Calendar coincidence and a treat postponed!

On  13th February Goa - with its Christian heritage - celebrated Shrove Tuesday, and therefore it was time for a carnival. We were told that the procession would depart from the chapel at 4 pm, so we had a pancake each and went there! Nothing! We asked at the nearest restaurant (known to be old Goan Catholics) and jokes were made about "Indian time" so we repaired to a bar at a strategic corner and had several drinks before a line of, say, four vehicles arrived going to the chapel. The process of turning round, the negotiating a tight bend and passing delivery lorries was a lengthy one, during which various Brits insisted this wasn't in honour of anything like Lent, but the Hindu festival of Shivratri. We didn't argue (they were drunk anyway), but Mr Google later confirmed the traditions for Goa Carnival. That explains the masks, King Momo lookalikes, greenery and so on.

We had previously walked down the beach to Dropadi - considered the best restaurant in Palolem for seafood (and confirmed as such years ago by seafood restaurateurs Harvey and Helen from Devon), as we wanted to celebrate Valentines Day with a lobster. But that arrangement had to be abandoned! Ruth had to make a very swift exit from the Tuesday evening dinner, spent much of the night in the bathroom and was in no fit condition the next morning. Blame is futile, but our favourites are the thronging and argumentative Brits!! Anyway Bob had to cancel the dinner date and get a takeaway bland breakfast for the groaning Ruth. He also returned with a single red rose purchased from Harry the DVD vendor, who managed to sell all of the fifty he was carrying. So romance isn't dead! Blandness was the order of the day and we were reminded of this classic sketch.

The "Delhi Belly" disappeared in 48 hours, and normality resumed, with just one "no beach" day. We wanted to support a local charity ADITO - (A Drop in the Ocean) that was having an afternoon/evening at Oceanic. This is a hotel on the way to Patnem that we have visited a few times to use the swimming pool and get some peace and quiet. All the local ex-pat musicians would attend. We needed to leave early for a Skype engagement (that didn't happen.. Grr!) so missed our favourite The Goa-Ts. but it was a lot of fun nonetheless - and for a good cause:- a women's refuge in Margao.
That left the un-celebrated Valentine, so we went a week or so late - going early for a key beach-facing table and a choice of seafood. We were not disappointed:- although its reputation brings in some  "rough diamonds" it was civilised enough, and with excellent service! We started with the famous semi-frozen fresh strawberry daiquiri -which we consumed as the sun set. Then a beautiful lobster in butter and garlic with lemon rice and grilled vegetables!
This with a bottle of chilled Sula Cabernet Sauvignon came to a figure a European would not believe.

A case of "Better late than never"


An update - last night (our penultimate) we went again and had a crab and six tiger prawns. Yum! Possibly even more delicious!

Coconuts and Monkeys!

What do they have in common?

(Apart - that is - from featuring in one of Ruth's favourite divisibility problems - often used in the past
professionally for EXCEL practice!)

Two weekends ago Greyrocks walked down The Nest as usual for breakfast and was aware of more activity than normal and in the middle of the track to the beach was a huge pile of coconuts. The whole bay is backed by mature palms and it was the turn of those surrounding The Nest to be harvested and pruned. This is an exercise unhampered by any Health and Safety measures for either the operative (unleashed many metres up in shorts and flip-flops wielding a machete) or the punters sunbathing, gossiping or eating breakfast as close as they wanted to the palm in question! Each (luvverly) bunch of coconuts landed with a great thud!

A week later there was a series of great thuds again and three mature monkeys sped across the roof of The Nest. They were making a progress along the balconies of the huts on stilts. This was just after we had been privileged to attend an Open Day at the school which Ellie at The Nest opened a few years ago. It has expanded hugely and we loved the ethos evident in the classrooms. We also saw the extensive nets between buildings and trees, which are protection against coconuts and monkeys. We were told that at the school the monkeys are a serious nuisance with habits such as aiming coconuts at pupils through holes in the netting!

So apart from these thuds here are some other elements of the Palolem soundtrack:

Trains

Canacona station on a major route south from Mumbai, so light sleepers (old people!) hear them through the night. Greyrocks talks of a short trip to somewhere one day. Maybe next year!!

Call to Prayer

The local mosque is also within earshot. For some liturgical or geographic reason it is no earlier than 6 am that this happens, for which Greyrocks is thankful!

The Poder

Many contributors write of the characteristic sound of the poder being a useful alarm. Obviously his potential audience reduces each year with the dilution of truly Goan residents and the replacement with tandoori breads, but nonetheless he is there many times in the day tooting the horn on his bike.

Birds

In our current accommodation we hear a glorious dawn chorus with songs that are exotic and unidentified. The usual old crows , of course, abound; but as yet the two Nepali parrots of our landlord have refused all attempts at communication - beit in English, German or Hindi!

Dogs

Rather less pleasant at night or in early morning is the barking of many, many dogs. Noble attempts are being made to humanely reduce the number of wild ones. Down on the beach many are half-owned by one of the shacks and they are fiercely territorial. All are easily set off by anyone in traditional dress and/or using a stick. 

Lifeguard Whistles

All along the bay's shore there are privatised and diligent lifeguards. They are particularly concerned about Indian bathers - most of whom cannot swim. If they stray too far the lifeguards blow their whistles and gesticulate. We have noticed this happening increasingly, and it seems that the growing popularity of the beach with all-male Indian parties who drink is causing concern, about drowning, litter and reputation. Notices ban alcohol, drugs and smoking on the beach, but this is never enforced. Last week we saw this headline in a Goan newspaper. "Scum of the Earth"? For a moment we thought that was us!!

"She smells seashells from the seashore"!

Terebra Turritella (variety unknown)

By the end of our first week in Goa we had picked up a few pretty shells and we took them to Palolem. There we began to see a profusion:- particularly of this sort, and a plan was hatched involving them and the August wedding feast. We would need about 90, and thus we embarked on a mission. We mentioned it to friend John who does a daily beach walk at a completely different time from us, and we did a deal involving acceptable specimens and gifts of vodka! Soon we had quite a collection, but a quick wash was insufficient to remove a disgusting and developing smell in the bathroom at the Guest House. We moved them outside and decided it was not worth drastic action until the six days we were staying there were over. On moving day we took our cases and hand luggage down to the main accommodation and left it in their office pending cleaning of the room. We also took the Matalan carrier bag with the shells. When we returned in the evening our landlord told us he had taken all of our belongings to the room. A great simple spacious room in which we continue be very happy, but the stench on that day was awful - and we were mightily embarrassed! Something had to be done!


Mr Google came up with five strategies - bleach, burying, boiling, freezing and microwaving - none of which were feasible. A second search suggested alcohol, and there is plenty of that in Goa! John went to the cheapest place around and bought for us a bottle of cashew fenny - rough stuff, but it seems to have done the trick! Many have been the jokes about what to do with the liquid post-soaking! We now have as many of these items as we need and are engaged in packing them  (with air fresheners) for travel in the hope that we have not transgressed! Watch out for August's posts to see how they are used! We now move on to rationalising the mixed collection of other types!

A postscript on the shells: they quite rarely are found with a resident hermit crab, and we have humanely removed them and returned them to the shore. One day a rampant woman ran up to us and asked in highly accented English how we would like it if we were turned out of our home. Our protestation about the nature of hermit crabs fell on deaf ears and she stormed off!