Elenka and I went to India without any real plan, other than diving and dentistry. We really should have remembered that Goa is not the place to visit early on. When you get there you don't want leave. The beach at Benaulim is magnificent. Europeans come here year-after-year for vacation. For them it's a relatively short trip. Many of them have never seen any other part of India.

There probably is good Indian food in Goa. But you'd have to travel far from the beach to find it. The taste buds of Europeans and North Americans is quite similar. Bland is best it seems. Hence, you're stuck with a Western/Indian fusion that simply doesn't work.


Everyone in Canada, at least Toronto, knows what it's like when you have insured dental coverage. Toronto dentists have a 'let's take everything out and start all over again' attitude when they find you're insured. That's why - again without any real plan – we wound up in Goa near the beginning of our trip to have dental work done.

Elenka's initial experience was not good. The dentist kept hitting her tongue with the drill. She blamed Elenka for not holding her tongue – same dentist that used my eye as a thumb grip - in the right position. After completing her first crown, and mid-way through the second, Elenka put a stop to the proceedings and went for a second opinion. By this time I had already had my five crowns installed. But I was nervous about the quality of workwomanship. I went for a way too late, second opinion as well. As it turned out, the integrity of my crowns passed re-examination. And the new dentist sent Elenka back to the Blue Corner with smiles instead of tears. In the long run it all worked out. When we return home I need to find a new dentist. One that is older and wealthier and not in the need of an insured cash-cow.


Finally the puppies. I found myself unable to write these next few words without attaching the word 'Mother' in front of Elenka's name again. During our final week at the Blue Corner I watched the woman with awe. Momma wasn't properly feeding her young. So Mother Elenka took over. Four, sometimes five times a day, she would prepare a mixture of powdered milk and feed the puppies two at a time. How she could tell the difference between one and the other five I'll never know. It was my job simply to put the fed ones back under our cabina. When she wasn't feeding them she spent a good part of the day explaining the whimpering situation to new guests in hope that they would be sympathetic to our cause.

Three nights before we were scheduled to return home panic struck the heart of the saviour. She realized that after we left the Blue Corner the owners would simply pick up the puppies and drop them off, motherless, on some distant beach. For days Elenka had been trying to meet with someone from a nearby animal rescue operation. She'd had no luck. Then the following morning divine intervention occurred in the form of Wendy, Patron Saint for the Dogs of Goa. Wendy, a woman from the UK, has been spending the past 13 years working tirelessly to neuter and provide health care to the strays of Goa. Wendy explained that her people would take the puppies to a shelter and when they were old enough, neuter them, vaccinate them and then put then up for adoption. Momma would be taken away, neutered and then when healthy returned to the Blue Corner.

Wendy's non-profit organization, the Goa Animal Welfare Trust www.gawt.org accepts donations through PayPal. Tell them Mother Elenka of the Blue Corner sent you.