ERIN BROKOVITCH EAT YOUR HEART OUT! Malawi is commonly know as the 'warm heart of Africa', where the laid back people and the sleepy shores of Lake Malawi have the soporific effect of making many travellers stay well beyond their intended holiday. We were surprised then to arrive at the customs and immigration desk at the Malawi border to encounter the usual bureaucratic obstacles and the ubiquitous requests for bribes. On the surface it doesn't seem like much...we were being asked to pay $10 for a stamp in our carnet (the passport for the car). We needed the stamp to enter the country and the official had the stamp in his hand...the "processing charge" of him moving his hand and stamping our piece of paper was a supposed $10 - this supposed fee was indeed a blatant bribe, and one they try on every traveller coming through. We had decided at the beginning of this trip not to pay any bribes and 'wait it out', so in this instance we sat patiently in the office of the Head of Customs, stating our case and using our Lonely Planet guide as 'concrete evidence' that we shouldn't pay all of £7...After almost two hours of heavy negotiations, him mentioning court several times, us using adversarial skills Perry Mason would have been proud of, the official called his 'superior in Lilongwe' and the fee was quashed. With our carnet stamped we left the Malawian border with our heads held high. Camilla felt like Erin Brokovitch of Africa, believing it is the principal that counts despite the fact that it took up half the day and no doubt the next travellers who come through will be asked for, and pay, the measly $10 "processing fee"!