I sat the bike near the customs offices at the Dedza Border Post, having crossed over from Mozambique just moments before… I was looking for the lady that Peter had arranged to assist me with the border formalities… I took my helmet off, unplugged the I-pod, and watched the pandemonium around me… Just then, two women came dashing up to me, waving frantically as they ran…
Ester and her friend pose for a photo with the Big Fella...
“Sir, sir…!! I am Ester, and Mr. Kemp has asked me to assist you…” she said a little out of breath…”And this is my friend who will arrange the Insurance for you,” indicating the young lady who had accompanied her.
“Excellent…!! I am pleased to meet you Ester ! Where do we go first…?”
“Customs, then Passport control, then Insurance…and then it is finished…” she said.
While Ester showed me to the door of the Immigration office, the other girl, whose name I did not get, dashed off with a copy of the bike’s registration papers to get the insurance certificate organized. We had bargained for a few minutes and I finally agreed to pay US$15.00 instead of the US$ 35.00 she had originally asked for…
It was all over in a matter of minutes and afterward we stood chatting next to the bike, sharing a few biscuits from my stash… I listened to their complaints about having to work right through the Easter weekend without a break, and then after distributing a few snacks from my tank bag amongst them, I roared of into Malawi, scattering the crowd that had gathered around to gape at the bike…
The impressive Mosque on the southern side of Lilongwe...
The M1 to Lilongwe had been resurfaced in places, a big improvement from the last time I had covered this section on my way home in 2008. The ride into Lilongwe was over sooner that I had expected and took a little more than an hour after I had set out from Dedza. It was rush hour, and I joined a long queue of cars, buses and trucks on the outskirts of the city… Once again, I bullied my way down the middle of the road, forcing my way past hundreds of vehicles, as I made my way closer to the bridge over the Lilongwe River, where hyenas still scavenged at night… This is a true African city Dudes, where the bush is never very far away…
My fuel light had flashed on a few minutes before, and when I glanced down to check on the range I still had left, I noticed that the Big Fella was celebrating a very important milestone… I stopped behind a taxi and while we waited, reminisced about the various trips I had made on this bike, and how much a part of me it had become… We had endured almost every weather condition together, and I had enjoyed the vast majority of the distances we had covered… And there was still so much more we were going to do… I couldn’t help grinning to myself, while patting the tank as I sat there in the gathering dusk of Lilongwe…
The Big Fella is 50 000 km young !! I got "all emotional" thinking about all we had been through on our journeys together...
I made my way over the bridge, and worked my way through a back street before I had my bearings, and then headed west of the city centre towards the big water tower that was situated close to where the Kemp’s lived. Paul was there to meet me, and after taking what I needed off the bike, we shared a beer while I related the details of my journey thus far to him… He helped me set up the wireless connection for my laptop, and then left to visit a friend, while I got down to the business of editing and uploading a few posts…
I was in Malawi !! This had been an important part of my planning for this trip, because I knew that once I left Peter and Carol, I was REALLY on my own… This was the last chance I would have to make any changes to my plans, repack the bike and get rid of anything I didn’t think I would need… I would also have to figure out where I would put the spare tyres that would be arriving here after the weekend…
But that little problem could wait a few days longer… We were off to the Lake in the morning, and that would no doubt be as much fun as all the other trips I had made there in the past…
© GBWT 2010
Hey there Ron – hope the lake was all you expected and that you have had or are having a blast with your friends. Happy Easter and looking forward to the next insatallment!