Mad dogs and Englishmen went out in the midday sun to look at two important churches in Old Goa (town) before heading to an island for a ride out with Jake the Snake to search for real life crocodiles.

It was a long busy day, not the sort we are used to where we have chores to do or shopping or maintenance but we packed in such a lot that it truly tired us out!!!

We started with breakfast on the beach, poached eggs, French toast, fresh fruit juice and a Full English for some (greedy Graham no less), washed down by fresh coffee and a dash of a dancing dolphin. The dolphin was considerately right in front of us so we didnt have to move too much from our table!

Our breakfast View.
Fishermen heading in with their catch.

We then had a frantic drive around town negotiating the scooters, cars, busses and cows before heading inland, stopping occasionally to top up our religion intake, before making our way onto an island to meet up with Jake the Snake.

Our Lady of Pilar Church was being renovated when we visited….Still beautiful.

We then visited Old Goa, to stop at the Bom Jesus Basilica a Baroque Catholic church completed in 1605.

Across the road was a 17th century large Catholic cathedral built by Portuguese colonialists and still in use for worship today. It claims to be the largest Catholic church in Asia.

We then drove a little further onto St Estevan’s Isle to meet up with Jake! Slathered on mozzie spray before departing!!

Jake was extremely knowledgeable and friendly and led us upriver for at least an hour, diesel engines puffing away, pointing out dangerous wildlife – by that I mean real wild crocodiles – and beautiful birds before leading us back downriver to the safety of the island and our car.

The following photos are just a selection of the 100s taken of Brahminy Kites (brown with white heads), brown kites, eagles, sleeping fruit bats, peacocks and peahens, egrets, sandpipers, cormonants, brown common kingfishers, tiny blue kingfishers, and the 6 or 7 crocodiles that we saw, they ranged from 3m to 7m in length, some resting on the bank, some in the water.

Our “stressful day with dangerous animals” meant we really needed a drink to calm our nerves, so to the beach we headed, for another fabulous sundowner, of course 😁