In Botswana I got caught speeding. I drove through a village. I didn't see any buildings to the left and right for 500m already and so I thought I must have missed a sign and accelerated. A few 100m later I rode around a bend and saw a police officer with a tripod and behind him the sign I was looking for. They stopped me and took my documents and demanded around 80$ for going 80 in a 60 zone.(Little fuzzy on the exact numbers, bear with me)

I claimed to not have that much money so the chief who was waiting in in his car with the AC on told me to go back into the village to withdraw cash. I did so, with an old card that didn't work, made sure that the bank employees noticed me and had a quick chat with them in case they knew the police, headed back to the check point and told them my story ofter hiding my excess cash in my luggage.

In the meantime they caught a pair of tourists with the same problem and so we formed a little convoy and headed to the police station.

There the haggling started. I made it clear that I can't withdraw any cash, and hinted that I would be open to alternative solutions to this problem. The chief seemed to be very pleased to pardon me in exchange for a small contribution(15$ maybe?) gave me a receipt, which I wanted in case something would come up when leaving Botswana, and after a heartily handshake I headed towards ZA.

In hindsight it was a dick move from me. I was speeding, I had the cash and even if I hadn't I could have withdrawn enough.

But at this point I was already to fed up with officials wanting some form of favour or another that I didn't want to give any money if I didn't have to.


Points where I sat around for a long time where some exchange of currency could have accelerated things:

- Entering and exiting Mauritania. For the entry from Morocco I was with 5 other people on bikes and we hired a fixer, still took hours to get the paperwork done, but we paid around 5$ each and would have been utterly lost without the fixer so it wasn't that much of a loss. When leaving towards Senegal we sat around a lot at the Mauri and Senegal side. I think one of the others handed over 10$ but I remember the at Zebrabar better to be honest.

- All of Nigeria. It started at a traffic police roadblock 25km after the border, lost around 90min there because apparently I should have shipped my saddle bags to Abuja instead of overloading my bike. They even arranged a guy with a mobile ATM. Besides the charge being bogus, that seemed sketchy to me so I refused to pay 100$. After the 90min one guy said that I could leave because the chief pardoned me. I went to the chief and gave him a firm handshake and thanked him enthusiastically for the Nigerian generosity. Then there were multiple other roadblocks where the "officials"(don't know if they even were officials, most didn't wear uniforms because they would get dirty) made it quite clear that the process could be shortened. On the outskirts of Abuja I ran into a military roadblock, maybe the 10th that day, and grew quite impatient. Because of that I didn't lick any boots as I usually did which angered an officer and so I had to unpack my bike and had my whole luggage searched. I then travelled towards Cameroon with Argo, he did the talking. We arrived at the Cameroonian border quite late and the officers didn't want to let us pass despite me negotiating in French. Argo took over and, in his words, started "talking African". We left customs within 5min.

- The Cameroon RoC border was interesting. The Cameroonian side wanted to buy my bike, the Congolese side wanted money. First the police, then immigration and finally some health inspector. I played dumb, smiled a lot and spoke worse French with every minute. It took me 90min I think, but I left without paying. It's noteworthy that the police took the least time to get past and in both subsequent attempts intervened on my behalf.

- DRC was a mess with all kinds of institutions. I was handed a DGM form around 5 times, and was charged either 50 or 100$. Every time I claimed that the ambassador said the formalities would be free of charge, and the last DGM officer didn't charge anything anyway. It worked, but I lost at least 30min each time. This is where I finally lost my patience with officials and became bolder with my statements, which led to the situation in Botswana.

After that it was rather smooth sailing.

I very much agree with NA's sentiments. Over many years, I've ridden many miles in many countries and only recall paying a bribe once: Peru in 2001. Speeding (95kmh in a 35 zone... ) Guilty as charged! Paid 12usd sin factura instead of the much larger amount con factura. Another time in Kazakhstan the cnutstable wanted payment for no reason too. I wasn't in a good mood and told him and his mate they were fat pigs and should get some exercise. Luckily neither understood English.

Imho, it helps to have a chilled outlook, avoid believing the hype (ultra extreme hardcore adventure ring antenna etc...) on social media and take the trail/road less travelled. Also smile a lot (not always possible) if you do actually get stopped. In Latin America do try the "no fumar Espanol" line (without laughing!!).

I'm going try being a deaf/mute next time some excuse for a human in uniform stops me if I haven't genuinely committed any misdemeanor.

