21^st August

Its one day prior to us expecting the modem back from SA – cant wait! This will enable us to have more accessibility to the internet by being able to use our local sim cards - which means that we can keep our website up dated and keep in touch with all our loved ones.

Our last day in Livingstone is therefore put aside to enable us to get our “house” issues in order. We start by dropping into Harry’s place to confirm that we’ll be back at his place at 4pm (he’s going to solder some loose connections on Dizzy2, and he needs her for about an hour), and then we head into Livingstone to drop off our laundry at the local launderette.

Once that’s done I wait in the vehicle while Slug goes into the bank. After about 45 minutes (yep the que is that bad!), he arrives back with 9,000 000 kwacha (the local currency). After a discussion that takes all of six or seven minutes, (which includes calculating and recalculating the rate of exchange), we release one of two things….either Slug is about to have rather a large amount of “ronts” deducted from his SA account, or alternatively the bank of Zambia have overpaid him.  Being an honest upstanding citizen that Slug is, he decides to go back into the bank to double check whether they’ve ripped him off, or whether they’ve ripped themselves off!  Its too hot in the car to wait, so I volunteer to join him.

We go into the “Prestige” banking door, as oppose to the section of the bank where the cashiers operate from, which Slug originally went into. When we arrive, Slug asks to see the branch manager, who refuses to see him (at this point, I would have smiled sweetly and left with the dosh!), but instead we are seen by a couple of different gentleman and a lady, who explain that the cashier that served Slug couldn’t see him at the present moment as he was currently racing in his car to our campsite in search of Slug and the “overpaid” 9,000 000!!!!

Apparently the over zealous cashier had been serving two people at the same time (Slug being one of them), and had handed Slug the larger of the two cash transactions (I cant see any problem at this point, can you? J). Needless to say, it was all sorted out and we both left and headed for Zigzag – a great guest house that has a lovely restaurant with huge portions of yummy food and wi-fi! We spent the rest of the afternoon there and then headed to Harrys place to get the car sorted out.

Once that was all out of the way I reminded Slug that I needed his passport so that I could put it in the car safe. By now he’d packed it away and said he’d give it to me the next day (there’s a point to this part of my journal entry, as you’ll see later!)

During the day Slug and myself read our books (Id suggested “The Monk who Sold his Ferrari” to Slug, as I’d read it and thoroughly enjoyed it, and I had got stuck into a brilliant book called “The Shack”, given to me by my newly found friend Ruth.)

Finally, that afternoon the modem arrives! – and its not working!!! After all the apparent “new programming” that was done on Slug’s Vodacom modem, it still wont accept our “Zain” sim cards (if anyone has any suggestions or knows of something that need to do to activate the modem it would be greatly appreciated), however right now we’re ready to throw it in the bin and buy a new one! So much for hanging around in Livingstone so that we can better internet facilities! Anyway – we’re going to hit the road tomorrow and head off towards Lusaka (somehow Im not too keen to go, but we have to virtually go through the town to get to Chimpfunzi – the Chimp sanctuary we want to visit).

That night Graham (who we had met earlier at Zigzag), decided to pop in and have a farewell drink with us at Maramba Lodge and Campsite, and ended up joining us for dinner and signing up with the Landcruiser Club (I reckon Im gonna have to start charging comm guys!!!) We bid our farewells later that evening and exchanged contact info (another important point to remember later on in this story!). Anyway, after a good nights sleep we rose early and were on the road by 8.30am. We headed off to Lusaka and I asked Slug about his passport again, and he advised me that it was probably packed away with his clothes and he’d get it for me when we arrived at Eurika Campsite.

The drive towards Lusaka was great, apart from the 90km of road works just outside of Livingstone.  We found a great spot at Eurika to set up camp and once Slug had set up his tent and I’d started dinner, I reminded him again about the passport (some of you might be calling me obsessive compulsive at this point!),  Slug relented however and checked his tent, only to find it wasn’t there….I asked him to check again while I checked Dizzy2 and he couldn’t find it.  At this point I had sent an sms to Genene at Harvey World Travel in Kenilworth, who had copies of our passports and photos, and Slug called Graham and Lynn from Zigzag (now isn’t it a good job we met some locals and exchanged numbers!) andLynn promised to visit the bank personally herself the next day and Graham said he’d make some calls the next morning to the places we’d visited (it was now after 6pm and everything was closed).

I kept going through everything in my head and asked Slug to do the same…he definitely had his passport with him in the bank – he needed it to do the transaction…and he definitely had it when we went back to the bank, as he’d put the money in the clear folder that contained his passport, spare photos and yellow card for proof of vaccinations….where could it be?

Now for those of you that don’t know, or that it might come as a surprise to, I started to pray. Then I asked Slug to please do me a favour and just once more, to please check his entire tent and everything that he had in it…his bag of clothes, in between the clothes, in the side pockets of the tent, in the side pockets of the lap top….everywhere. As he entered the tent I said “Hey Slug, just pray” and with that he smiled and went into the tent.  Within 5 minutes he’d found his passport!!! (Psst….dont forget to say thank you to him, I said!)

We had prepared ourselves to go to the embassy in town the next day and delay our trip to the Chimpanzee Sanctuary, although Slug did come up with a ridiculous suggestion that I go without him and collect him in a few days time on my return (we have to double back on ourselves to get across the border to Malawi, so his idea was that I go to the Chimp sanctuary and pick him up on the way to the border)…I just laughed…as if I’d leave him to sort it out alone…that’s what teams do right. T E A M…..Together Everyone Achieves More.  It didn’t, or wouldn’t ever cross my mind to leave without him.  Anyway – Slug had a cold beer as oppose to a cigarette (Id hidden the cigarettes he’d bought a few days earlier– which he requested me to do – but I did it so well that I honestly couldn’t remember where I’d put them!). Well the cold beer seemed to do the trick and we eventually sat down to dinner and had a good giggle about it and I locked the documents away in the safe.  We had an early night and woke up at sparrows and were packing up the vehicle when a call came in from Graham. We advised him the problem had been sorted out. Meanwhile he’d subsequently arrived in Lusaka so we agreed to meet for breakfast before heading off to Chimpfunsi.

