Originally uploaded by gert.

Originally uploaded by gert.

Originally uploaded by gert.

Originally uploaded by gert.

Originally uploaded by gert.

Originally uploaded by gert.

Alex (r) at the Mtendere Guesthouse, Chiponda, Namwera, Mozambique border.

Originally uploaded by gert.

Malawi looks grim. It is by far the poorest country I’ve visited. The situation might be slightly better now than fifteen years ago - when I was here for the first time - it is still indefinitely poorer than it’s neighboring countries.

Goods are incredibly cheap, a Coke costs about 10p, a night in a basic guesthouse 50p. Once you cross the border into Mozambique, everything is at least 3 to 4 times more expensive. Most people still walk around in European cast-offs. Cars and busses are in the worst state possible, as if those not making it through safety regulations elsewhere in Africa are collectively dumped onto this country.

The pickup truck to the Mozambican border is overloaded as I’ve never seen before, and I’m very doubtful we can make it over the mountains this way. We are just a few kilometers under way when the car brakes down. I don’t have a clue what’s wrong, but with some ends of sticky tape the driver can get the motor running again. The battery is for the scrapyard, we have to push to start the motor and worse, the headlights don’t work anymore. The Malawians don’t know any better than to continue driving with a hand torch showing the white line in the middle of the road.

Originally uploaded by gert.

I’m picking up a parcel with new cameras, but DHL slapped a whopping 38408.90 kwachas import duty on it, which I’m reluctant to pay. Nobody blinked an eye when I crossed borders with my first 60 ones, so I don’t see why right now I should pay duty for an amount (about 150 pounds) which exceeds the actual value. The DHL receptionist in Blantyre doesn’t seem inclined to help me, so I insist to speak with a supervisor.

Enoch sounds understanding. There should have been “In Transit” written on the parcel. If DHL in the UK doesn’t provide the right information, who am I to know? I have to come back in the afternoon, Enoch will contact customs and see what he can do. DHL advanced this duty payment though, it can take ages for them to be reimbursed, so it might be me having to ask for reimbursement.

When I return in the afternoon it seems to be OK. There’s not much time left - ideally I would like to cross the border back to Mozambique tomorrow - and the parcel is still at the DHL Chileka airport office, so I’m taking a cab to get my cameras. At the Chileka office, I have to see first a customs officer with Andrew, one of the DHL employees. Bad luck, the deputy station manager doesn’t want to take a decision about this can of worms. The box is in transit, but someone from customs should escort me to the border to make sure the parcel leaves the country. So we wait for the station manager…

The station manager is a short balding man with a trimmed grey beard, and a huge poster on his door denouncing corruption - it looks as if he’s going to give me a hard time. However, he squarely blames DHL. Parcels on hold for collection should be on kept till the person who collects them can provide more information, upon which import duty can be applied or not. And apparently, this is something the DHL office does all too much too quickly. The customs guy is clearly fed up with these cowboys. Even more, why is there a form included in my file (yes, by now I have a file of about 20 pages about my parcel) asking customs to reimburse DHL in cash? He orders the guy to release my package after a contents inspection.

Back to the DHL office, where Andrew opens my parcel. After this, I have to pay 2400 Kwachas “release costs”, and obviously, they don’t take Visa, so I’m changing my last dollars at the airport exchange bureau. After payment, I receive a flimsy receipt, which doesn’t look too official in my eyes. But at last, I can continue my project, and so far so good about DHL.

Originally uploaded by gert.

Off to Tete, the hottest place on earth, halfway on the main road connecting Malawi with Zimbabwe and eventually Blantyre, where a shipping with new cameras is waiting.

Tete looks as typical a Mozambican town as you can get: as if nothing changed since Independence, with retro neon billboards, and obviously, matching hotels.

Originally uploaded by gert.