Ruth.

Glad you had a great time. We go in a couple of weeks. We want to go to the spice plantation and the evening cruise. Would you mind writing a brief report on those two trips please.

Cheers.

hi ruth,

glad you had a good time. i go a week on thursday and was wondering how much the jungle book tour was? and any other info you could give me would be great.

many thanks,

the spice plantation trip we did ourselves and combined it with 2 hours in old goa and 2 of pondas many temples.it was £5 each to get in that includes a welcome drink of lemon grass tea, a talk on the uses of herbs and spices in the medical world. walking tour of the farm and a buffet lunch with a glass of feni. they have an elephant you can have your photo with for free but ther was an extra charge if you wanted to ride or feed it.

panjim trip with daytripper was £6.50 each i think. we were picked up outside hotel at 230 by bus. when get to panjim brief tour by bus pointing out sites then about 1 1/2 hours to shop guide knows where all shops are so just ask.boat sailed down river to sea at 6 and a soft drink or beer was included in price. the boat put on entertainment in the form of 3 traditional dances but much more entertaining to watch was the 50 or so indian men of all ages who were clearly celebrating something who all tried to get on the dancefloor at once when the dj came on. it was the best demonstration of 'dad dancing' at you inlaws wedding i have ever seen! we were back at hotel for 8pm

The "jungle book" trip that we booked through our rep was £70 each and was the best £70 we have ever spent. Two full days in the jungle, washing and riding elephants, visiting spice plantation, yoga, jungle walks, visiting local village and school, campfires, elephant demonstration, visiting an old relic, loads of lovely meals and local entertainment...fabulous!

jungle book trip was done with thomas cook but i think they all follow a similar itiniary. first stop was at a spice plantation similar to the one i have detailed above where you have lunch. next stop was at a cashew nut factory when you see all the nuts being cracked by hand you will never feel the same again when you buy a bag of nuts. next stop was at the jungle book village in the shanti nature reserve to change into your swim things. quick dip in the river to cool off, then elephant rides and a ride in a cart pulled by 2 bullocks! our hut had 2 beds a double and a single both with nets we took our own plug in insect killer but they could provide them there. hut was clean dispite being made of mud and dung! sink , toilet and shower. no insects seen inside although 2 large lizards were about to watch me go to the toilet until i screamed and they made a hasty exit. next we walked to a local village where the leader of the villages widow welcomed us into her home and showed us how to make flour. we also met all of the children and we wished we had known about this bit because we would have taken pens paper books etc for them. dinner was a buffet of indian foods. then had a demonstration of the commands elephants can learn, they had 3 elephants. a short walk followed to a nearby temple in total darkness to see the vampire bats! songs around the camp fire followed before bed.
day 2 started at 545am with a cup of tea before the walk started it was 3hrs in total but was done at a steady pace with rest breaks and about half hour at a waterfall. after we got back it was straight to the temple we visited last night to do yoga with monkeys watching you, its all very light hearted and worth having a go. breakfast follows then you leave the village and go by bus to a river where you board rafts and sail for about half hour to an island where there are 3 more elephants these are the ones you scrb with coconut shells and then get on in the river and let then give you a shower. you also have lunch here, then its back on the coach to you hotel