Introduction

Feeling like we wanted to taste something a little more adventurous we originally settled on Kenya but sadly at the time of booking it was clear that the recent trouble with rioting etc was to much to ignore so we soon set our sights on Goa, India. I looked on many websites for info and began asking other birders if they had experience of the place. It seemed an ideal introduction to birds of Asia and most people I spoke to held Goa as a great place to visit for birds and culture. I had settled on the Marinha Dourada In Arpora as a good place with good birding and a good standard of hotel. As we paid the final payment for our holiday to Lesvos in May 2008 we mentioned that Goa was a possibility and before we knew it we had paid a deposit and the holiday was ours.

The holiday was for two people staying at the Marinha Dourada on a B&B basis for 14 nights. We opted to fly First Choice as they flew direct without any stops to Dabolim airport in Goa from Manchester and we gathered that the planes offer, on the whole, a more comfortable experience. We purchased our own insurance via flexicover which was an annual worldwide cover. We booked as usual through our local travel agent Althams Travel.

Cost Breakdown

Basic holiday inc hotel, flight (upgraded to premium class) and transport to and from Manchester airport £2130

Insurance cover (annual worldwide with flexicover) £39.45

Flight Experience

First Choice and Thomson have now merged with the new name Thomson airways taking over from Thomsonfly and First Choice Airlines. We booked their star class premier which has several extras inc a massive 36" seat pitch, choice of decent meal, all drinks are free, movies,games and TV with on demand feature so that you can pause, rewind, fast forward the TV. The Tv's are larger that in standard class and all are seat back. You get priority check in and boarding along with a generous 5kg hand luggage and a 25kg hold allowance (although I hear this has been reduced to 23kg allowance for hold baggage). You are treated to onboard pre flight drinks and snacks. The leather air filled seats are very comfortable which are further enhanced by a blanket and neck pillow placed on your seat. You get a bag with a few creams, socks, toothbrush, eye mask inside. Mandy and I were very pleased with the service right from the off although the need for priority lines for queueing were not fully appreciated as the airport was quiet but it all worked well. We were called to board the aircraft first and we walked onto a separated area of the plane for premium customers. As said the seats were lovely and comfortable with a little more elbow room being a nice surprise and the legroom was superb. Footrests were present and very good but the cabin was a little tired with items broke/damaged or just in need of a good deep clean. the staff onboard were dedicated to the premium class and they all worked tirelessly throughout. On the outbound and inbound we had a male cabin crew and I have to admit that I prefer the approach of male staff on board planes. The meals were excellent with two meals being served on both the inbound and outbound flight and a choice of meal was given. The food was excellent to be honest and considering you are on an aeroplane I could not imagine much better. Bottles of wine were brought round for meal times and they regularly topped them up without hesitation. Coffee and tea was served on a few occasions and any drink was readily available to order.

Flight times outbound were 9hrs 15mins

Flight times inbound were 10hrs 45mins

Visas

After much info was gleaned about the new way Visas into Goa were being dealt with I have to say that I was beginning to worry about filling the forms in correctly. They ask some strange almost vague questions and it seemed some people's Visas were returned with errors such as non matching signatures, Incorrect fees, not enough information etc etc. I took forever to fill these in as I really did not want to go through any aggravation with them. The Visas have been outsourced to a Visa collection agency and after filling everything in online and sending online payment we hoped for the best! It took around 10 working days to process and we had the visas stamped inside our passports. There are several ways to obtain a Visa but we chose a postal method and with all cost's taken into account it totalled approx £95 for two including all postal, extras and visa cost. My advice is too keep calm and just be thorough and don't think to deeply about each question. The place to find out the relevant information is the two websites below

Indian High Commision

VFS Global Visas

I put together a mock up of the final Visa application to give an indication of the sort of information needed. Your completed Visa form should look something along these lines although please be aware this is not for all applications.

