The best way to make a vacation enjoyable is to ask the locals where to go, what to eat, and so on. On our lab trip back in 2018, we reluctantly took the advice of the waiter at our stay – Colva residency, Goa – to visit Cabo De Ram (which we kept hearing as Kabaadiraam till he spelled it out on a napkin).
Driving over an hour for thirty odd kilometres to land at a rocky plateau-ish place, we were half disappointed and half tired. Had we just wasted a precious day for nothing?
Then, we asked the locals again. “Beach?” we asked them. They kept pointing in the direction of the edge of the cliff and saying incomprehensible things. We thought it strange but ‘parked’ our rented scooters where they were and walked to the edge.
The mesmerizing view took our breath away. Ocean as far as the eye could see surrounded by blackish brown rocky terrain teeming with palm trees and wild vegetation. We got excited so much so we could jump off. Luckily, someone spotted an old, worn-out staircase built into the cliff; a probable fort ruin. We contained our excitement and quickly, though carefully, treaded down the steps.
Cabo de Rama – an unmanned pristine beach – welcomed us. The cleanest sand at our feet, wind in our hair and no one else around. We dared not enter the water for the few signboards warned of sharp cliffs and danger zones. So, we ended up walking around to the back of the cliff – to a crystal clear body of fresh water! Yes, the waiter had told us of a lagoon!
Right beside the salty sea, nature had built a fantastic filtration system. The seawater fed into this lagoon merely tens of steps away. Yet, this water was so clean and sweet, we could drink it! (No, we didn’t.) We sat in this cool, shallow water, letting the slow current wash away our fatigue. Huge palm trees guarded us on all sides. Straight ahead, there were the open sea-and-sky. We were out in the open, but felt the safest. Nature was at its best.
The butterflies in our stomachs had given way to hunger after an hour or two in this serene surrounding. We had our fill at the amazingly satiating Fishermans’ Wharf near the top of the cliff where we began and we were more than ready to visit the fort remains nearby. There, the remains are few. But the views, the nature trails that filled our evening made up for it.
Discovery gives humans a thrill nothing else can match, matters none if it comes from travel, or scientific research. Goa July 2018 was one such adventure.
Visit period: 4th week of July
Transport: Flight Delhi – Goa, cabs and scooters locally
Sights: Beaches, waterfalls, lakes, lagoons, palms, greenery
(Almost) Free goodies: Carefree feel, cheap (but good) alcohol, Konkan cuisine
Cabo de Rama – fort, beach and lagoon – is one of the hidden gems in the serene south Goa.
Dishes we had at Fisherman’s Wharf: Chicken Xacuti, Crab curry, Calimari, lots of rice, even more beer.
Nishtha Bhargava is a Senior Research Fellow at CSIR-IGIB. In the lab, she investigates if and how cells communicate through small extracellular vesicles during stress. When she’s not in the lab she likes to listen and dance to her favourite music, read books and dream about the future. She believes animals, children and drunk people never lie and that empathy-driven rigorous science has the power to change the world