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Speed demons and Money Changers

Once again its time to cover ground to Malawi.  It will take us several days of riding.

Day 17, Tue, Jan 31, 2017

Start Location:  Protea Hotel, Livingston, Zambia

End Location:   Lusaka, Zambia

Distance:          478 km (297 miles)

Hotel/Pension:   Best Western Plus, Lusaka, Zambia

Money Conversion:  Zambian Kwacha: $1 USD = ZMW9.90 or ZMW 1 = $0.101 USD

As we ride east, the European influence diminishes.  Today was a 300 mile day.  Not a long day but because of the numerous visual “new to us” events and many more people walking on the roadsides.

14.01 liters costs ZMW115.12.

And something new for us …  speed traps!    The speed in villages/towns was 50 kph (31 mph) and 80 kph (50 mph) on country lanes and 100kph (62mph) on highways.
We were riding separately as singles and a pairs a couple minutes apart.  Over the course of 15 minutes 4 riders got radar and were signaled over.  I happened to be between two of the riders who were flagged down but passed safely.  Aaron went through the trap safely but saw the 4 riders off to the side with the police, he turned around to see if anyone need help and got tagged coming back!
Helge always stops to aid his riders and started a friendly banter with the police.  Before long, one of the police was sitting on one of the motos posing with a helmet on while Helge shot photos.  The end result was smiles for all and a greatly reduced fine for all.
Lighting Strikes Twice!
Day 18, Wed, Feb 1, 2017

Start Location:  Lusaka, Zambia

End Location:   Chipata, Zambia

Distance:          570 km (354 miles)

Hotel/Pension:   Protea Hotel Chipata, Lusaka, Zambia

Money Conversion:  Zambian Kwacha: $1 USD = ZMW9.90 or

ZMW 1 = $0.101 USD

Another day of riding north-east.  More people walking and riding bicycles on the road.  Traffic was light but the occasional freight trucks and large buses took most of the narrow roads.
And if we didn’t learn, three more tickets today!

Me! Photo by Helge Pedersen.

Me riding by a village in Mamibia. Photo by Helge Pedersen.

Border Money Exchange Insanity
Day 19, Thu, Feb 2, 2017

Start Location:  Chipata, Zambia

End Location:   Lilongwe, Malawi

Distance:          144 km (89 miles)

Hotel/Pension:   Cross Road Hotel, Lilongwe, Malawi

Money Conversion:  Malawian Kwacha: $1 USD = MK726.00 or

MK1 = $0.0014 USD

A general rule for crossing international borders with a motorcycle, always cross as early as possible!  If anything goes wrong, you’ll have the entire day to work it out.  Border money exchangers are basically bandidos but you need local money for road taxes and insurance.

Making friends at the border.

Helge recommend to exchange $50 USD (MK36,300) once we passed the Malawi immigration/customs.  Later, stop at a ATM for more daily expense Kwachas!
Crossing into Malawi before immigration/customs we are swarmed by money exchangers.  I exchanged $50 USD for 18 MK2,000 bills.  Some of the riders exchanged $200 USD.

Harrison C negotiating the exchange rate.

The money is carefully counted.

The money is carefully recounted.

After all the money was exchanged and all the money counted and recounted, 3 of the guys later discovered they were shortchanged!  The border money exchangers were slight-of-hand artists and were able to palm a portion of the bills!

"Voluntary Medical Male Circuncision" truck.

A quick fix to a broken BMW key. A local welder was able to fix the key.

Nick G bought a box of soccer balls and gave them away to kids.

Tomorrow, a city tour of Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi.
PHOTOS: If you want to see the photo’s full-size, click the photo, it isolates to a new page and click it once again.  Use browser’s “back” to return to blog.
CURRENT LOCATION:  Upper right corner is my Delorme inReach Explorer satellite tracks provided by SPOTwalla.  When activated, it provides a real time track of my travels.

The top item, “1 Cape to Cairo” opens to a close up of my location.  To zoom out for a view of the entire route, select the second banner tab “Cape to Cairo 2017” for zoom options.  Select “Adjustments” enables the viewer to select more days of the tracks.

The tracks are archived back to my arrival Cape Town, South Africa, January 13, 2017.

GlobeRiders has it’s own BLOG “Cape to Cairo LiveJournal!”  There is a complete description of the excursion, rider bios, updates of the ride, and an active satellite location link.

2 comments to Speed demons and Money Changers

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