Sunday, 28 February 2016

Goan fun continues!

After a few days away in South Goa our ‘adopted’ family, Clare, James, Flossy and Johnny returned to Candolim and Flossy and Johnny just couldn’t wait to carry on our collective exploits.
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So, on the same evening as their return, we met them at their hotel ……..
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……. then headed off for a meal together. Embarrassingly, but also rather humorously, neither parties had enough money between them to pay for the meal so Doug, with Flossy on the back of the scooter, headed off to the nearest ATM. The bar staff had kindly said it was quite OK to pay the next day (!) but that’s not very British and we paid up before we all left.
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The next day the Flossy and Johnny show continued when their mum and dad hired a scooter for themselves and, with three of us on each machine, we headed off into Panjim to collect our new DJs. Doug’s suit was fine but the tailors made a grave error on James’ jacket by trimming it in red instead of blue! A remake is the only way to correct it and we’re starting to run out of time! After the DJ debacle we all headed for our favourite bar, “The End of the Road”, overlooking the Old Patto Bridge for a spot of lunch.
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In the afternoon we’d booked to go on a crabbing boat trip but it was not just about catching crabs but also to see some of the wonderful wildlife which India has to offer.
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Our skipper was quite an expert on flora and fauna so was able to point out all sorts of wonderful things to us. Our first bit of excitement was the feeding of the eagles and kites. This Black Kite was able to swoop down and take a chicken’s head from the hand of the skipper.
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There were huge colonies of Fruit Bats hanging from the trees along the river bank ………..
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……. and further on we saw salt being harvested from the salt pans adjacent to the river.
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Another Black Kite swoops down and takes a chicken head from the bow of the boat.
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There were some very unusual birds to be seen. Clare is a very keen ornithologist and was able to identify most – sadly we’ve forgotten the names of half of them!
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Here we are, enjoying a drink before a spot of fishing.
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Even James had a go but only caught a crab which he elected to chuck back in to fight another day!
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Doug caught a pretty little Puffer fish which was also put back.
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Flossy, the best angler of us all, caught a larger Puffer (which was returned) and also this fish which didn’t have the same luck!
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At one point in the trip the sky was almost filled with various birds of prey. It was quite a spectacular sight.
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Towards the end of the trip the crab nets, which had been set on the way up river, were pulled back up in the hope of something being caught. Johnny, who didn’t have much luck with the fishing, seemed to excel at hauling up the crabs.
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Flossy also did very well unlike James, their dad, who didn’t haul up anything much except a tiddler at the end.
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Very bravely, both Johnny ………..
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……. and Flossy held the biggest crab caught during the trip.
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And this is the day’s catch which ………..
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…… as the sun went down, and we landed back at Amigo’s bar, ………..
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…… the days catch was duly cooked and served to the workforce. All but two of us tucked into delicious crab and chips, which left Flossy and James with egg and chips as a suitable alternative.
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Tired after the crabbing trip we all piled back onto the scooters and headed for Candolim Beach to end our glorious day together.
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Today (Saturday) our friend Julroy rode over from South Goa to spend the day with us. Julroy wasn’t exactly cold (in the 35 deg heat!) but, yes, he was wearing a scarf and hoody!
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He rode over to us on his beautiful Royal Enfield and, with James as his very willing pillion, we took a short ride up to Aguada Fort. However, with little shade, it was too hot (even for Julroy!) so we rode back down into the relative comfort of Candolim. 
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Doug wanted a quick pic of himself on Julroy’s Royal Enfield.
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Shade at last!
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Then onto the beach for an hour of R & R before Julroy left for his return to South Goa. Great to see you again Julroy and thanks for coming all the way to see us.
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Well, the Flossy and Johnny show had to come to an end as they fly back home tomorrow but there was just time for them to briefly meet up with some local children on the beach. The kids loved playing with Johnny’s pack of ‘Minion’ playing cards and he very kindly gave the pack to them as a gift at the end of the day.
We’ve had the most amazing time with the Morris family since meeting them on the Jungle trip. They fly home tomorrow and leave us with just two more full days of our own stay in Goa. Thank you James, Clare, Flossy and Johnny for making the last week so very special and we look forward to meeting up again very soon.

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