Hotel Experience

The Marinha Dourada Hotel is simply, in our opinion, excellent. I have read several reports giving the impression that the hotel is basic. For us it was just not the case as the rooms are large. A double bed was provided with adequate cabinets, drawers and tables. A TV with lot's of FTA channels inc BBC world and a few other English speaking channels with modern movies and free premiership football. The bathroom was large with a large wet area with shower and curtain. Sink had mirror and shelf above it and a power point nearby.  The phone system was very well thought out and easy to use. Room service was excellent. The mini bar was stocked with lots of water, beer, pepsi, seven up and Bacardi breezers. The prices were the same as local costs and it was always refilled in a couple of days. The room had both a fan and an air conditioning unit which worked very well. Lights were plenty although a few more power points would have been great as including the bathroom power point only two sockets (one was broke) were present. I have taken a few pictures of the room (261) to give an honest idea of what to expect.

Hotel Room & View From The Balcony

The Room Attendants Creative Side Was Always Evident

As shown in the pictures the room attendant is very thoughtful and went about his task everyday without any problems or fuss. We did tip him well as he changed our towels daily along with our bedding everyday. Checking in was painless and straight forward with attendants keen to take your luggage to your room.....although we did have a chuckle as we knew our room was right at the bottom of a long walk and up three flights of stairs and with the reluctance of some of the staff to take the luggage it was obvious they too knew this! We tipped them hansomely for their efforts. The hotel has many things on site including restaurants, bars, a new coffee come juice bar, play areas with two pools and night time entertainment areas. We tasted the food in the restaurant twice (one lunch and one evening meal) and it was good although we do like to eat out at local restaurants. Breakfast was from 07:00-10:00 but all but two mornings were we in the hotel at this time. On the two occasions we had breakfast it was quite good with choice of cereals, eggs, pancakes and for a small fee other more extravagant things were available.The security safes are located near reception at a cost or 350rps (£3.50) per week and you can purchase the necessary socket adaptors from the hotel for 100rps (£1.50) We found the hotel staff very friendly and ready to help. Most people would wish us good morning etc and no person asked to be tipped at any time although we did tip, it does not seem an absolute must. Regarding the position of the hotel....well it has to be a winner as the hotel sits on several tidal lagoons with more tidal pools outside it's doors which then lead onto prawn and saltpans. You are about a 10min walk to the start of Baga Hill and 15min walk from Arpora wood. Taxis are stationed right outside the hotel and whilst a frequent "taxi sir" is called non are aggressive or rude as a polite "no thanks" was suffice. The Beira Mar is a short 10min taxi ride away which costs 100rps one way.

Guides Used. Thoughts, Feelings, Contact and Opinion

Backwoods Camp we had the pleasure of a truly superb guide in Loven (more on Backwoods lower down) Guides we used outside of the Backwoods camp were Naresh and Paresh

Paresh Contact Details Vaddy, Siolim, Bardez, Goa, India

Phone Number 9822387494 & 9823417275

E-mail pareshgoa@gmail.com

Paresh was used on several occasions and we were more than happy with his services. He was always on time as arranged and took us to places, on our way back, that we had not asked about but where he thought birds we had not seen would be present. Paresh liked to set off a little later in the mornings, around 07:00, but this did not detract from the birding as the more important factor was knowing where a lot of the birds were present, which he did. He was a little more expensive than Naresh and at times he can appear to have his mind on other things but this was not the case as his focus was always centred around seeing birds whether whilst driving or out on foot. He knew where certain birds were and I am sure more species would have been seen if we had used him more. He has his own binoculars and is quite good at ID although not always on all species like gulls etc. We would use Paresh again on our return in the future as we found him a nice fellow to talk to and he even bought a bottle of Honeybee for us on our final trip. A genuine man and trustworthy although I do get the impression that prices between a lot of the guides are much discussed to keep them elavated. I did not barter on price as I felt his services were very good and although prices seemed higher they are still cheap in comparison with UK. In summary we would use his services as he has better birding skills and locates good birds.

Naresh Contact Details 126/7 Sawntawaddo, Calangute Bardez, Goa, India

Car Number GA 03 T 7411

Phone Number 9822158845

Naresh was also used on several occasions and we found him a very personable man with very reasonable prices. He was punctual on all our trips and liked to set off early in the morning at around 06:00. His driving was more steady than most and he too got us a few birds in various places. I felt he did not keep as up to date on all the birds, and where to find them, as other guides do but he knows all the major sites and you do not feel pushed for time. He willingly uses your scope to locate any birds at Carambolin lake although I did feel a little cajouled at times when I do like to do my own thing, but this was not always the case. The only time I did not prearrange a price for a trip his price seemed to jump up so it would be wise to check prior to setting off. In summary a good guide to get to places but be sure you know your birds as some of his ID skills are not the best.

