Palolem, Goa had been great, but it felt like time for us to move. We booked tickets to Sri Lanka for the upcoming weekend and made our way back to the airport area again.
Since we enjoyed our initial stay with Auslyn/Austin, we messaged him via WhatsApp to inquire about availability. Last week we noticed there were a couple fishing rods in his driveway so we asked if perhaps he would like to go fishing with us and barbecue afterwards. Once we received confirmation, we booked for two nights back where we started in Bogmalo Beach. Auslyn/Austin told us he was coincidently driving one of his guests down to Palolem and offered us a return ride back! Score.
We spent the next 48 hours hanging out with Austin, who confirmed that the name Auslyn was a combination of his name and his sister’s name that was used for the guest house name.
One of our favorite activities to do is fishing. Neither of us have any skill or knowledge, but we enjoy it nonetheless. Our only catches of note are an Octopus in Greece and a Catfish in the Jordan River.
Ten minutes after settling in at a small fishing village a few kilometers away from home base, we added a new one to our list: a Blowfish from the Arabian Sea!
Unfortunately, that was our only catch of the day.
Nadine and Austin caught a few crabs. Austin even went the extra mile and got himself stuck on one of the crab pincers.
Because blowfish aren’t edible, we gave it the old catch and release. We went home empty handed, but Austin was amazing and bought a few fish from a local market and his mother marinated it with a delicious marsala style rub. We had ourselves a BBQ!!
For dessert we chopped down coconuts from Austin's yard!
In the afternoon we took a drive to the see the heart shaped lake and the cliffs over looking the shore.
The stay with Austin is exactly what AirBNB is supposed to be. The perfect scenario, in our opinion, is when the host introduces the foreign guests to that particular country, while they collectively partake in local activities together and learn from one another. What was originally slated to be a pitstop on the way out of town turned out to be a truly special day with a special person.
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