Before we left for the border on November 2 an old resident of Marloth and friend of Nicola's grandparents said to us directly 'drive carefully, always obey the speed limit and NEVER cross anything that looks like a solid white line...'. We had a vague idea that the police in Mozambique were to be avoided but we were pulled over three times within an hour while trying to push through the choked, filthy streets skirting the capital, Maputo. The routine is the same: 'let me see your papers', 'where are your going?' 'what is this (odd) drivers license?' 'do you have a cool-drink for me?' Being asked for a soda is blatant but cute ( and of course we had no cool drinks). We had almost made it through the city, but as we I tried to slip past one taxi another would abruptly pull out and I swerved to avoid it. Maybe I crossed the line, maybe not. I can't remember which happened first, seeing the policeman in the road or dodging the taxi, but he locked on to us and watched us approach before pulling us over. He was older, wearing nicer sunglasses than the locals, had on a pressed uniform and was very practiced at the art of bribery. He could tell within less than a minute the we were not very aware of how things worked around there so he made the options direct and obvious: you can pay a fine at the police station (a stupid amount of money) or just pay him (a lesser but still ridiculous amount of money) and he even provided the options in both currencies, Meticais or Rands! What a pro! I was so mad at this point I would have run him over, but you can't win this game. Machine guns don't have to be pointed to make a statement. We fumbled around the cab and hummed and hawed and we produced 50 Rand (he asked for 400). He laughed at it (taking it anyway) as we gave an aw- shucks look. I haven't crossed a white line since and we learned quickly that these road lines are strategically placed at entrances and exits to the towns were the police set up their checkpoints. The kids had many questions, never having seen a policeman bullying for a can of Coke.
After this encounter we fared far better and noticed that it's not just SA vehicles they pull over - locals taxis and trucks were not immune and I often would allow a taxi to pass, to be pulled over at the next check point. The police would be busy inspecting their papers and only look up (regretfully) as we 'casually' drove past pretending not to notice them, like the big fish that got away.
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