Creatures Great and Small

 1. Sacred Cows

It's a cliche, of course, but the first time you see a maniac driver slow down to move round a slow moving cow in the middle of a busy road it come as a bit of a shock! The beasts also roam on the beach, and in and out of shops and restaurants. Nonetheless avoiding the cowpats is less trouble than avoiding the dog poo in Corralejo!

2. Goan Pigs
Do your own research on the history of this former Portuguese colony! Suffice to say that the majority of the local population is Catholic - with no taboo for either beef or pork, and you find both on the menu - along with plenty of fish (pomfret and kingfish predominate). So there are plenty of pigs wandering around freely. In fact we spent a long time on our balcony watching the sows and piglets in our "garden". They co-exist quite happily with the many crows - particularly around the rubbish tips! (The anti-bacterial hand gel got a fair old pasting!)

3. Beach Dogs

We thought the large number on the beach would be a problem, but they are quite endearing and largely ignore humans, spending a lot of time sleeping under sunbeds. (They dig a hole in the sand!) In the evening they join the musicians on stage :- particularly three-legged Elvis - the dog, that is!

4. Flying things
We caught sight at a distance of some large exotic birds, and regularly saw flocks of cormorants, but not having done the river trip

missed out on many twitchers' delights.

This beautiful butterfly was found dying on the beach by Dick and Jane, and was moved to a tree at The Nest where it revived.

We should also note that mosquitos did not trouble us thanks to tropical strength repellant in the evening, and the electric liquid thingy left behind by mistake by the last occupant of our room.

5. Dolphins

On our last day there was a great deal of boat activity out in the bay. They were taking tourists on trips circling round a pod of dolphins. Suddenly from our sunbeds we saw at least two dolphins leaping from the sea no more than 50m from the shore. Magnificent - and free!

6. Itinerant Rupee-Hunters

Now that Palolem has become popular there is no avoiding the very many people who walk back and forth along the bay in search of money, and it is a relentless stream, to which one needs to develop a harsh strategy. There are:

• Basic beggars, keen to show you their afflictions or an official statement thereof
• Women in beautiful saris or shalwa kameeze with jewellery, or offering pedicures
• Men with baskets of fruit on their head, or newspapers, garlands, sarongs ...
• Younger men with knock-off DVDs
• Boat-folk offering trips
• Performers, such as these tightrope walkers, who should be at school, and are allegedly - by design - older than they appear!

7. Saga Louts

We spent everyday at the Office, often accused of late arrival or temps' lack of commitment! We did not, however, join the Works Outing which involved a glorified "booze cruise" starting Up North. It sounds great fun, good value and even educational! After their return that evening Beer O'Clock deteriorated to the point where "Passing a Tissue with your Toes" took hold. There are photos but no permission to publish! So, if you are involved send an email (ask D&J) and Greyrocks will send them.

Here is a 5-minute slide show of our Goa trip (with music)
.. oh, and for regular readers we are experimenting with allowing comments - just in case you feel moved!