2 nights in the capital city which I was ready for a bit more civilization after sitting on the beach for the last 3 days. Yesterday was an interesting drive day which included a near miss, visit to the police and a fine of 5000 kwacha (15 USD).

How you ask? Well we were happily driving along today, I happened to be stretched out on the seats dozing when suddenly those that were awake went 'ohhhh' and 'looks like he is ok', 'don't think we hit him', 'wow that was close', 'what do we do now'. I woke up pretty quickly to see what all the action was about as the truck came to a swerving halt!

Basically a bicyle rider was overtaking another bike going in our direction. Nick having seen all of this happening had swerved wide to give them some space. As the rider behind got level with the other bike he wobbled and crashed into the other bike, his bike then ricocheted off that bike into the road and us! At the moment he fell into the road he was level with our back 2 sets of wheels. Being just 18 tons, if he went under we all knew that this would be not be pretty. We slowed quickly and then stopped. We all saw the boy hop up and walk off the road. Nick has 3 mirrors on each side of the truck and was sure that he didn't actually hit the truck, just came very close. Nick got out to check that all was ok and was told, yes, he is ok, thanks for stopping. So off we went. 20 minutes down the road, first police roadblock - we were waved through. 45 minutes down the road, second police roadblock - we were stopped. The police had been phoned and told that we had been in an incident and that we had bribed the boy and given him money to go to the hospital… all complete lies. Nick gave his statement to the roadside police and all seemed good until another call came through and the police at the station in the town decided that they needed to see us. So it was a 45-minute drive back and Nick and Ruth had 1.5 hours in the police station explaining what happened. The family and boy in question also arrived and surprise surprise they wanted some money from the white people. The police finally saw sense and said that we had no case to answer but that they were fining us for overtaking dangerously on a curve - despite it being a straight section of road. For the sake of 15USD Nick happily paid so that we could be on our way.

As we arrived late last night due to our small delay we decided to skip cook group which was amazing as it was my turn and we bought our own pizzas so that we could having a blow out breakfast. So this morning after a breakfast of 2 sausages, toast, baked beans, fried onions and grilled tomatoes we all set off to town for a spot of retail therapy. We found a flea market, which was extensive, and more like a massive shantytown of tin sheds. We crossed the river on a very rickety wooden bridge at one point to be hit with a 15 kwacha (10 cents) passing fee. Got to give it to the Africans they are entrepreneurial and will slap a fee on everything possible. We finally found the wood market and had taken a few pieces of clothing to swap. I have found that hand-washing does not shrink your clothes back like a good machine wash and so had one pair of trousers that I could no longer wear even with a belt. It was like being back in Egypt and the haggling was extreme. Coupled with a lack of water, as I had not found a shop to buy any water in since leaving the campsite, today was the first time that I just didn't enjoy the shopping experience. The prices were perfect examples of how easily white tax can be applied to goods. I was considering a Noah's ark complete with pairs of animals. Starting prices were 200 - 250 USD; absolute lowest price was 80 USD. Now not wanting to rip anyone off but I was giving 4 pieces of clothing and I thought an additional 20 - 30 USD was absolutely fine, if not a bit generous. Needless to say I did not get a Noah's ark today. I did however get some other bits and pieces that I will not mention here in case they end up as presents! I am starting to have dreams that involve my backpack and other assorted bags and me at the airport and the check-in staff saying - Hmmmmm, your excess baggage will cost…!?!?! The other dream/nightmare is just trying to visualize how all this stuff is even going to fit in the bags to begin with. Must remember that I can put all those thoughts off till Cape Town and sort it out then thanking god that I don't have a giraffe to transport.

The final not so nice surprise today was the Mozambique Embassy being closed for the festive season and not opening until the 7th Jan. This implication meant that visa's could not be obtained prior to our arrival at the border. Embassy arranged visa's were reported to be between 25 - 45 USD, border issued visas an be up to 100 USD which considering we are just driving through Mozambique on our way to Zimbabwe and just bush camping with no stops was not music to our ears. Fingers crossed the border staff are reasonable in terms of costs.