Arrived in the rain today but after speaking to the hotel manager - we were glad we had come. We are staying in the grounds of the Chimanimani Hotel which you can see is a colonial site that in it's day would have been at least 4 stars. The hotel has a pool, mini golf course and gorgeously landscaped grounds and gardens which have some of the greenest grass we have seen so far. Had cups of tea with freshly baked muffins on the terrace this afternoon and thought - people have to come here - these people need tourists. How they have kept the hotel going to date is a mystery to behold. The head chef is currently the manager and we kept seeing that with other staff, first they would serve you in the bar then you would see them pushing a lawn mower.

Thankfully we woke on our first morning in Chimanimani to glorious sunshine. Walking was a definite. Laura and I had decided that we were going to walk whether the weather was wet or dry as we are badly in need to getting the blood flowing around our bodies after a few truck days. Most of the group set off on a walk to Bridal Falls which was billed as 3.5km. It was an easy enough walk and we were rewarded with a gorgeous waterfall. A few people decided a swim was in order and in they went - of course being fresh water it was freezing and quite a shock to their systems. I assessed my underwear and decided that my beige bra and white nickers were a little to risqué when wet to chance a swim, especially considering the amount of cameras pointed at the swimmers. On our way back we decided that whilst we were out and the weather was holding we would head for Elan lookout point. It was billed as 2.5km however signs were not as clear as the falls. Laura, Claire, Yoshi and I headed off and steadily climbed up-hill for at least 1.5 hours. We found some lookouts but none had the sign of Elan so we continued on. It got to the point when we decided that we needed to pick a point and head back, otherwise we would be walking all day. On our way back we saw a small snack attempting to eat a toad in the middle of our track. Luckily for us the snake got scared and slithered away, unluckily for the toad it was already dead and so would probably been devoured once we had moved on and the snake returned.

We spent the afternoon chillaxing in the hotel grounds. We also set ourselves up a makeshift move theatre in one of the conference type rooms and watched movies tonight on actual sofa's, can't even describe the comfort I felt even sitting on a 10 year old tattered sofa over a campstool with no back to lean on.

Bit of drama last night as Ruth got really sick and lost all her energy. She had a fever today and slept most of it on a sofa and in bed, but we thought it would pass. When she decided that laying on the tiles of the bathroom floor was preferable to the sofa it was decided that it was time for medical intervention and she was whisked off to the nearest local clinic. We found out the following morning that she has malaria. Thankfully she was taken to a clinic and the malaria treatment drugs were administered and she instantly started looking better. She now sleeps on the beach area of the truck as we drive which has the bonus of providing a few other people an opportunity to experience life in the cab.