Varca Beach

Just 200 yards from our apartment is Varca beach. The beach runs some 20 miles with just a few shacks/bars selling all sorts of southern Goan food. Goa is not like the rest of India, not so much poverty or crime, the people are really friendly and will go out of their way to help you. It was previously Portuguese and many of the residents have dual citizenship making work in Europe relatively easy. 

We spent most of the day here meeting up with friends John & Denise who stay every year for a couple of months in the Club Mahindra.  We come here because the Internet access is particularly good. We think it's good in Honeybourne but super fast broadband is up to 59 mb on the beach and 3G everywhere. Everyone in India has a mobile phone, an old girl shuffled along the beach saw me, and thought blondie will be a soft touch, asked for a small donation, when  I refused she got her phone out to check her mail! By the way I'm not tight but its not the done thing to give money and the the bar owner says she will ring all her mates who "will plague the life out of you madam" - technology eh?

Beach is full of wildlife, Lots of wading birds, a sea eagle who finished off the slower crabs on the shoreline and grey herons and egrets, which I wasn't quick enough to catch. A herd of cows and a buffalo also come along to graze on the lush grass in front of the Zuri hotel, the security guards have a bit of a strop and the tourists all take pictures!

We had to do a bit more shopping for the weekend; the supermarket is small but rammed with everything you need.

Next door the veg co-op sells its produce for pennies. The traders never give you change, just a few sweets or an extra few carrots. If you can't see the price list it's all about 20p a kilo for just about everything you would get from the fruit & veg dept in Tesco, but fresher.

As its the weekend and we're just going to spend it sitting in the sun, watching the world go by or sipping a G & T with a good book, I won't be blogging til next week so enjoy your weekend, we intend to ️:) xx