Goa Winter 2018-2019 (1 Viewer)

Thinking of trying South Goa in November/December this year and have been reading various threads in this section together with trip reports obtained by surfing the net.

This will be our first holiday in Goa, or India for that matter and I was wondering what people’s thoughts were regarding taking malaria tablets. I have seen a more or less up to date malaria map for Goa that shows it to be low risk to minimal risk and doesn’t see a need for taking tablets. On the other hand, I have seen recommendations for being more cautious and the taking of tablets.

The reason for asking is that we went to The Gambia in March, I (and my wife) took Malarone but I suffered bad side effects which are still affecting me now. It was not the wet season when we went and we didn’t travel up river. Despite the NHS going a bit overboard in their recommendations, most folk we spoke to were not taking any tablets.

Those of you that go to Goa fairly regularly in winter, what do you do?

I have never taken malaria precautions in Goa as it's often very dry when birders are there. You'll be in far greater danger of getting the shits, I contracted giardia last time, a nasty, bacterial gut infection carried in faeces and probably delivered by a dirty hand via a plate in a restaurant.

If you get giardia, symptoms are stomach cramps, night sweats with diarrrhoea and sickness. Symptoms subside but will return and it will only be killed off with the right antibiotic, Metranidazole from memory.


A

Heading to Goa this November lots of gen on the net , but not sure what gear to take sure I would like to have My DSLR +100-400, backup SX50 , + bins , scope and tripod but I think my other half would struggle to carry it all , so what's the best setup for a first time visit.
Cheers Brian

Mark

I was in South Goa for a month in Nov/Dec last year and the guidance from my GP was that malaria precautions were not necessary and so I didn't take any. The situation does change and I will be checking again in the next few weeks for this coming winter's trip. It's always worth checking the official position from your GP (and for any other inoculations you might require) since you wouldn't want to find out too late that your insurance is invalid by not not following the latest official guidance.

Cheers
Ian

Not heard of too much out of the ordinary so far this season, but there is some nice video on Facebook of a Malayan Night Heron walking around out in the open at Mollem (Bhagwan Mahaveer sanctuary). A scarce bird in the state with most sightings being just after the monsoon and in the south (Cotigao).

Mark

Red-billed Tropicbird photo'd offshore in last few days.

A few sightings from last few days (from Paul Willoughby's Bird Holidays group): 200 Amur Falcons in one flock over Pilerne Lake, displaying Legge's Hawk-eagle at Tamdi Surla, Yellow Bittern and Red Avadavats at Shirgao, Painted storks, Oriental Dwarf kingfisher and 2 Black-naped orioles at Carambolim, White-naped Woodpeckers at 2 sites. Sounds like great birding at the moment.

Mark