Saturday, 15th April 2023
Today, we had planned to go to Panaji (the capital of Goa) for the cashew festival. I checked the internet in the morning and found out that it actually starts at 6 PM, and coming back after dark wouldn’t be ideal. So, we made some coffee, went for breakfast, and then headed to Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary.
After turning off the main road, we drove on a nice paved road through the trees. At the entrance, we paid the fee for ourselves and the motorcycle and continued on a dirt road. Right at the beginning, we saw some pretty big monkeys, but we didn’t manage to take a picture. We rode about a kilometer and then parked. Someone was behind us honking loudly, and we thought, “What kind of maniac is that?” But it turned out he was honking at us because I had left my wallet on the table while signing the visitor book, and the man brought it back to us. We then headed to the Tree Top, which is essentially a treehouse used to observe animals that come to drink from the pond beneath it.
It was 10 AM, so we weren’t likely to see much. We climbed up, carefully moved around the rotten planks, and then came back down. There were frogs in the pond, so I spent another 10 minutes by it. After that, we continued on our way and went to another similar observation point with a pond. Again, I was only interested in the frogs. The drive through the park was the main goal. After leaving the park and getting onto a better road, I tried driving the scooter for a short stretch. It’s harder than it looks.
Maybe I’ll try again in another country where the traffic is better and where the scooter doesn’t feel like it’s falling apart. Afterward, we wanted to check out a cashew farm, but all we found was a shop. We were surprised that something like that operates there and that anyone actually goes there. An old man was selling there, so we bought some really good cashews. By then, it was 1 PM, and the sun was blazing. The perceived temperature was 46°C, so we headed back to our accommodation.
We watched something, and I took a nap. At 3 PM, we went to eat and then returned to the room because it was still too hot. At 5 PM, we went to the beach for the long-promised kayak ride. I had never been on one before, so I put on a life jacket just to be safe. Jozef, like a experienced sailor, took charge, and I sat in the front seat of the tandem kayak. At first, I struggled, but by the end, we were quite in sync. We paddled around the small Canacona Island. The waves were pretty big out on the open sea, so we had to be careful not to get too close to the rocks, but otherwise, it was a lot of fun.
We kayaked for an hour, just in time for the sunset, and then went for a quick swim when the weather finally felt pleasant. Since we had a late lunch, we didn’t go for dinner until 8 PM and just shared one meal: butter chicken with rice and garlic naan.
For drinks, we tried the local cashew-based liquor, feni. It tasted quite good, somewhat similar to our homemade spirits.
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