Humble apologies for the lack of blog, I’ve been laid up with a common condition which afflicts travellers worldwide – call it Montezuma’s Revenge, Delhi Belly, the Goa Two Step – I think we know what I’m talking about. And the less said about it the better. All well now and raring to make up for lost time…

So – going back a few days – one of the lads working at Mesa (our beach home) arranged a trip on a fishing boat for us, leaving the beach at eight in the morning. We were up and ready by five to eight, but it seems there’s a slightly loose concept of time out here and we didn’t actually take to the seas until 9.30 am. Fortunately we weren’t going anywhere, and it gave us time to enjoy a leisurely breakfast. Breakfast at Mesa involves a ten minute stroll along the beach to the restaurant at Beach Bumps (Is it just me or is the name a bit off? Beach Bums makes perfect sense to me but Beach Bumps evokes odd images of pregnant women lying in rows on the beach.) The breakfast is set, and consists of fresh juice (pineapple, orange or watermelon), black tea, porridge and eggs any way you like them. As we waddled our way back from Beach Bumps, we spotted some dolphins playing just off the beach. Clearly, it was going to be a good day to see dolphins.

The fishing boats are very pretty, wooden and painted in various colours with their names emblazoned on the front.  On one side, they have a strut lashed to the side which I presume keeps them stable in water. They are powered by a small motor but there’s a long rounded oar just in case the engine fails. It takes six men to push them up and down the beach, using large wooden beams placed underneath them. Once they are in the water, it’s quite a challenge to climb into them. I threw myself over the side, just in time to see that our fisherman had thoughtfully placed an upturned bucket in the sea for me to stand on.

Once we were at sea, an immediate feeling of pleasure swept over me and by glancing at David I could see he was feeling the same. It was so good to be out on the water. Soon we were entertained by the sight of dolphins all around us, amongst them a mother and baby, the mother with a distinctive pink snout, the baby impossibly small and perfect. We could hear them breathing before we saw them. After half an hour of watching them, we moved off to look at the coast.

As Agonda Beach receeded, the coast became more rocky. The rocks were large and red and piled up on top of each other, forming distinctive shapes which reminded us the stones at Carnac (for further details, see my first ever blog!) One was particularly striking. Our fisherman said it was known as ‘the turtle’, and we could see why.

We passed a tiny strip of beach known as Honeymoon Beach – a favourite spot for young lovers, at a guess, although by the looks of the makeshift shelters on the beach, it is also used by local fishermen. Round the next corner we reached our destination, Butterfly Beach. So called because the inlet is shaped like a pair of butterfly wings.  A beautiful small beach with just a single family on it – no shops or sellers. Our fisherman told us it can only be accessed from the sea. After a bit of googling, I discovered this isn’t strictly true but the path is quite difficult to access and it supports the fishermen if people take the boat trip. So if you go there and take the path, don’t say I told you!

We managed to pull into the beach for long enough for us to get out, but there was no way to land, so the fisherman gave us 10 minutes and then he came back and picked us up.

Back on Agonda, the dolphins were out in force again, and we lingered to watch them play. Then it was back to the beach.

In summary, a lovely, tranquil trip. From now on, I’d be able to look out to sea and know that the dolphins are out there.