Bugs, Insects and Critters

We obviously took note of all the relevant info on innoculations and anti malaria precautions and some months prior we booked into our local travel clinic to have all the needed injections. We needed Hepititis A, Typhoid, Tetanus, Diphtheria and Polio. They also had the most up to date information on which anti malaria drugs recommended for that area and we were at that time told Proguanil AND Chloroquine tablets which we found online HERE for a very reasonable fee. I would always recommend getting the most up to date information on all travel requirements and not to take anybody else's word for it. Some people took no precautions at all which I personally find quite scary. We also took a plug in mossie killer and used Nikwax insect repellent one of which has a factor 20 sunblock and another contained aftersun. If you are looking for a more natural but effective (than DEET) we can recommend these products along with their bite soother. Please click HERE for more details on these products. We used these as DEET seems too risky to both our health and to our many rubber coated gadgets that stood the chance of damage due to DEET melting the plastic. We did however get bitten on occasion but on the whole mosquitoes were not a problem and I never found I needed a mosi net at night in bed as we kept a fan or A/C on as they seem to dislike moving air. Mandy did get a nasty swelling on one of her legs above the ankle but looking at the markings it seemed it was more likely a plant had pierced her skin. I always prefer to wear long trousers (mostly due to the screams of small children and women alike) and had very few itches or scratches. Most people will be aware that India has lot's of creepy crawlies and some of them do enter the hotel and are most probably encountered out and about. A lovely critter joined our room one evening although 4" in length it seemed harmless.

Lot's of spiders were encountered out and about along with many species of large ants. Snakes were seen on several occasions with one about a meter long in the lake outside the hotel, one small grass like snake as roadkill and another fast moving individual at Saligoa Zor which remained a mystery. Three striped palm squirrels were the most common thing around trees with Langur & Macaque Monkeys also seen regularly.

Also present although disappointing glimpses of Giant Squirrel and Fruit bats. Both are impressive in size and on our return I hope to get better views. Of course the Marsh Mugger croc was seen at two locations on the Zuari river and one casually patrolling the waters at Carambolin lake! Elephants were about with most acting as tourist traps which we stayed away from but at Backwoods a chance to get close to a log working Elephant was cautiously accepted. I have never really been close to one before as I have never been a fan of captive beasts as it seems unfair and cheating. Wow what an experience...very humbling as the sheer strength of these massive creatures is only mildly appreciated as it stripped a palm leaf and it's branches like we would a celery stick. The dexterity in it's trunk was amazing as it acted more like a finger as it prodded around it's food. When it began to "rumble" it was truly a moment of sheer awe as this beast truly is one of lifes amazing creatures that has so much power yet so much, what we would call, kindness about it. This was a strange encounter that captured your attention in a childlike manner as a mixture of absolute awe and respectful fear kept you captivated. Lot's of other reptile, snake ,amphibian, butterfly and bird are present in Goa and one suspects that given time (particularly in the Western Ghats) you could find your very own newly uncovered species of plant, fly, insect or even bird as it really is such a diverse place.

Weather

Sunrise 06:15 & Sunset 18:15

Daytime temps 28.1C - 29.9C  Nightime temps 21.9C - 24.2C.

The weather was probably the best I have experienced abroad as I had every confidence that rain really would not be an issue. Blue skies with no clouds were only spoiled on our first morning as on waking up a thick mist covered the whole area. This did not clear until after 10:00 in the morning but as our first trip to Arpora wood shows I think it helped bring the birds out. The days are very similar with little variation, with daytime temps ranging from a 28.1C - 29.9C and nightime temps ranging from 21.9C - 24.2C. Talking to the locals it was a general feeling that the recent high dewpoint levels of over 20degrees were unusual at this time of year as it felt very sticky at times, although this subsided greatly toward the second week of the holiday. Days were of a good length with sunrise at about 06:15 and sunset at 18:15. The wind did get up on occasion in the early evenings and on one early morning trip out several limbs of trees had fallen into the road, but the winds had very little impact on our holiday. The air did seem to have a slight haze to it so photography was not always at it's best and the sun sometimes seemed a little harsh but good light was mostly an advantage although the Jungle birding was sometimes a little difficult for Digiscoping.

