TdA Stage 63. Mzungu-mania!
152km. Lilongwe to Mama Rula Camp.
We crossed the border from Malawi to Zambia near the end of the ride today. This is an awkward time to have to deal with some of the details of changing countries. The paperwork is one thing, and I'm pretty good at that by now. The money is another.
After having ridden 120-something kilometres on a bad stomach, I now have to do some quick fx calculations to avoid getting scammed by the money changer. These guys can smell a tired Mzungu (foreigner) from a mile away.
I fancy myself as a numbers gal, but I have limits in such a condition. Let me see, one malawian kwacha is worth about 33 zambian kwacha. And, ok, how many pennies was a malawian kwatcha worth? Damnit. I don't even know how much money I need. And there are like five guys waving bills in front of me. Agh.
I eventually decided to skip the money changing step this time, preserving my sanity but taking my chances that I could survive without money for a while.
This stress was quickly forgotten as we rolled down the last 30kms of the day. The kids in Zambia wave at white cyclists with two hands and Beatles-fanatic-like enthusiasm. MZUNGU!! They were loving us and we were loving them.
Talk about a pick me up! I think that I'm going to enjoy Zambia.
We crossed the border from Malawi to Zambia near the end of the ride today. This is an awkward time to have to deal with some of the details of changing countries. The paperwork is one thing, and I'm pretty good at that by now. The money is another.
After having ridden 120-something kilometres on a bad stomach, I now have to do some quick fx calculations to avoid getting scammed by the money changer. These guys can smell a tired Mzungu (foreigner) from a mile away.
I fancy myself as a numbers gal, but I have limits in such a condition. Let me see, one malawian kwacha is worth about 33 zambian kwacha. And, ok, how many pennies was a malawian kwatcha worth? Damnit. I don't even know how much money I need. And there are like five guys waving bills in front of me. Agh.
I eventually decided to skip the money changing step this time, preserving my sanity but taking my chances that I could survive without money for a while.
This stress was quickly forgotten as we rolled down the last 30kms of the day. The kids in Zambia wave at white cyclists with two hands and Beatles-fanatic-like enthusiasm. MZUNGU!! They were loving us and we were loving them.
Talk about a pick me up! I think that I'm going to enjoy Zambia.
posted by tori at
2:47 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home