SOVEREIGN GRACE BAPTIST
MISSION OF MALAWI
PO BOX 60150 BT. 6 BLANTYRE MALAWI AFRICA
TEL. 265-620-472-(hm) / 265-9-946-261 or 265-9-320-881 (mobile)
Missionary / Evangelist: Peter A. Halliman
Email: panagioite04@gmail.com
Date: 08/10/05
Journal of trip:
I departed Blantyre on Wednesday the fifth of October 2005 for Johannesburg, South Africa. Among the preparation for the journey I needed to obtain the following documentation.
1). Interpol Police clearance for the vehicle for border crossing.
2). Letter of authorization to operate and temporary export the Land rover from Malawi to South Africa and back, from the Mission registrar.
3). Copies of my passport, International Driving License, Medical certificate, vehicle certificate of ownership, Insurance, among other documentation. Four copies were made of each border. All originals were laminated.
4). One tool box with necessary tools for break-down and repair in emergency situations, one tow rope, one set of jumper cables, three safety triangles, two twenty-liter jerry cans of Diesel, one twenty-liter jerry can of water, one high-lift jack.
I usually pack light for myself as there are so many other things to pack for
the road. When traveling across Africa, one; must take into consideration
that communication is almost nigh impossible until you reach some kind of
developed area. Any kind of mishap, breakdown, or emergency usually means either you pay local people on the side of the road when you can find them to take care of your problems, (which is not recommended) or you sort out your own problems with own knowledge and tools. It only takes a time or two to learn the hard way and after that one learns how to pack and what not to take, and or take.
I departed Blantyre much later then I normally do simply because I was delayed with other difficulties. It was nine am when I drove out of Blantyre; I made it to the border of Malawi and went through the necessary steps to get cleared with Customs and Immigration. I had some personal things which I was bringing with me for the purpose of business like my laptop, camera, and a portable printer which needed repair so all these things I need to declare with details of each. The vehicle also gets inspected by the police at each border, your personal things get checked by Customs and all documentation must match, all numbers of the vehicle must be in order or one will face a terrible nightmare.
I passed through the border and drove the next twenty kilometers to the Mozambique border where I would make my entry. This process took almost an hour simply because there were several buses passing through as well. Bye and bye I was cleared and allowed to pass, the next several hours went by as I traveled through Mozambique. I came to a town called Tete, where there is a bridge that crosses the Zambezi River. This has to be one of the hottest places I have ever been in. I have a temp. Sensor on my wrist watch and the temperature inside the cabin of the vehicle was 98 dg. I didn’t run the air-con simply because of fuel consumption as well as running a risk of over-heating the engine in this kind of heat. With the vehicle being new and less then three thousand kilometers on the engine it needed time to “run in” in order for the mechanical parts to “seat” as we say in the mechanical world.
I finally made it to the exit side of Mozambique and it didn’t take me long to process the documentation. I then proceeded to the Zimbabwe entry border, which is always a different story. I followed through with immigration bought my transit visa and then went to pay my road tax (one must pay before entry) this is determined by the type of vehicle and engine size). I paid this (they always want USD in payments) but at the same time the government has, and is chasing out all the “white folks” who have been there for three and four generations. Go figure!
With each country you enter you must get vehicle insurance as well. By the time I completed all the documentation I had spent one hundred fifty dollars, this may not sound like much but when you have four countries to go through and you must operate on cash it starts cutting into the budget real quick. The final stage was for the police to check the documentation on the vehicle and documents. The Police are as corrupt as they can get this side of Nigeria. They refused to check the engine and chassis numbers simply because they said “the vehicle was too hot” from being driven, then they claimed they could not find the engine number. This is all staged and they want you to tip them in order for them to allow you to depart in a good time, or you can stand your ground, not sell out, and suffer the consequences. I lost some good time there simple because of this. I managed to depart after some time, tried to find fuel at the border but none to be found. I drove onto the capitol, Harare where I tried to find fuel, but none was to be found. I put the forty liters of spare fuel and off I went. I drove into the night and by two am I was in a town called Masvingo where I tried to find fuel but none was to be found. I was told that I could wait and try buying some from some truckers that would be passing through. I didn’t want to fall asleep in the vehicle simply because of security reasons. I managed to find thirty-five liters from a trucker and departed by three am for the border. The rest of the morning I drove praying almost constantly that the LORD would see me through to the border where I was certain I could get fuel. I did arrive by six am. Got cleared and drove over to the South African side to do my entry. Whilst I was inn immigration I heard the alarm of the vehicle going off. I ran outside and found that the passenger rear cab window had been broken out. It was the alarm that stopped the thugs from stealing personal things in the vehicle, like my camera, laptop etc… I went to report it to the police there at the border but this was simply a formality. No one seen anything, or anyone, no one knew anything so what were they going to do, or who where they going to catch. This did not make a good entry for me into South Africa. Be that as it may, I got cleared and drove through to a fuel station and filled up. Praise the LORD! I spent the next six hours driving on good roads and actually could pull into a fuel station where there were services provided. I got into Johannesburg late that morning and checked into a room, took a shower which was long over due and lay down to get some rest. After driving for twenty-two long hard hours without sleep I simply fell asleep and did not wake up until that evening, I went to get something to eat and then came back and went to bed again, waking the next morning at three am. I decided to get an early start on the day and got up took a shower, had my morning devotion and planned my day. The next few days were busy for me as I had to take care of the broken window and do some shopping. One point I do want to make is after the window was repaired, I was put onto a bloke who has a business in blast proofing windows not only for offices, shops, but also for vehicles. He agreed to come across town to where I was and do the Land Rover, I had all the windows done and whilst it is being done it also adds tint to the windows. I was quite excited as this will not only reduce the glare, but heat here in Africa. He guaranteed his work for ten years and said if anyone broke out another window he would redo it for free as well as purchase the window for me.
I needed to do some shopping for Joe as well as the mission so I spent a total of five days in Johannesburg, and the travel time two days there and two back. I felt good about the trip overall as there were several things we both needed and cannot get in Malawi. It also made me feel good for the first time to be able to depart from the house, mission station and know that someone was there that I could depend on, and call to check on things.
I made the journey back to Malawi without any difficulties and once back the wheels did not stop turning. I got about half a day rest and then after that the demands of my time were more then I could ignore.
I was to spend the next few days planning for Bro. Mark’s trip here so I needed to go see the brethren in Mozambique to brief them of the upcoming events and make a schedule that would accommodate all of us.
In the next report, I will brief you on the arrival of Mark, as well as his time spent here.
Until then may the LORD richly bless each of you and keep you in the center of His will.
By His Mercy,
Missionary Peter A. Halliman
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