Food & Drink

The food is as good as you would have imagined which I put mainly down to the fact that most of the ingredients are pretty fresh or have not travelled thousands of miles before consumption. When you hear people say it's nothing like the curries you get at home....I slightly disagree as I thought a lot of the curries did have a similar overall feel to them but again the difference was that the ingredients are of fresh origins. The word hot or mild does not compute in Goa rather they use how "spicy" a dish is with reference to how "hot" or "mild" a dish maybe. To be honest we were careful at first with our food as we stayed away from prawns or fish but having relaxed as the holiday went on we felt it a shame that we did not eat more seafood as when we sampled a few fish curries and seafood starters were very pleased with the taste and quality. We did not eat a single "English dish" at all but we did understand that some just wanted a more English meal now and again as 14 days on Goan food was possibly a difficult thing for a British palate but we really did enjoy our food greatly.

A sample receipt from a restaraunt the locals used was the cheapest we found. The two bills cost 603rps (£9.20) and 393rps (£5.99) As you can see the more expensive of the bills was heavily laden with spirits and I have to say I was pretty giddy at that point. Depending on the restaraunts chosen all depended on the size of the bill. A normal bill in a tourist place with two main meals,a Kingfisher beer, 3 soft drinks, two breads and 2 Honeybee was more like 750 rps (£11.50) so as you can see from the bill above you can get some very cheap food if you look for the local eateries. I have to say we were aware that some of the curries are very spicy indeed and the curry on the more expensive bill above named Balchoa was eye wateringly HOT!!. Most other meals we had had a little heat to them. Places we used to eat are below and by and large we did not have a really bad meal. I did like their Honeybee (brandy) with a splash of Coke but on trying the Cashew Fenny I found the taste not to my liking.

Starlight (receipts above) Excellent Goan feel to it with many locals eating in and taking away. We used this place most times but a word of warning, the food is excellent and the service is great but if you are at all upset by poor cleanliness give this a wide berth as hygiene around the tables is not very good. It was dingy and dirty to be honest and personal hygiene of some of the staff would not be accepted in a British eatery but we liked it and Ravi looked after us well with recommendations of food although once you start having a few drinks on more than one occasion they tend to try and repeat this without asking you on further nights.

Aubergine this was very good indeed and some of the fish dishes were excellent inc the cram fry fish starter. The service was very good and the food variety also excellent. The prices were about average for this kind of restaurant that appeals to the tourist whilst trying to keep the food quite traditional. The tables, chairs, plates and cutlery were spotless but we did have a Rat run across the roof whilst we dined but I think most restaurants will have this in it's vicinity.We only used this place twice although we would definately use it more if we had time. The owner even offered us a free Honeybee each on the last evening but we had to decline as a few had already been sampled and we had to pay our hotel bill that night so all my thinking faculties needed some help!

All Spice This is probably one of the most well known and respected restaurants in Arpora and for good reason. It seemed a "safe" bet for a lot of tourists as it went out of it's way to attract customers with a well set out restaurant, anti-mossie burners on the floor and of course good food. We ate here on at least 3 occasions and the food was lovely although it did have the feeling that although the curries were very tasty they did have a similar taste to each other. The staff are excellent and the prices are good but probably are a touch more than the average.

Nicks Place Personally I straight away walked on but it was a very popular place in the evenings as well as the afternoons. It is open from morning till night and I think it's popularity (and what turned us off) was the "English pub come cafe" look and feel that they had gone out of their way to make. As I said it was popular and on walking by in the evenings we noticed the amount of chips and Steak being consumed. We did try out the cafe one late morning but we just had an omlette which was fine. The place will appeal as it's very close to the Marinha Dourada Hotel and it has a largely Brit customer base which includes the obligatory "beer brand brollies" and such like. It was clean and bright and the menu seemed OK and coffee and Tea seemed a popular pastime for many in the afternoons

Saffron This was another along the same feel and quality as All Spice. Very good indeed with a nice quality to it's setting, food and staff. Same pricing as All Spice gave it a little more expensive than the average but it was well worth the prices. Food was tasty and the breads were to die for. Would use again without hesitation. It was very clean with a prompt friendly service and the menus were extensive and varied.

