Reis Magos Fort, Dolphin sighting, Chapora Fort, Baga beach – Celebrating Easter at “Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church”
We got up early in the morning, had our breakfast, hopped on our scooters and hit the road. We had a busy day full of activities ahead of us. In less than an hour we reached Reis Magos Fort and we visited Reis Magos Church right next to it. The morning ride was fun and less stressful than our rides during the traffic peak hour. From Panaji via Old Patto Bridge we crossed over Mandovi River Bridge, and we couldn’t but notice the number of casinos located on the southern bank of the river while many of them were floating casinos cruising down the river. The first thing that we discovered was that Reis Magos is the Portuguese name for the Three Wise Men from the Bible. (A group of distinguished foreigners who visited Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh).
Reis Magos Fort originated as an armed outpost of the Adil Shah of Bijapur in 1493. When Bardez was conquered by the Portuguese in 1541, the Fort was built along with the church. From 1900, it lost its defensive role and was used as a jail and was finally abandoned in 1993 after which it was at the mercy of the elements, and had begun to crumble. Restoration work on the fort began in 2008 (Source: Wikipedia)
Further away, we headed to Chapotra fort. After a short ride we came across a fishermen community where we read that they operate dolphin sighting tours. We took one of the boats along with another group and we headed to the dolphin area which was crowded with other boats for the same purpose. We barely saw the back of one dolphin but the boat trip was worth it. One of the locals on the boat told us that this coastal area attracts all the famous Bollywood actors and artists, on our way he showed us some of the celebrities’ fancy houses built on the cliff of the mountain.
We continued our ride towards Chapotra fort, and what an amazing location on top of the mountain with a marvelous sea view. We were told that the shooting of “Dil Chahta hai” took place in this fort, but unfortunately, we were not familiar with it at that time.
Chapora Fort, located in Bardez, Goa, rises high above the Chapora River. Before the Portuguese arrived in Goa in 1510, this location was the site of another fort. The fort changed hands several times after Portuguese acquired Bardez. Trying to end the Portuguese rule in Goa, Prince Akbar joined his father’s enemies, the Marathas in 1683 and made this place his base camp. It became the northern outpost of the Old Conquests. After the Portuguese recovered from an encounter with the Marathas, they strengthened their northern defenses and provided shelter to the people there.
The present fort was built in 1717, replacing the older fortifications. Across the Chapora river, the Hindu ruler of Pernem, the Maharaja of Sawantwadi who was an old enemy of the Portuguese held the fort for two years after it fell to the Marathas in 1739 in its first test. When Goa’s border moved northwards with the acquisition of Pernem as part of the New Conquests, the fort lost its military significance towards the end of the century. It is a pleasant place to wander that offers fantastic views north across the Chapora river to Pernem, south over Vagator and also far out to the Arabian Sea in the West. (Source: Wikipedia)
It had been a busy morning, it was past noon and we needed to eat. So we rode our scooters until we reached the Chapotra river side and we stopped there hoping to find any type of food or snacks. We were able to buy something to drink, but when it came to food, we didn’t have so many options.
I believe she was a fisherman’s wife sitting under a tree with a small cooler in front of her. From her gestures we understood that she is offering us food. Without hesitation Chantal asked the lady to prepare us from what she had in the cooler. She pulled out some type of Panini bread rolled it into a small triangular shape, squeezed a boiled potato in it and added some red and green hot sauce, all with her bare hands while she placed our food on the exposed side cover of the cooler. Well we had food but we needed courage and a well-functioning immune system to beat whatever will enter our body. As I remember Chantal was the first to taste then myself, while Ronnie preferred to sip on a coconut. To our surprise this thing tasted amazing, we couldn’t but order more pieces. The good news, our immune system was able to conquer any foreign object that got through without any side effects. It was the real taste of India and till this day we weren’t able to find it in any other place.
In the afternoon we went all the way back, passing briefly by Baga beach, then to the hotel in order to get ready for the Easter ceremony that was going to take place in Panaji. We wanted to live the full Indian experience, so Chantal decided to put on her new Sari that she got from the Flea market few days ago, and we headed on our scooters to “Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church”.
It was inspiring to see all the believers gathered in groups of friends and families, actively participating in the mass ceremony. At first the guard didn’t want to let us in, since no tourists were allowed on that day. But when we explained to him that we wanted to go in and pray, he welcomed us and asked us politely not to take pictures inside the church during the ceremony.
What a blissful day!
Read more about our 8-day adventure to Goa-India while we discover the best places to visits and things to do
Checkout LawaynNext Facebook Page and Instagram for more photos. Do not hesitate to use the Hashtag #LawaynNext for related travel posts.
Leave a Reply