Private Goa-tour door oude rotskunst, laterietgrot en bellenmeer met lunch

My friend and I did this tour with Sawani. She is a person who is incredibly polite, deeply knowledgeable, and incredibly interesting! We were picked up from our hotel in Panjim, and the drive to the first location was long. We thoroughly enjoyed talking to Sawani the whole way over and listening to her own personal history as a Goan and archaeologist. She answered all of our questions and is an incredible teacher. After the first 2 locations, Sawani suggested going to the spice farm for our lunch and to enjoy the shade there because the middle of the day is hot. The spice farm that we visited (Tanshikar's) is a really amazing 250 year-old farming property and the tour we got there was great. I really enjoyed learning how certain spices were grown, seeing how they grow, tasting some (!!) and being shown the home of the farm-owners; it is a great multisensory tour! We learned a lot from the woman of the estate and the meal we had was delicious. Afterwards we stopped by the bubbling lake and that was nice. There were only the 3 of us, so we got to dip our feet into the pond and let the fish nibble at our toes while Sawani told us about the area and answered more of our questions. We then drove to the rock art which was incredible. Afterwards she offered for us to see the Buddhist cave. She said there was a way with more walking, but also a way with the car that would not be as long and luckily we were able to take that route. We really had a lovely time with Sawani and am thankful for all the knowledge and history that she shared with us. If you are a total history nerd I highly recommend this tour! It wasn't as much trekking as I thought there would be, but it is fine because they days in Goa do get hot. You do have to be pretty able-bodied to experience this tour. I was incredibly engaged the whole time and loved learning more about this small state.

We really enjoyed this tour and if you are staying in South Goa then the travelling time is at a minimum too so highly recommended. We started with a visit to the Rock Art, Petroglyths in Usgalimal. You can see how these carvings were not noticed for many years as at first glance there is nothing unusual. They don't stand out as the petroglyths are on the ground. The security guard at the site brings out a bottle of water and dribbles it into the carved channels and lo and behold they come to life. Really fascinating scenes of the labyrinth, cows, peacocks, hunters etc. The next stop was at the Netravali Bubbling Lake. It's really a small stepwell than a lake but nonetheless fascinating. Again, nothing looks unusual with this stepwell until you start clapping and then bubbles appear from the bottom. How weird is that? Within 15 seconds of you stopping clapping the bubbles stop and then start again 15 seconds after you start clapping. We then visited Tanshikar's Working Organic Spice Farm. The owner of the farm is full of really interesting information and that's what makes this Spice Farm the one to go to. Lunch is also provided here and you can select the food you want. They brought out grilled fish as well and the Tanshikar cats will gladly scoff up any bits and bones you don't want. We bought some of the spices from the small shop. Finally, on the way back to our hotel, we stopped at the two Rivona Natural Caves which are worth a brief stop. This was an excellent tour and we really enjoyed it.

Interesting trip with our guide Sawani. It is worth it to see the amazing "stone art" on the ground near the river & other sightseeing.

Seamlessly arranged by 5 Senses, the tour was excellent. We had on her list the places that have a history behind them. Ramachandra sequenced the tour in a chronological order with emphasis on the journey from prehistoric times to the current day and age. Ours was a group of 7, and Ramchandra was extremely patient and answered all of the questions. Courtesy Ramchandra - We also got a taste of the local Kasai - a drink made from spices and milk on a rainy evening. As the archeological expert and guide - Ramchandra was knowledgeable, patient, ever helpful and courteous. We enjoyed every bit of the tour. Thank you so much 5 Senses and Ramchandra !

Really fantastic day-trip. Just the two of us, together with our guide who seemed to be a bottemless pit of knowledge about the sites we visited and their history. But almost more importent to us was her willingness to share her experience and wealth of knowledge about everyday life in Goa today. Our only disappointment was that we were not able to enter the caves - especially having seen similar caves (in North Goa) on line. Not sure whether she felt we were too old to cope with the physical effort involved or the access was no longer possible. But it really didn't spoil the whole experience and we would recommend it to anyone interested in the historical and archaeological background to the region.

Fantastic trip with archaeological, historical and cultural information. Very interesting day and Sawani was a wonderful, friendly guide and host.

Sawani, a PhD student in archeology, guided me on an early morning. Her genuine, pleasant demeanor and wealth of knowledge about Goa, history and culture was exactly what I was looking for. While driving to the sites or at their location, Sawani explained the reasons why people, past or present, created the current structures, temples, or art in their environment. The rock art, cave, bubble lake, temples and the spice farm gave me invaluable insight into Goan people, reflective of history, geography, religion and agriculture. The car ride to the locations is relaxed and beautiful. Every location we visited was so distinctly different that it captures another side of history and livelihood. The meal at the spice farm was incredible and the 5th generation owner of the farm is warm and incredibly generous. I highly recommend this tour to experience insight you won’t get anywhere else. By the end, it felt like Sawani was a good friend and it was so hard to leave South Goa. Thank you!

Incredible is the word for this experience. Sawani was an archaeologist who took Ian on this adventure. The rock art was out of the world and so incredibly beautiful. Sawani helped us understand the style and the meanings. She is an awesome person and we also visited a lake with mysteries and the highlight was authentic Goan lunch in a working farm. Do this

This tour blew my mind. I never knew Goa had 9000 year old cave drawings. We got an archaeologist to guide us on this tour through the caves as well as a remote lake with mysterious bubbles! Overall it was a fantastic day with mystery and our curiosity awakened! I would urge people coming to Goa to explore this.