The name “Cangrejera” is derived from “Cangrejo”, which is Spanish for “Crab”. It is so named because of the enormous quantity of crabs that inhabit this beach. During the night, they come out of their holes to the sand surface to look for food.
This beach is forty minutes away from the capital, which provides for very easy access. There are two small rivers that flow into the ocean at Cangrejera, making it a two-mile-long beach. Approximately twelve years ago, my father had a house built on an empty lot that belonged to my mother. It was a pretty small house with just two bedrooms in it. Five years later, my family had a bigger house built, right next to the old one. This house has four bedrooms instead of two, enough for many of our friends and relatives to sleep in. Ever since, my family has been to the beach more often, sometimes even for an entire week.
Spending time at the beach has helped me to stay in shape, by practicing sports such as surfing and kayaking. However, the sport I truly enjoy more than any other is surfing. Cangrejera beach offers many types of waves, from beginners level to advanced, which makes it the perfect place to learn. It was there that I learned this sport approximately four years ago, using an old board that my cousin got for Christmas.
Being at the beach showed me that there is a lot more to life than just television and video games. People have become so dependent on electricity lately that when there is a power failure, they get bored and don’t know what to do. Going to the beach helped me overcome that dependency. When I was there, I would even forget that there was such a thing as electricity. It made me appreciate more the time I spent with my family, because there are no distractions such as the television and telephone, as there are at my house in the city.
Living in the capital means to live life in stress, without focusing on all the wonderful natural things that a place like the beach has to offer. This is why.