Alfresco Well this was the only big disappointment we found all holiday as not only was the food well below the quality of what was offered else where but they were over priced to. It was not a surprise to see the restaurant empty on most nights and the night we choose to eat was barely used apart from an old man and an Eastern block family. Would not recommend this at all but the service was OK but better food and certainly better prices could be found in most other places. They even charged way over the top for Kingfisher beer which was rather striking as the prices for this was very fixed in restaurants.

A Basic Map To Help Find Restaurants A Bit Quicker

Goa Experience

  Wow...lot's of it with not enough time to really indulge in it which leads us to the decision that the next holiday abroad we take will be another stop in Goa. We read many things about Goa and our first impression when getting off the Airplane was total chaos. We wondered what we had let ourselves in for when the scrum of hands at the case carousel grabbing at your cases offering to take them to your coach. We were reluctant to let them go and several times had to sternly say no. It was all a bit mad for Mandy but we fought our way through the miriad of officials wanting to look at your passport and out into the air where we had managed to locate our coach without anybody taking our luggage.....or so I thought! Just as I got to the front of the coach a cool calm and collected young fellow wondered up and said is this your coach? "yes" said I as he took it the short distance to the rear. I thought this was the driver and so started to get on the coach....the young fellow immediately started shouting and running toward me saying "tip tip" whilst holding out a hand with two £1 coins in. It was a fair cop so I gave him my last £1 coin to which he said" no no I want two" At this point I made it clear that was all he was getting and got on the coach. This was the end of all this kind of harassment until we were on our way back to the airport at the holidays end.

We found 95% of people we met absolutely lovely with most having a "good morning" or "hello" without prompt. We found most people were always wanting to please you and whilst this may seem they were after money I came to appreciate that this is not always so. We wanted to contact Naresh, a guide so we asked at the taxi rank if he was about. We were told he was not about and so we thought we were foiled but one of the taxi men said he would ring him for us to let him know somebody was looking to contact him. He handed the phone to us and contact was made. The taxi man never batted an eyelid at doing his best for us without asking and I could not help thinking that this does not happen to often at home. The young girls that are selling things on stalls which line the streets are very nice but quite "dog with a bone". If you show any weakness you have had it, and that weakness means as much as slowing to hear what they say or turning your head toward them as you pass. The best thing we found was to politely say no thanks and then keep moving without any more interaction. We did buy some things off some of the girls but the usual bartering was had as the prices they start at are very high. We did so much bartering that in the end we were told that the item we wanted would not be for sale at the price we wanted so she walked away! Mandy gave her watch to one of the girls but that kind of thing is not what makes them happy. They want and need money of which we did give them in small amounts. Beggars are about on the streets and this is sometimes hard to deal with as a young child often accompany them. They do follow you for a short while murmuring words but are not aggressive in anyway. I had the timeshare scenario appear on a scooter. They are very smooth with the usual banter and before long he is offering you a ticket where you can win a Kingfisher beer. Of course you win and we are told that just up this road you can claim your gift.....then the real sell....they offer your wife a ticket and guess what.....she wins the star prize of 7 nights all inclusive in Singapore....wow we could not believe our luck! Well me being a Northener trying to shrug my tight ancestral roots I held his arm and told him it was his lucky day too as I was giving him our star prize for being such a nice man....all that was heard was a long silence followed by the sound of a departing scooter.

The roads are something else that will at times have you terrified whether you are in a vehicle yourself or trying to walk down the road as no pavements seem to exist. The roads are a thin strip of tarmac and just dusty walkways at the sides which often just fall away into fields. During the day this is not such a problem but at night we liked to walk to the town in Arpora for something to eat and the 4' strip lights that "light" the road are spread out with gaps that seemed like 1/2 mile in between. A torch is a good idea although the lights from the cars and bikes helped tremendously. It is compulsory for them by law to use their horns and most vehicles had "PLEASE OK HORN" sign plastered on the back of them, and boy do they like to fulfil this law! The horn, just like in Greece,  is used not as a weapon as in this country, but as a way of letting all around know you are there and to pull over or slow down etc. It works very well as whilst 4 to a motorbike is not uncommon (inc 4 year old on handlebars) it still feels unnerving when you have a strip of tarmac with just enough for two vehicles to pass when you find yourself on a bend overtaking a car on the outside, whilst a car is coming in the opposite direction. This is enough for you to gulp until you realise a motorbike is now undertaking you and the car you are passing ON THE INSIDE whilst another car is attempting to overtake you on the outside!!!!

