I rode on
deeper into Zimbabwe and I pretty quickly noticed that there seemed to be quite
a few police check-points on the roads… in fact more than quite a few,;
Downright lots!
Without
fail there seems to be a check-point on every road leading into/out of any
town, and out on the highway where there are no towns there are checkpoints
there too, every 50Km or so!
On the
bright side though, they only rarely seem to bother to stop me. They always
wave me down till Im at walking pace and only a few metres from them and then
they wave me through and I carry on. But every other vehicle Ive seen
(including other tourists and busses and trucks) gets stopped and checked...
They are checking drivers licences and vehicle condition and also safety
equipment (cars are required to carry a reflective vest and two reflective
triangles in case of break-downs)… It all seems rather intense, and some
tourists that Ive spoken to have been having to pay quite a few fines because
the car they came in from Botswana in doesn’t carry all the required gear.
It seems
that the Zimbabwe government is intent on getting unlicensed drivers and poor
condition vehicles off the roads as well as generating quite a bit of income
from the public.
But like
I said, they rarely stop me, and motorbikes are not required to carry the same
gear… but I will need them once I get to Kenya Im told, so I figure Ill buy
some here before I get to a place where Ill get a fine J
… I ride on…
