This was the most unexpected bike ride I’d ever taken. The time was August 1986 and the place was Harare, Zimbabwe. I was staying with newly made friends at their house in Hatfield and borrowed a bike every day to cycle to the massive Sheraton Hotel, where the Non Aligned Movement Summit was being held, to take photographs of the conference. The ride was about 25 minutes and for several minutes went alongside the railway line into the city. I had my camera with me and innocently thought it would make an attractive photograph with the railway tracks weaving their way through the rough scrubland. 
So there I was composing my photos when behind me I heard the screech of car tyres and a fast car came to a rapid stop close near me. Two Zimbabwean men in suits with dark glasses got out and approached me in a very aggressive manner. “What are you doing here? Who are you? They were plain clothes police officers. They had me up against a fence and were in no unsubtle way insinuating that I was up to no good and virtually accused me of being a South African spy who was doing some surveillance work on the railway with a view to sabotage it at a later date. 
I was starting to panic inside, having heard dark things about what happened to people inside the police stations, when I remembered that I had a piece of proof on me that proved who I was and why I was there. This was my press pass to the NAM summit which had my photo on it. I produced it and they kept me for at least half an hour while checking out my credentials. I passed and they finally were convinced I was who I said I was and not working for the enemy in the south. They let me go with a stern warning not to be so stupid. I continued my bike ride but was somewhat shaken up. Later on that very same day I found myself in a press conference with Mugabe and was the subject of a long and malignant stare from him. (This may have been co-incidental, he seemed to give everyone the hard stare.) Where are the photos now? The image alongside is a found one for illustrative purposes.