The sights and sounds alone in Goa are truly amazing whether it be a man with a demolition drill in the middle of the road with only flip flops for protection to the colourful Portugese influence residences. The single biggest acute sense for us was the wonderfully scented evenings as people have incense sticks burning throughout the night. This wonderful concoction of spices, curry, open cooking fires and the heady wafts of incence are truly a treat.  It really is an assault on your senses and one that will never be forgotten. We concentrated strongly on all things avian but sometimes you had to stop and appreaciate your surroundings particularly when coming accross some of the many amazing temples, modern and very old alike. It was also lovely to meet so many young Goan children with a look of innocence about them that western children have long lost as they stand open mouthed as they look at these foreign people, this stare often turns to smiles and a tentative wave of the hand.

I found that most Goan's are just going about their daily lives without the lost focus of a modern life although the only thing that belies this is the single biggest affliction of Gadgets to man....mobile telephones. They are everywhere and just like in the UK are used readily and that includes whilst driving. The accomodation for a lot of Goan people is quite meagre with often just tin shacks being a mans castle yet others seem to live in relative luxury with what often looks like a unfinished/derelict looking house.

Whilst religion plays a part in most Goan lives it does seem that like all developing worlds it mutates into something that man himself can get along with, as the older generation are very different in their view of drinking, social structure and religion itself. One Hindu we met when asked if he liked to drink said yes but not in the house out of respect for his mother(he himself being over 40). This is possibly one of the things that identifies people as Hindu as the belief in Karma and Dharma is central to their thoughts. A lot of the taxis and vehicles often had some of the supreme Gods on the back windows with Shiva and Vishnu quite common. They also liked to have names of their children on their windows with phrases like "God's Gift" and "Jesus smiles". I often wonder if this was a way of making us smile more than anything. No Muslims were talked to which was surprising as it is a common religion in the area and only one or two Christians were encountered.

When we revist Goa we hope to spend a little more time enjoying the place around us and we can imagine a little more travel inolved to see some of the more special sights Indai has to offer. I can already feel that several trips to this place will be in order as a longer time here needs to be given to really feel like you have visited Goa and India.

Exchange Rates-Banks-Money Changers-Mobile Phone Use-Debit,Credit and Pre Pay Cards

65-71rps to £1

The £ has taken a hammering from most currencies and the Ruppee is no different. The exchange rate varied between 62-71rps to the pound and when on arrival we changed £100 we got rate of 65.55rps to the £. I know lots of people are looking for the best exchange rates but we just felt easier changing money at the hotel on arrival. Having seen the many money change shops about we plucked up courage to use one of these for a small amount and it was very easy and would use these without hesitation in the future. We took a Mastercard prepayment card with us that we topped up in Euros before we went. This was readily accepted in the cash machines that are situated in some of the larger towns. We asked a taxi driver to take us to an ATM and these are often glass rooms in buildings where the ATM is situated. If somebody is using the machine the guard inside may ask you to wait outside. On entering we found the guard (I say guard as he was about 17 and listening to an ipod) very helpful and basically walked us through the transaction after asking how much we would like. I used the pre payment card without hassle and would use this again on any other visits as when entering your PIN number the guard is closer than you are used to in the UK. It did not feel like I was being a victim of fraud but having a card not linked directly to any account made me feel less vulnerable which negated the poor exchange rates and fees associated with using this kind of card. If you prefer to use this card type have a look at the info HERE. The £ sterling is accepted in shops and money exchange shops as well as the Euro and Dollar. We were not sure on the use of mobile phones in Goa as we had read that it very much depended on which network etc along with poor signals and drop outs in the signal at times. We decided to take a tri-band mobile phone with us and purchase another pre pay option in the form of a SIM-Card that stated works in Goa. It worked very well indeed and again I would use this for future holidays abroad if nothing else but to ease the pain of loss, theft or damage. The cost of calls from India is high with this system but it was really only for emergencies and texting. If you are interested in this pre pay sim click HERE. I have no experience of contract phone use in Goa but plenty of tourists did have mobile phones in use so it may be worth checking if yours is OK. The other option is to buy a short term pay as you go sim from the local shops which will work in at least a tri-band phone and I hear is a much a cheaper option than UK contract, and our pre payment arrangement. I chose the GO-SIM card simply so that I could take a cheap phone that caused no problems if it was stolen or lost.

