Malawi and Busted !!!!

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so what happens next i was not ready for in any way. i get greeted by many eyes and many people and many water.... ???
now there is a little story that not many people are aware of but i will let it all out now.
to start off with this is my second africa twin as my first one got swept down a river for 200 meters near sederberg oasis a few winters back, with me still attached to it... :thumleft: just ask gerrit

so to say that i have a natural fear for all things bike and rivercrossing in one sentence is an understatement of note.

 

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now after seeing water being bucketed out by hand and boats filled to the brim with not even many people onboard i feel a slight slab in my heart and thinking that now it a good time to turn back with my tail between my legs.
before i can get my helmet back on so mister negotiator comes up to me and putts in his first bid sky bloody high as i thought
he would and my natural urge to make a good deal takes over and it starts...

firstly how much weight can this boat take? the big one? he tunes me one ton. i tune him back i think that i will turn around cause there is no way that will hold my bike. and it has started 10 and then 15 mins pass and we shake on 3 us dollars. he smiles and i knew that he was still happy with what he got and i am still scared.

but screw it lets do it and on it went...

 

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so over we go and prayers were said. luckily the gods were kind that time and we made it across.

 

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the other side  :ricky:

 

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so safely to the otherside and the kids are posing as do the adults. which side looks better from the left or right.  :laughing4:

now it is maybe 16;00 and the border might close at 17;00. I will probably need fuel but dont know how far still to bangula or fuel or the border for that matter...my last money was given to the boatman and time is running out but this is africa after all and she has some more unexpected tricks up her sleave.... :mwink:

 

[funacide]

Loving the read and makes me feel like going back to Fat Monkey's and spending some more time just chilling there...

Some really good looking international women at Fat Monkeys...

 

[Pistol]

Funacide, I agree, and that bar right on the water that opens at 7 in the morning - R10 for 750ml beer :thumleft:

 

[tour]

So after getting over the river i know that i have to get going to cross the border. not sure of how far it is i first tried to change some dollars but to no avail. i needed to get some fuel on the black market. super overpriced offcourse. so i dont get fuel and head off towards the border. not sure of the kms or when it closes but i know that it is getting late.

as i leave bangula i spot out the corner of my eye "customs" and i think it a bit odd as the border is between 30 and 60 kms away. but i pull over and check a few officials and a game ranger. so he tunes me in afrikaans to pull into their spot for the nite as it is too far and you really want a whole day ahead of you.

and as it has happened so many times to me on this trip before. africa provides in strange ways. out if no where i was slightly lost and chasing the end of the day and the next minute i am following the ranger to there game farm in the bush. what i find there is 2 awesome people with the heart for africa and giving back what they get from her.

my hosts for the nite are 2 south africans running a game farm that they are rebuilding and also breeding white lions. i spend an great time with great people and get to play with 2 cubs the next morning. i also meet a man that is building an inland port on the river Save. will get to that later,,,

they help me out in so many ways except 1, information on where i am going....they havent been in that direction so cant help, o well it makes it more exciting  :mwink:

 

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so the little cats.... check that grade A+ beef. i was drooling for some of that.

 

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so after a really cool wildcat experience it was time to hit the road again.with my heart full of joy i set off again due south hopefully  this will be the day of entering Mozambique. i had wanted to go there to see what it was like now as we were there as a family when i was a lighty in 1992 or 94. it was wild and wanted to see if my memories from many years ago was still accurate today.

changed enough dollars to fill my tank and get some supplies. as i cruise through this area i realise how fortunate my luck was with meeting at the "customs" with the ranger. for one thing it took me a few hours to get to the border and no 2 the scenery was spectacular again and goin faster that 60km/h would of defeated the purpose of being here. while riding in this area on your own you go threw so many emotions it is not even funny. luckily i was stuck on only one emotion and that was complete and utter STOKE. this was just amazing. every day was a new adventure and no matter what happened here it was always alright. almost akuna matata.... O0

though i still wanted my poor friend harold to see and to finish what was essentially his trip that i was now completing.

