As Naomi, Iftach, Iren and I wandered down to the river for 9am for our prearranged boat ride, a tall, local, lanky fellow with a moustache and a baseball cap covering his balding head approached us. He happened to be the River Princess’s competition and offered us the same trip at half the price. He wasn’t as personable as our green rimmed glasses man from yesterday and I felt that we had made somewhat of a commitment to the River Princess. We continued to walk to the river where the Princess’s skipper was nowhere to be found so we decided to give the opportunistic skinny guy our business in his boat christened Mr. Big!
Early morning on Palolem Beach:
A fishing boat or dolphin watching boat setting off:
The four of us hopped into the small vessel and our guide launched us off the sandy shore and began to push us inland using a super long bamboo pole. The sun was already climbing, along with the temperature but Mr. Big had a bit of tarp cover providing some shade. With each push of the boatsman’s pole the degree of tranquility increased. No other boats were around and we shared the serenity with just feathered friends. One of those birds was the Kingfisher. Kingfisher is the name of an Indian company that produces one of the most popular lines of beers in India and is also an airline specializing on domestic flights (hmm...I hope their pilots don’t get special company perks!). The inspiration for this corporation’s name is a gorgeous shimmering blue and black small to medium sized bird. The blue reminds me of that found on the Blue Jay or Stellar Jay birds found in North America. We only saw a couple of Kingfishers but having only seen them a couple of times before in my ten months in India it was special. Iren and Naomi were both captivated by some of the eagles flying around. It made me realize that I’m quite spoiled living in British Columbia where the once endangered Bald Eagle has made a successful comeback.
Arriving at Mr. Big:
My crewmates:
Around a bend we were greeted by one of those sights in nature that just makes your head shake. Out of the green jungle hillside to our north was a large rock outcropping with an almost spherical boulder probably weighing the equivalent of an automobile precariously balanced on it. How did that get there?!? And could you go up there and push it over? Probably not a good idea to try...
The strange precarious rock:
A massive tree jutting out of the forest near the precarious rock:
Heading further upstream:
Our "one manpower" boat:
My comfy seat at the front:
Doesn't everyone pull a Titanic at some point in their life:
One thing that we had heard we might see, and it excited both Iftach and Iren, was the chance of seeing monkeys. Well there was some rustling in the trees and since I had situated myself right at the prow of the boat, away from the sun shelter, I was able to witness this commando like jump that a large monkey took from the top of one tree on the bank...but sadly I was the only one to see it. I’ve seen plenty of monkeys since I’ve been in India (not that I ever tire of them) so it was unfortunate that those that really wanted to see, didn’t...but that’s just how the cookie crumbles sometimes isn’t it?
Looking back at my crew:
In the end the boat ride did not cover much ground (or water) but it was awfully relaxing and for the cost of $1.50 each, well worth the price of admission.
Naomi and I spent the afternoon chilling out at one of the beach restaurants named Fernandez (there are many Portuguese names in Goa) having a bit to eat and a few drinks. The view of the beach is stunning and the atmosphere relaxed and peaceful. We returned a number of times over the next few days...how could we not?!?
The view in the afternoon:
Seems like fishing is good in Palolem:
Sorting Squid:
Later we walked along the north end of the shore to check out the nooks and crannies of the beach. As I previously mentioned, I was surprised yet enamoured to see the rocky headlands to the north that reminded me of home.
Looking around the northern headlands:
Go West Young Man!
What a gorgeous beach!
The view back towards Palolem Beach with a random bikini clad woman...but hey, Naomi took the pic so no foul here!
Looking back at Palolem Beach:
That night we ate at a Mexican restaurant, Casa Amigo, and I quite enjoyed my chicken burrito while Naomi was mostly enthralled by the little fake fire torches on the ends of the bar. I gave tonight’s dinner (food, service & ambience) 8 out of 10 whereas last night warranted only a 3 so it was a definite improvement. Hopefully this upwards trend will continue.
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