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TBS.com

I believe that being asked for bribes depends a lot on your look and attitude... I've not been travelling everywhere (far from that) : I've been a few times to north africa and central asia. When travelling, I don't really look like the rich westerner : 2 months beard, same shirt for a week, a shower once in a week and so on... In areas with a fair amount of foreigners, I guess I look like a hard job in comparison to other travelers (and I try to be). As a result, I've really rarely been asked for money.
Compare that to a middle-aged swiss couple I met in Kirghizstan : They drive a rental land cruiser (just the two of them in it, a rare sight in the Pamir!), they are clean, they got all the brand new gear and look impressed by every man in a hat they see... If I was to ask for bribes, I'll go straight to them, not for the broke looking bearded dude who smile like a retard.

I doubt my look is my only safe-conduct : I try to be nice to the officers (after all, they are just doing their jobs), shake their hands, never refuse to give a cigarette when asked (even though I quit smoking, I keep a pack for this purpose) and ask them questions about them (If they are from the area, if they like it here, if they know my home country, etc...)

Anyway, I think we can all agree that smiling and playing dumb is the basic here !

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I've heard this before, but I'm not sure I agree.

I think to another Westerner you probably do look like 'a broke looking bearded dude', just barely getting by and not worth trying to steal from.

But I suspect that to the local Mexican, Peruvian or Tajik, you look like a person who doesn't need to work, who doesn't ever worry about getting enough to eat, and who seems to be free from the yoke of their government. A person who, when things get bad, can just go to the airport and fly away.

Everywhere I go, I smile a lot. People think I'm friendly and approachable- but I know they're looking at my teeth and thinking I'm rich because my teeth are in good shape. They're looking at my motorbike and thinking about how much it must cost.

At home I'm not a rich man, but out in the world, no matter how I dress, and where I eat: people know that I've got a lot more than they do.

............shu

Yup. There may be a marginal differences between how one or another of us is viewed, but basically we're all rich outsiders. The local people know it, and they're perfectly correct.

I've seen ratty Western tourists mobbed by crowds of scammers and touts, while others are left alone. The people who hassle you (or don't) are responding to your comfort, confidence, and ability to withstand their pressure--not to how you're dressed or what kind of bike you ride. A flicker of uncertainty in the eyes is all the signal they need.

That's been my experience, anyway--both as the object of hassles and as an observer. As a teenager I learned how to project a kind of confidence which kept me safe on the street in New York; as an adult, I learned how to do that in different countries and cultures. I used to look like prey, but now, when I've actually got a lot more to lose, I apparently don't.

But: YMMV.

Mark

I don’t know NavalArchitect outside of this form but he was helpful to me sharing his route knowledge in Africa 3 years ago, which I really appreciated. I for one am very happy taking his valuable experiences at face value.

First time i got asked i didn’t have to play dumb; i was dumb!

I was in a car in Zimbabwe and got stopped at about the 10th police roadblock of the day (apparently it was payday but no government cash). Went through the usual ‘can i fine you’ checklist - where’s you fire extinguisher, where’s your hi-viz, do you have a radio licence etc. Then they guy told me he was thirsty, “did i have anything for him, something to drink”.

I innocently handed him my half drunk bottle of water apologising that it was all i had and both he and my African savy passenger looked at me with disbelief. Only after we got waved on did my passenger point out that he didn’t want a drink, he was asking for a bribe!

^^^^ That's got to be the best story....


He asked for a drink.... and got just what he asked for

I once "bribed" a border guard by teaching him to hit on a girl in French. He was after cigarettes, gifts, knives, ... first. But in the end settled for learning how to say "je 't aime" to his female border colleagues...

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Belgium to Nordkapp via Iran | Discover Overland | Destination World

The "play dumb and waste their time" advice is the usual line offered regarding corrupt cops or border officials.

Worth noting that in Central Asia the procedure if you actually have committed a traffic offence is they write you a ticket which you take to the police station. They will assess the fine (which is usually smaller than the attempted bribe) and you go to a bank to pay it. The bank gives you a receipt which you take back to the cops and they cancel the ticket. Trying to leave the country with an outstanding ticket can cause problems at the border. Police on the road cannot issue spot fines, and cannot issue a receipt ("kvitantsiya") so indicating you want one can be a negotiating tactic.

As an aside, other than wasting your time, has anyone actually run into any real problems by refusing to pay police fines/bribes? Loss of documents, arrest etc?

Don't pay, wait it out, smile a lot and show no fear.
As soon as you show an ounce of fear, you are done!

They know what they are doing is illegal, they know they will get disciplined if caught in most cases. If they try and escalate the situation, stay calm, note down their names and numbers or take a photo. At the end of the day, they don't need the hassle, better to move you on looking for the next victim.