread from my knapsack. Whenever Portuguese tourists called him, Eusebio always went there for a pat and some friendly words, well-educated as he is. But he always came back to me.

When returning in the village I decided to go back to the café where he found me. And just as our meeting was amazingly natural and astonishing easy, so was our parting.
Arriving to the café I wondered what to do. But Eusebio just walked on. A car stopped. A woman came out. She opened the backdoor of her white mini-van, and Eusebio stepped in.
I was speechless for a second, but immediately approached the woman. I told her that the dog was my valuable companion for more than 4 hours and 20 kilometers. She told me his name was Eusebio. I said “muy muy bueno!” while pointing at Eusebio, and lifted both my thumbs. She thanked me again, stepped in the car, and drove away.

A feeling of happiness filled my body. I had a great friend, and he is home again. A little sadness followed, realizing that I would never see him again. But the pure coincidence and serendipity of this companionship amazed me, and made me feel very, very thankful.
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Rating 6
R Cheng
a 03/07/2017
I just came back from my trip to Lisbon and Porto. Overall the trip was good. BUT I have two complaints and hope that the issues will be solved for other travelers : (1) The immigration process for all other passports (non EU) was too slow.. I need to wait for 2.5 hrs at Lisbon airport. (2) I was ripped off by taxi driver from Lisbon airport to core tourist area 35 Euro. My brother-in-law only paid 11.5 Euro. I only paid 11 Euro on my way back to the airport.

Rating 10
Edward van Ravesteijn
a 15/01/2017
Nice story an well written. We had the same kind of experience on a hike in Costa Rica. I think it is a " dog thing". Thanks for te story.

Rating 9
Martine Chaumont
a 11/04/2016
That's a really great adventure. https://www.lonelyplanet.com/portugal

Rating 10
Sue Jinaphant
a 11/04/2016
Wonderful friendship
C
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