Goa, India

Arrived in Goa this morning pumped to explore this region of India we’d heard such great things about. We’d booked a highlights tour to take us to the historic Old Goa area as well as to a market and a visit to a multigenerational historic home.

One of the common misconceptions - including ours before researching Goa - is that it’s a city. Wrong. It’s the smallest Indian state and was a Portuguese territory until it was annexed by India in 1961. It’s known for its world heritage architecture and white sand beaches and active nightlife.

Frankly, it’s the first of our ports that left us disappointed relative to the expectations we had based on what we’d heard about Goa. In fairness, we didn’t go to the beach and we didn’t stay for the nightlife. That said, we felt it needed buffing and polishing and lacked a real energy. Maybe it comes alive at night? In any case, the individual sites we saw were lovely.

The highlight for us was visiting the Fernandes home. They’re the sixth generation to live there and decided to open their home to tourists in order to be able to keep it in good condition. It’s a listed heritage home, 200 plus years old, and they receive no government support to maintain it. I spoke to Mrs. Fernandes and she was pleased to say their son is already taking on looking after it. Six of them live on the property - the mom, dad, their son, his wife and their two children, as well as two Malabar squirrels the patriarch rescued from a roadside zoo, five dogs and numerous ducks, chickens, a swan and a turkey. The visit was delightful.Read more