Goa: Excursions from Agonda

Here at last is the final post about our most amazing wonderful time with Aaron, Isaac, and Annika in India. In the previous post, we shared Agonda Beach. Here we share separate slide shows for four special excursions we made from Agonda. So be warned, in an effort to document it all, this one's a "super post", with four slide shows and a video!

The first slide show shares our visit to Cola Beach. Cola is Agonda's neighbouring beach to the north. You cannot drive all the way, so Cola is even less developed than Agonda. For us, getting there was half the fun. We went as far as we could on a rented motorbike and scooter. Then we hiked down for breakfast and some fun on the beach. Then we followed a marvelous trail back up to the bikes.

Our next outing involved another scooter ride. This time to Palolem Beach, a little more than 10 km north of Agonda. Palolem is a much busier beach than Agonda, but it's still beautiful with ever so much to explore. With his eye always alert to the rocks, Aaron again found something to climb. The Palolem bonus was that we were there as the sun set over the Arabian Sea.

Our third outing involved an hour long car ride, but it was well worth the drive. We went inland to a spice farm. The instructive tour that showed us the ins and outs of growing cashew, cardamom, coconut and such was most interesting. The time with the elephants was even better. The children got to help bathe an elephant in the river. Then, much to their delight, the elephant gave Annika and Isaac a shower. There's a video here in addition to the slide show.

Finally, here's a slide show that shares another outing on scooters. This time we just went exploring, and meandered about 20 km up the coast. Our first stop was Cabo de Rama, an old fort that pre-dates even the Portugese period in Goa, and that began in 1510. Then we visited a little known smaller beach that is visited mostly by Goan families. So, here is our final slideshow for the totally memorable India visit by Aaron, Isaaac and Annika.