Border crossing was uneventful although Carol had her calculator stolen by one of the money touts hustling at the border. This really p--- -d her off. The road south although listed as tarred was very badly broken up to the point of it being just another dirt road. The surface was red soil and the ensuing rain turn the 'track' into a real mess. We headed to Nkata Bay on Lake Malawi stopping for supplies Mzuzu. The road from Mzuzu to the Bay was very potholed . Road maintenance is not a big priority in Africa. Nkata Bay was beautiful and accomodation at the Backpackers Connection was inexpensive (room) and the view from the open bar was fantastic. A couple of days of R&R we chased the road along the shore of Lake Malawi enjoying an excellant surface with lush scenery after the recent heavy rains.

Enroute we had to negotiate a river with a broken bridge. We had heard of this and were prepared to tackle the temporary earth causeway which was under approximately 25cm of water. When we reached the river however the causeway was all but washed away and all vehicles were being sent back... except for motorbikes. Some enterprising lads had organized an old wooden boat and were asking US$5.00 to ferry both of us and the bike accross. Fun, fun, fun. We survived and made it to Senga Bay. Another priceless spot on the lake. We enjoyed a swim here as the weather was hot. Advised an overland truck driver of the road problems as he headed north. He adjusted his route cursing as he added another couple of hours to his next days schedule.

We contemplated further rest days on the lake but decided to head to Lilongwe to arrange a Mozambique visas. Our applications completed we were informed of the costs to travel accross this country for two days to Zimbabe and decided it was too much. Tore up our applications and said we would go via Zambia and Victoria Falls to Zimbabe. Crossing into Zambia the same day saw the usual hassles with money touts. Pushing them away we jumped on the bike and headed to Chipata where we negotiated our money exchanges in a more civilized environment.