so entering the last town before the border i go and meet up with the port builder that i had briefly met the nite before. i drop of my bike at his office and get in his bakkie, while cruising threw town we spot 2 bikes. wow the first time since Caprivi strip since i had seen any big bikes. i was overjoyed and we stopped had a chat and they came with us to view this new inland port that was being built. this port was amazing in sooo many ways.

they were planning on sailing up the river in shallow draft vessels to import and export goods to malawi from the coast in Mozambique. this place was unbelievable, if i did not see it i would never of been able to fathom the whole thing in my mind.
it came to our attention that there would be alot of bragging rights while some african leaders were having drinks and one of them had an inland port of this size. :mwink:

note the lion food  :mwink:
note my food :ricky:

 

[tour]

the inland port

 

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the 2 bikers had just come from Mozambique side and the info that i got from them was reassuring. they did do another route than that of harolds' planned route but still was good to hear what was going on. it did not entirely prepare me for the coming afternoons' ride.

leaving malawi was prompt and eazy getting into mozambique was slow. you could see from the reception or lack thereof that not too many tourist follow this road. there were 3 guys in military uniform looking serious and i was taken from one shot up building to the next shot up building, was like stepping into a war torn country. well it is one, luckily that was long ago but it was very visible all over. i lived in spain for 7 years and my spanish came to good use here. i wonder how long those other bikers battled through here.folk were friendly but i could not take any photos here.i did not push my luck here so exchanged some dollars and cruised on...

the area was wild and you could see from the reaction of the people that they dont get too many passers by here. it made the experience more amazing. so i stopped at a village or shall i say a few mud huts and bought a few things. but here they spoke another language and not portuguese, very rural. there were signs of people and being new to this country i didn t look at bushcamping here so i cruised on towards the donna anna railroad bridge. the longest rail in africa. 3,7 kms long crossing the zambezi river.

i saw it on the map but could not really believe my eyes when i finely saw it. so after 2 hrs passing a few villages and exiting the really rural area you reach a place called mutarara. then suddenly after following the railway line you come to an amazing site. the donna anna bridge and the mighty zambezi river.to think that the last time i saw this river we were 2 friends enjoying one of our best experiences ever.

so i rode over stopping every now and again for pics. but as the walkway were you ride on is very narrow. every stop was not always enjoyed by the other bridge users  :laughing4:

exiting the other side at vill de sena was chaos. it was getting dark so i started on and drove to a place called caia. there i stayed at a campsite that wasnt operational but had a 2 security guards and one of the guards' wife and child was also there. so my 1st nite in mozambique was spent chillen with da locals around a fire and drinkin the famous dous emme or 2M beer.

i had arrived savely into Mozambique and it was awesome.  O0 

 

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donna anna railway bridge. this was really cool seeing the might of the zambezi and crossing it on the bridge

 

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more

 

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those okes in the last pics wanted cash to help you down the steps. put the phat girl just slid down on her belly. :imaposer:
sorry no toll fees was paid.

 

[tour]

a teaser for later.
1 st gravel for dont know how many kms. when i got to it i had to get a pic was really cool but not long lived. gps at that time. with still 4112 kms to go.
the map said only possible with 4 x 4 when raining. so it went and rained when i got to it.  :imaposer:

but that stretch and leaving caia for later. hope you enjoyed it so far as writing it almost puts me back out there.  :ricky:

 

[funacide]

Damn that brings back memories. We did that exact road in 2009 but in the opposite direction. We had to go up the ramp so we gave them 3 Dollars for 3 bikes...

Here is some pics from our trip:

 

[Crossed-up]

Fantastic, Rudi! The stuff of dreams.  I've really enjoyed your trip.  Keep it coming, please.

 

[CAR6850]

Cool :thumleft:

 

[Tankwa]

I am really enjoying your RR. Great adventure  :thumleft: