When the mind wonders off – part XIV

We stopped at four gas stations on the way, unfortunately none of them had any diesel. At last we learned about a station that should have fuel, but were not able to find it. So we had to empty the 20 liter reserve can with fuel from England and Syria. We refueled in Syria because it was really cheap. So we could go on for a few miles. We were told, diesel will arrive tomorrow – but will it really?
 
The rumors were true and we could fill up the tank and the reserve can just in case. One of the stops in Malawi was a visit to Kelvin, whom we met while crossing from Egypt into Sudan. He was a nice and talkative Australian, who helped at the local hospital. He was also on the way from England, where he brought a used Toyota with much equipment.

We made acquaintance with his daughter Lily and wife Suzy and visited the hospital, where he works. Since he was interested in everything, Kelvin was a very hand y person and used for many tasks. He was called if a computer or x-ray machine needed a fix-up, or even a lawnmower, light, car… It was all a pleasure for him to fix – and he was smiling at the opportunity to host us at his home as well.
 
After that we continued toward Mozambique. It took us a long time, for we’ve stopped every few miles – and enjoyed the view of the area and surrendered to the wondrous sunset. Curvy hills in the distance, red flood of the sky and every now and again a local on a cycle. A gorgeous ending of a traveling day. We camped among the trees near the road.
 
Getting ready to prepare a delicious dinner a security officer visited us, with his gun. When he was getting closer, I’ve said: “I hope he’s not carrying a riffle, for I don’t know what to do then.” And a man with a riffle came to us. Luckily he was kind. He warned us, we should have told him about our intent to camp here, for he never knows, who’s lurking about. He started asking us, about how much money we’re carrying with us, but we weren’t sure what to say, for we didn’t know how much we could trust him.
 
After our explanation, that we’re on our way to Mozambique and this was our last day in Malawi, so we’re not carrying much cash with us, everything was fine.

I was pleasantly surprised by Portuguese in Mozambique, for it was Portugal, who started colonizing this land. Thus also included the slave trade. In the place called Tete we crossed the river Zambezi, one of the longest in Africa and were on a path among many burned forests. Shortly every tree will get an axe, for they all need charcoal for heir every day purposes. We didn’t stop for long in Mozambique, for we were heading inland toward Victoria Falls – and were not near the famous Mozambique coast.

Reaching the border with Zambezi (on Mozambique site still) two gentlemen were sitting in the shade with a rather bored expression. After we woke them up, they stamped our papers without looking at them and we were in Zambezi.
 
Here the story was different. We were welcomed with a bill for 150,000 kwacha – a tax for protecting the environment and $50 for a visa. But that’s not all. When Peter told the official we arrived by car, he invited him to a special room and asked about the details of our trip from England down here. More Peter told him, more confused the border guard was. He didn’t understand, how we could undertake such a long journey with a car, with scratches on the outside. Peter was explaining how it always went well and that the car was bought, equipped and licensed in England. But the official didn’t understand and everything seemed more and more suspicious to him. He wanted to take a good look at the car and while Pere and I were waiting for the visas, Peter went to showcase our four-wheel home.
 
Once they got outside, the realized that the official believed Peter was talking about the Toyota parked next to our Rover – and the Toyota was a wreck! That was so strange to the official and once they cleared it up, they were laughing at the whole deal and the story got a happy end.
 
After this crossing, we drove to the south part of the Luangwa park in the night. We tried to avoid the night drives, but we wanted to have the whole day at the park, from the early morning on! We parked at the first camp, and it was surrounded by great voices of the wilderness. Baboons, elephants and many wild but unrecognizable roars made us run from our tent to the toilet just some 20 meters away. It all sounded so close. There was no body here to pay for the camp in the evening, and since no body came until morning, we headed out without paying. After all, we were anxious to see the animals, not wait around for the bill.