Goa’s Enchanting Monsoons

I love the monsoons. The landscape is marked by verdant hills, lush green fields and numerous streams. The air is fresh and everything is clean. I know the continuous showers dampen your spirits and keep you indoors for days on end. But if you enjoy playing in the water like children and don’t give a damn to getting wet, the rainy season can be fun. So I decided to explore Goa during this ‘off’ season.

Starting near to home, I went to the Rassaim waterfall following a few days of heavy rains. It involved a trek through some thick vegetation and wading through a fast flowing stream. There are two waterfalls in the vicinity. The first one is a small stream rushing down a steep rock face. The small pond at the foot of the falls feels like a cold water Jacuzzi. The adventurous few can try climbing halfway up the falls. One must exercise caution though, as the rocks can get slippery. The other larger waterfall is formed by stream plunging down about 40 feet. The pool here is larger and more suited for some light splashing around. You can also sit near the falls and enjoy the strong breeze due the waterfall. The thick forest around gives a sense of solitude. An amazing place to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Next I visited the hill at Paroda, Quepem. There is a road leading to the temple at the top of the hill. It was raining very heavily when we arrived. The hill is quite high and we could see the clouds below us. I felt like I was at a hill station. The view point offered a lovely view of the thick forest and green paddy fields below us. On clear weather days, one can see the Arabian Sea far off to the west. A good sunset point!

I also went on a north Goa trip with my friends. We visited the Arambol beach. The beach was deserted except for a few fishermen. We trekked to the top of the adjacent a hill and were treated to an amazing view of the coastline. As we made our way down the other side, we caught sight of the famous fresh water lake of Arambol. It is amazing to have a fresh water lake barely 200 meters from the sea. The lake is one place safe for bathing as there are no underwater currents there. We took a dip in the lake and checked out the stream that fed the lake. The waves slamming against the rocks painted an amazing picture as we walked back along the beach.

In the evening we visted Morjim beach. It was raining heavily. Still we decided to go out and enjoy! We tried hard to play football on the beach. But the strong winds kept blowing the ball of course. Soon the rain and wind subsided and we had great time playing beach football on a totally deserted beach. After a while we saw the rains coming, literally. It quite a sight to see the sheet of rain coming from the sea. We all ran back to our car, as we were not in the mood to get wet again.

The next day we visited Baga beach. Again we were greeted by rain and gale force winds. It was quite astounding and a little disturbing to see people bathing in the sea. I don’t understand how tourists find such a rough sea inviting. We walked around the beach for a while and decided to head off to Aguada fort. There were quite a few tourists here. After checking out the fort we headed to the cliff near the light house. Here the winds were so strong that we just could not face the seaward direction. The rain drops were moving in a horizontal direction. When the winds subsided we climbed down to the sea below. The rocks and the rough white sea against the back drop of a green hill makes up a lovely scenery. I had trekked from Aguada to Sinquerim beach along this hill a couple of years back. One of the best treks I have ever done.

This past Sunday I went to a couple of water falls in Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary. I would have never found these places if YHAI hadn’t organised the trip. The first waterfall was called Kuskem waterfall. It is some distance in the forest from the village. But the trek through thick vegetation was worth it. The waterfall is a treat to watch. The stream falls of vertically from a height of about 100 feet. You can stand right under the falls and have the water beating down you back like numerous hammers! Next we went to Bhamand Pudo. This one is right by the road. The water cascades down in two steps. The pool at the base is ideal for bathing. A cool place to hang out. I’ll give the coordinates of both the water falls. Thanks to Alroy for marking the spots with his Nokia N82. Kuskem coordinates: 15.0075N, 74.2071E. Bhaman Pudo: 15.0598N, 74.1594E


One should also check out the hill at mobor. You get a nice view of the River Sal and its plains. So there you are, there is more to Goa than the common notion of booze, beaches and babes. Hopefully I’ll be back soon to explore the rest of this paradise called Goa.