We had an astonishingly good nights sleep, the tent wasn't as hot as it might have been and the woods were devoid of too many disturbing noises. Exhaustion probably helped as well! Waking this morning we were surprised to find that it was raining. Not a full heavy rain but enough that everything was wet and later covered in damp leaf matter.
The biggest surprise however, came when I moved my wash bag and revealed a very large spider. So large in fact that had it been inclined I could have been involved in a tug of war battle between it and my wash bag; instead it froze solid as did I. Coming back to my senses, I told Debs, who was in the tent, to zip up the inner and I set about moving bags from around it. With a clear tent, I bravely prodded it out with a stick. I have no idea what kind of spider it was, but I had a little moment later when I realised that I could have put my hand on it while getting out of the tent this morning!
Spider incident over and done with, we packed up and rejoined the road. The extra kilometres that we did yesterday, hopefully meant that we would have a shorter day today. Which is exactly what we had, just not an easier one. Any belief that I had that the road would level out when we turned off to Chimoio had proven miss-placed. By the time we arrived in Chimoio, Debs sick feeling had returned and both our limbs and backsides were suffering from a series of long climbs. It was good to know that we have at least one day off before we move on.
Finding the Pink Papaya guest-house would have been easier with a map and if the road that we needed had been signposted like all the others. With a little help from some locals and ignoring the ones who wanted to send us back the opposite way, we arrived outside. Our plan had been to camp, but unfortunately they no longer allow it so we are stuck with dorm beds. The other two private options are booked up, which is a shame as the dorm isn't particularly cheap compared to the rooms. Nevertheless it seems nice enough, the staff are helpful and we should be able to get some rest.
Heading out for lunch, we ate and then took a street child for a walk round the city. If there was an award for the most persistent beggar, then he would probably have won. His requests for money were eventually thwarted by the guest-house's dogs. Maybe I should offer to walk one when we go out tomorrow!
Perhaps Toad had invited the spider in for a midnight feast!
ReplyDeleteLove from Mum and Dad xx