The Saligao walk was really nice and peaceful! We went through beautiful palm tree road and hear a lot of local stories. At the end we we were invited to the old Portuguese villa where we can enjoyed tea and the most delicious biscuits 🍪

This walk started in the courtyard of a beautiful Goanese church, with Neo Gothic architecture. Mae de Deus. The storyteller was a fascinating and vibrant young historian Amreen, who incidentally happened to be on her Ramzan fast, and on a very sultry afternoon at that. The story started with a tale from the Skanda Purana about Lord Parshuram reclaiming the land from the sea. Story moves on to history where the original settlers of Goa happened to be 96 Gaud Bramhin families from Bengal. And that Konkani language and food habits have actually evolved from Bengali! As we tramped through the beautiful village, we see influences of the Portuguese, in art and architecture. We are hosted for tea at a quaint Portuguese villa by an elderly gentleman and his extremely photogenic cat. We got to know about the feni trade, the Cantonese artifacts, the emigration waves to East Africa and Karachi. The walk left me with the most surreal feeling that this is the India we live in, a melting pot of so so so many cultures, religions and influences, and so much beauty. I know I sound clichéd, but this walk was a thorough cleanse from the hatred and otherness that we experience in our daily lives now.

It was a unique and beautiful experience. The history of Goa along with the experience of walking in the narrow lanes, taking in the Flora and Fauna, brilliant narration by Amreen Xec ended with the visit to the house of M R D’Souza now of the Vaz family, trying out savouries and cakes from their bakery in Panjim, just superb

I recently went on the Saligao Village Saunter Tour with my parents and tour guide Vaishnavi. It was a very peaceful and relaxing tour, learning more about the village of Saligo where Vaishnavi had grown up. She started off the church and learnt about its history before visiting the graveyard and learning about how the dead are respected and buried. We walked down picturesque paths with paddy fields either side, past little houses painted in beautiful colours before arriving for tea at one of the beautiful period houses. Vaishnavi was charming, interesting and went at a lovely pace.

Our tour was wonderful. The local history of the village was really interesting and the tea in the Portuguese villa was delightful. Our guide was the best. We particularly appreciated her knowledge of the local trees and plants, and she was very sweet with our daughter. Thank you!

Great village tour with Vaishnavi. She is so knowledgeable and good storyteller. It was a chill and interesting walk through the village.

It was such a perfect escape from the chaos of the city to come to this village and in a relaxed manner walk around and learn. Big thanks to our amazing guide - who is a bit of an expert of this village in fact, as she grew up here. As usual, "Make it happen" tours are always living up to its high expectations. We will go on to book many more tours with them :)

This was our third event with Make It Happen during our short trip to Goa. We really loved the slow pace of the walk - it truly was a delightful saunter. Our storyteller Amreen really kept us engaged with so many interesting anecdotes and stories about Saligaon. We really appreciated the level of research and effort that went into making this tour - it was so unique and gave us a great sense of the "sussegad" pace of life in Goan villages. We also enjoyed getting to learn about Amreen's experiences as a historian - the personal touch was really appreciated! What made this tour even more special was that one of the people in our group had great grandparents who grew up in Saligaon!! We would highly recommend Make It Happen to any people visiting Goa that want to truly get a sense of this beautifully diverse state!

The Saligaon village saunter was our third and perhaps the most unique of our tours with Make It Happen on our short trip to Goa. Our storyteller Amreen with her curated oral history of Saligaon and stories collected from families around the village was truly exceptional. Her passion for sharing snippets of Goan life with travellers clearly showed in her work. Thank you for such a memorable afternoon.

We took a trip back in time to the land of our ancestors. Gaurish was our guide, who's knowledge of local culture n lore brought the place alive. through his stories n narration we could better understand and appreciate the essence of Goa and her beautiful people. We highly recommend this immersive walk into the past that defines our present.

Gaurish was very nice, super knowledgeable and the walk was really interesting. We also got lots of facts about Goa in general, 100% recommended!

Can across Make it happen and signed up for their Saligao village saunter. Loved every minute of it. Gaurish was brilliant, knowledgeable and warm as he took us around Saligao. It was a lot of fun conversing with him as he pointed out little details one would miss if they explored on their own. Highly recommend this curated experience for folks looking to visit Goa not just for the beaches.

It’s great to see such walking tours in India, especially one that tries to bring out lesser known parts and history of Goa! This was our third tour with MakeItHappen, having done Old Goa and Divar island previously. We were hosted on this tour by Vaishnavi, a wonderful storyteller, who is also quite knowledgeable about Saligao. Thoroughly enjoyed the tour interspersed with interesting personal anecdotes from her days of growing up in and around the area(thanks for sharing those with us, Vaishnavi!). The tour ended with a high tea at a historic villa - its current owners are so gracious opening it to tourists, letting us soak in the rich history of the place! Kudos to MakeItHappen for putting this together and looking forward to participate in their other tours too!

The Saligao Village Saunter by Make It Happen was a lovely way to explore this quiet part of Goa. I loved the leisurely pace, walking past paddy fields and coconut groves, listening to stories about the village and its people. The final stop at Madam Rosa's house was delightful, not to mention the Indo-Portuguese high tea offered. My guide Gaurish was a treasure trove of information and anecdotes, and made the whole experience super-fun with his banter.

Amazing experience! It's an authentic, organic experience that's very different from the regular touristy thongs you can do in Goa. The personal touches and stories make the experience memorable.

Make it Happens trips are such a pleasure to go on because of the wealth or information and insights. I thought Saligao was a very pretty village with layers of history and culture that Make it Happen team captured beautifully.

Very exciting morning spent at Saligao on this village saunter by Make It Happen. The story behind the beautiful Saligao Church was exciting. Vaishnavi brought so much energy to this experience and was life of the tour. Her storytelling and the way she presented this experience was truly memorable. The visit to the Madame Rosa house was a great addition. Nathan, the host, was very hospitable. This part of the experience takes you back in time.

We had a lovely walk through sleepy quaint Saligao with Vaishnavi. Vaishnav talked us through the ethnicity and mythology of the mystic and magical land called Goa, it's people, it's food , it's culture. Highly recommend for a short walk surrounded by coconut palms and lush fields.

My husband & I really enjoyed the walk, lead by curator Vaishnavi The experience, the stories & the trail were extremely beautiful - a BIG thank you to the Make it Happen team & the Goa Heritage Walk Fest! Must go! Thank you Disha & Harsh

Loved being taken around by Norah on a walk through the fields and coconut trees lined mud paths of the villages in saligao .She was very informative and was also very patient and thorough with everything she shared.The high tea in an old Goan residence was quite the experience. I recommend this tour to anyone looking to escape the noise and dust of city life- it left us feeling refreshed .