On the road to the Chimp Sanctuary there were numerous road blocks. The police mainly pull over large trucks and some delapidated looking cars. We were stopped for speeding (apparently I was doing 113km in a 100km) and the fine started at 270,000 kwacha. I told the officer I was very sorry, but that I didn’t have that kind of money on me (about R450) and that he would have to give me a fine and I would follow him to the police station. With that he asked me where I was from and when I said CT, he said that because I was from “Africa” and had little cash I would be given a reduction in my fine to 70,000 kwacha (about R120). I agreed to the “reduction”, paid the cash and off we drove with the office beaming from cheek to cheek.  My afterthought was…. “I wont do that again”.  I had just paid a bribe and it was done so smoothly….where was my fine? Where was my receipt?  Next time – it’s the police station and I don’t care how long it takes! (Mmm…watch this space and don’t stop reading, its getting juicier!)

We stopped off along the way in a local village and had some home made vetkoek (a donut like mixture which is deep fried and sweet…and yummy!) I was a guts and had a homemade sausage roll as well (could be a mistake Ill regret later on in the day, but we’ll see J) and we continued along our way. We’d been on the road for about 4 hours and gone through numerous road blocks when we were stopped about 200km from our final destination by an officer asking to see our passports. We obliged and he asked me what the date was, I told him it was the 21^st August and he asked me what I was still doing in Zambia as my passport had expired on the 13^th August. I said “its impossible – we’ve only been in the country for a week”. With that he showed me my passport and sure as eggs are eggs, my passport had been stamped to say that I had to exit Zambia by the 13^th August. I checked Slugs passport and Dizzy2’s documents and all were stamped  for the 13^th September – except mine. I told the officer that immigration must have made a mistake as we’re all together and he wouldn’t budge! The fine was now much bigger than the speeding fine. It was 1,080 000 kwacha (about R1800). I remembered what Id said to myself and Slug ealier….the next time we were stopped, I wasn’t paying an officer on the side of the road!

I ended up driving an immigration official in Dizzy2, with Slug now sitting in the back of the 4×4, with all the luggage, in the opposite direction to where we were heading….why?…because I wasn’t going to pay any more “roadside” fines!  I was tired of “uniformed” people bullying the public into submission, I was going to the police station!

I chatted to the immigration official the entire way to the small town of Luansha. She escorted me into an office where I produced all my travel documents and papers for Dizzy2 as well as both Slugs and my passport. I explained the story again and she disappeared to tell her boss.  I sat patiently…..two can play at this game I thought. Im going to stay here all day if I have to, but Im doing it by the book!  Her very somber boss came to see me and asked me again to repeat the story, which I did (I was prepared to tell the entire immigration department over and over again if I had to).  He then asked me to put “my story” in a written statement, which again I politely agreed to. When all was said and done and the minutes were fast turning into an hour or two and the sun was beginning to set, I was advised that I had two options….pay 1,080,000 kwacha (R1800) or get arrested as being an illegal immigrant.  Mmm….a million or jail, a million or jail, a million or jail. The stubborn, naughty, don’t give a shit side of me thought about jail – it was on their premises and their immigration building looked more promising than some of the campsites we’d stayed at, but it didn’t last long….however, I stalled a bit longer…”I don’t have that kind of money on me – I need to go to the bank” (Deuce!). The “Boss man” said – you can go wherever you like, but Im keeping your passport (Advantage “Boss man”!!!). Cool I said, Ill see you in a bit!

Between Slug and I we pulled the bucks together and I paid. I did however insist on a receipt (Mmm…I think though that its still “Game, set and match” to the Boss man) and my passport was stamped for another 4 weeks. The official did ask me how long I wanted to extend for and I said “how long does it take to drive to the border”, but I think my subtle, yet sarcastic comment went over her head (I know, I know, but hey I was bruised). On top of it all I had to sign an admission of guilt of breaking a law in their country and agree to keep silent on the matter, otherwise all evidence would be used should I be taken to court (serious stuff considering some inefficient plonker put the wrong date in my passport!).

I did smile when I left them though and wished them all a good evening, while commenting that “Isnt life so unfair, that innocent people always ending up paying the price for someone elses incompetence”. Its true though, isnt it? As unfair as it is, the innocent of this world, always pay the price for the “fat cats” the “power junkies” and the “control freaks” of this world.  

This trip is indeed teaching me a lot. My patience levels have increased 10 fold, and the sadness I feel for those that are unjustly treated through lack of resources, education and/or knowledge grows, but so does my understanding that I am unable to do anything to change or alter the world as it is.  I mentioned in a previous journal entry that we are made to believe that the world is a dark, black and ugly place. I also mentioned that the majority of us live in fear, and that we can only truly discover if our fears, and the fears of others, have substance, if we go out and discover “our” truth for ourselves – however, in this instance I am beginning to see it for myself, not from the media’s perspective or anyone elses,  but first hand,… that people are ugly, calculating and selfish.

By tomorrow this incident will be behind me as I drive to Chimpfunzi. Maybe there was a reason we were suppose to be delayed - first by the possibility of Slug having had lost his passport (we would potentially have to spend two or three extra days in Lusaka), and today by the 3 hour delay in my expired passport stamp.

Through it all, we are only in the infancy of our trip. There is still much to explore and much to experience. Today went down as an experience…as for tomorrow, Im looking forward to spending times with the Chimps.