Goa November 2008

In November we all went to Goa for 2 weeks. Simon and I to go birding and our kids, Lucy and Tom to have a 2 week beach holiday. We stayed at the Marinha Dourada in Arpora, a lovely hotel, far better than any others we saw. We used the guiding services of Raymond who was excellent. He knew all the sites. We would recommend him or Lloyd Fernandez, both can be found outside the Biera Mar. We birded Baga Hill and Arpora Wood daily ourselves with excellent results. It is a lot more rewarding finding your own birds. We were in the woods every morning before dawn waiting for the monkeys to wake up. Magical times. Raymond took us to Carambolin Lake, Morjim Beach, Divar Island and Siolim plus many other sites along the way.

In the second week we went to Backwoods for 4 days. The birding here was very good but was spoilt by an American chap in our group. He put 'loud and stupid' on a totally new level. His idea of birding was to walk towards the bird, flushing it so no-one else saw it. He would have had his head taken off on the Lincolnshire coast. We did see many new birds here and the jungle was a total contrast to the previous week.

We had a total of 250 species.

Good places to eat included East Meets West and All Spice. Both serve absolutely fantastic food. It was a totally different holiday which I loved. The begging and bartering being part of it and I loved it.

Locals

Pics show locals going to work in the fields, a paddy field being worked and Lucy with one of her dogs which she adopted next to the hotel. We used to steel hard boiled eggs and toast every breakfast and then at night bring them naans for their supper. Last photo shows us birding with Dorte and his wife from Denmark being led by Leio, our Backwoods guide.

Goa

You just have to ride an elephant, hire a moped and dine at a beach shack. Now I know that I am a traditionally built lady, but that is not me sitting behind Simon on the beach !

Lizards and crabs

Jars of dirt

We saw lots of these stalls on the markets. The man sold what looked like 'jars of dirt', with a long list of all the ailments it cured. The dirt was different colours, I suppose that depended on whereabouts on the beach he had dug it from. It was about £10 a jar !

Beautiful ladies

Indian ladies fetching their water from the nearby well. A lovely picture

Elephants

Elephants are Karen's favourites so she had to ride one. One lived at Backwoods and loved being fed and cuddled. I went to see her whenever I could, collecting vegetable scraps from the kitchen on the way.

Health and safety

The locals building a bung in the paddy fields. The water they are stood in is full of crocodiles. Large pieces of stone were passed along the line and placed down into the water to build up the road. Wonder if it was the tallest one that worked at the end?

Raymond

We had a fantastic guide in Goa. Raymond. He knew all the sites for the rarities and was a lovely bloke. Would recommend him. He can be found at the Biera Mar Hotel.

Unbelievable.....

Well, this takes some beating. Stood in the middle of nowhere in Goa, not even near a village, looking at literally 1000's of larks coming into roost. This field was covered in them until this idiot arrived. In the distance were Pallid, Monty's and Pied Harriers, a real treat. Then this idiot pulled up in a taxi and, straight infront of us, built a remote control model airoplane which he then flew scattering our larks everywhere. Locals came from miles around as they had never seen anything like it before. Even thousands of miles away, you cannot escape the british idiot. In all the fields in India he chose ours..... WHAT A TOSSER

British idiots in Goa, unbelievable

This field was full of larks 10 minutes ago. Well, he did cause a stir - the locals had never seen anything like it before. The plane will have cost more than they will earn in a lifetime.....