31st January Saturday

1st February Sunday

Max Temp 29.9C Min Temp N/A

2nd February Monday

Max Temp 29.9C Min Temp 24.2C

3rd February Tuesday

Max Temp 28.8C Min Temp 24C

Map Showing Route On to Bag Hill

After a few attempts at finding ways into Baga Hill we just set off up a tarmac track that led up onto a hill. We were on the right track as before long we had reached the ridge which gave lovely views of the local areas. On our way up we were lucky enough to see a female Indian Peafowl skulking in the undergrowth. To be honest I did not particularly find Baga hill that rewarding although I am willing to conceed that I did not give it my best as regards timing or patience. I just did not like the "looking up" into trees feel to the place and up on the ridge things seemed to be quiet. We met another couple up on the ridge who told us that on the way down it is best to criss cross some of the paths on the left on the descent. We were pressed for time and though we did try we could not find a suitable way down past the famous Lila cafe so we turned around and followed the info regarding the criss crossed paths. It did not give us much special but a Shikra high in some palm trees and a good close view of the not so common Common Myna made it a little more interesting. The tracks pass through locals "washing" areas as bed linen, towels and other washing was laid out on the tracks to be aired and dried in the sun. Most locals often stopped their daily routine to wave and say hello which was rather nice to see. The only real negative was that if you are looking to find the entrances to Baga Hill after passing Lilas Cafe then you will succumb to the stall holders that are very hard to ignore although most are young girls they have great selling skills if you show any signs of weakness. We tried to avoid passing this area and only join Baga Hill on the road off to the right.

Max Temp N/A Min Temp N/A

I have to say the food was simply lovely with traditional food being served promptly, hygienically, and with plenty of smiles and good humour. I am sure it's not to all people's taste but both my wife and I absolutely loved it with a lot of the produce being grown locally and desert being purchased whilst out and about during the day by our guide for a nice treat after meals! All food, tea and coffee is included in the price with soft drinks, spirits and beer being extra that you can run as a tab and pay at the end.

The local pub was just a short walk and it was funny how some slow walkers all of a sudden could run a four minute mile, shame on you!

On the left the 3 Musketeers Mandy, Graham and Ann taking full advantage of the "all inclusive" buffet! On the right Annas, Goran and co enjoy a quieter moment before some decide the best way of looking for rare Kingfishers is to wade into the middle of the river and act like a dolphin!  

This was our superb guide for the trip, Loven. He was a person that tried very hard to give you the opportunity to enjoy what was around and he was very good at picking up on each persons likings, requests and wishes. He went out of his way to make the trip special for all and his dedicated all day focus on finding birds, whether that be by his keen vision or "bat" like hearing, was always 100% and he never stopped trying to allow you the chance to see a bird. He communicated well with people and could answer most people's questions. He was always prompt for our trips out and often was pushing us along to a timetable that was very good. He knew his birds not just by sight but by call and he would always share his knowledge when asked. His patience is emense and he seemed a real nice person in general. A special mention to our driver for the trip. A young lad that was excellent in his role along some very precarious roads and was always alert to any commands for the bus to stop for a new trip tick!     

7th February Saturday

Max Temp 29.8C Min Temp 22.5C

8th February Sunday

Max Temp 29.8C Min Temp 22.5C

9th February Monday

Max Temp 29.7C Min Temp 24C

10th February Tuesday

Max Temp 29.1C Min Temp 24C

11th February Wednesday

Max Temp 29.0C Min Temp 22.7C

12th February Thursday

Max Temp 28.2C Min Temp 22.1C