17 June - a day of miracles.

We set out early from Juliasdale and took a short cut through Marenderos to the Harare - Nyamapanda road. The roads were pretty easy but sign posting is non-existent. If we hadn't had very clear directions to the short cut we would never have found it.
We arrived at the border in good time and went through Immigration and Customs without a hitch. We then had to report to the police check in the car park. The policeman in charge asked for our police clearance. Huh? We have a Carnet from AA and letters from the bank for our car and insurance etc but this was the first time we'd been asked for a police clearance. No one ever told us we'd need one.

Now what? We had a chat (there were about four policemen milling around). We had to convince them we still support Bafana even if we aren't in SA when they accused us of "running away". I went and got a vuvuzela out of the car and they all had a go at blowing it but none of them managed. But the problem of the police clearance was not solved. Another South African came through from the other direction and said, "Yes, you have to have a clearance". Arghhhh. The policeman in charge suggested we go back to Harare and contact Interpol.

After some discussion and checking over our vehicle he suggested we might like to buy him a cup of coffee. The short story was we bought him a "cup of coffee" and we were able to proceed. A return trip to Harare would have cost us so much in time and money and with Zimbabwe one can't be sure of what other corruption one will encounter on the way.  This was our first real encounter with blatant corruption and it left us with a sour taste. When we went through the Mozambique side of the border there was much hussling by people there and attempts made to extract extra cash but we managed to clear that one without further hitch.

One of the good things that came out of our policeman incident was that we met a Zimbabwean coming through. He verified that one does need a police clearance but he also warned us that we need to get our documents stamped at the customs office in Tete if we are proceeding to Malawi. Another thing we had not been told but thanks to this fellow we were able to get the required stamp on our way through Tete. Apparently if one doesn't have it at the border with Malawi one has to return to Tete to get it!!! Eish! Another miracle. Thank you Lord! 

In the morning we had prayed that the traffic would be going our way at the Tete bridge over the Zambezi. We had heard that the wait can be up to an hour. Guess what? the traffic was going our way and we went straight through!The photo is of the magnificent bridge across the Zambezi River. The delays are due to maintenance work taking place.

I tried to phone Peta to get instructions to their place which is on the way to the Malawi border. I couldn't get through and it was only when she sms'd me later that I discovered that they didn't have cell reception. Peta is an enterprising lady. She had internet access so she Skyped her sister-in-law who is in Bali and asked her to send us a message on my cell phone giving clear directions to their turn off. Now how's that for using technology to problem solve? Wow!!!

It's definitely time for bed... We're off to camp at Lake Malawi. It's a shorter trip and we have the name of a good camping place through Peta's friend. This network of support blows my mind. Thanks everyone.