One thing you can do when you’re visiting the Indian state of Goa, on the south/western coast, is to stop by a spice plantation. Presumably the spice plantations that dot Goa and other parts of India are remnants of the once-extremely-profitable spice industry which drove Europeans farther and farther across the globe in search of new riches. One such spice plantation is Sahakari Farms, near Curti, just west of center of the state.
Supposedly most of these spice plantations are run according to similar models. You pay a fee, get a tour of a small part of the farm and see how many different spices grow and what they’re used for, and finish with a buffet lunch. At Sahakari, as at many others, you can also ride an elephant. Not only can you ride and feed an elephant, but you can also bathe an elephant. And vice versa!
Our tour at Sahakari Farms was led by a particularly enthusiastic and entertaining tour guide. Be sure and try and get him if you go:
Don’t believe me? Check out some of his work:
The spice farm staff will do their best to convince you of all of the allegedly curative properties of their spices, and prescribe specific recipes to be used for maladies such as diabetes, high cholesterol, and other conditions which confound modern medicine. And I don’t dispute whether they work – just that some of the “cures” require a paradigm shift – such as the oil they sell for impotence. Instructions for use: rub three drops into the, er, “affected area” for about five minutes. Guaranteed to work!
Be sure and stop in next time you’re in Goa. And the food is delicious!!
