Malawi notes!!

Greetings of peace and love!!

Dear Malawi Travelers,

How are you? I am well. I have been on the road for the past two weeks. I am in Atlanta on my way back to Oakland and I am taking the opportunity of this 4 hour layover to update you. I hope that you are having a wonderful weekend.

Three more weeks and we will be on our journey. It is very exciting.

Thank you to all of you have sent you biographies introducing yourselves to my Dad and to me actually as I am learning about who you are as well. If you haven't sent yours in please do so as soon as you are able. Thank you.

I am going to respond to some questions that have come up.

Q. Is it best to take American currency or travelers checks or both?
A. i would take both. say you are planning to take $500, you might figure a breakdown of $300 in travelers checks and $200 in cash

Q. Will we be able to change money/cash travelers checks easily in Lilongwe? Tukombo?
A. We will change our money in Lilongwe. once we leave Lilongwe it will be a little more difficult though not impossible to change money. We are in Lilongwe the afternoon of our arrival and the next morning which will give us plenty of time to change money. I recommend you purchase one of those money bags that allows you to strap your money under your clothes. I will be in touch with Mrs. Chintu and we will come up with a strategy for changing money. I am wary of having us all carrying lots of money that once lost in whatever way cannot be recovered. Malawi is a very safe country but just as you can be ripped of on the streets of oakland you can also be ripped of on the shores of Lake Malawi. When we are traveling they will be folks who will help to keep an eye on our stuff when we are doing various activities.
A+ Let me add something here. As I have said Malawi is a safe country. However, it is also a poor country and people get tempted by anything that might alleviate their poverty, like your shiny new digital camera for example. A digital camera could feed a four person family for two to three months. Your travel insurance will cover any loss. Please make sure to document and if you can take a picture of any equipment that you bring. I am bringing my laptop and you can too. However, back up all your files before you leave if you do. write down your computers make and serial number. Keep a copy of the document here in the US and bring one with you. Nobody in the last trip had anything stolen and I pray that no one will in this trip either. When we are out and about be wary and careful (not paranoid) just wary and careful. At Kande beach they have three desktop computers on which you can check e-mail and they also have ethernet ports to hook your laptop to if you bring it. In Lilongwe we will also have internet access.

Q. What is the currency called there and what is its value to the US dollar?
A. The currency is the Malawi Kwacha and it is currently $1 = 140 kwacha. you can check http://www.xe.com to see what the updated currency exchange is. It takes some navigating because the kwacha is not a top listed currency.

Q. Krista has mentioned that we might want to have some "small bills" for tipping dancers, etc. What would constitute a "small bill" and how much is it worth?
A. The Malawi notes are in 500 ($3.50), 200 ($1.50), 100 ($0.70) and 50, 20 & 10 kwacha bills. So you can see that even our largest bill is only $3.50 which can sometimes be the amount of money that a person can earn in a month especially in the village. When we arrive in Lilongwe Mrs. Chintu will give us a briefing before we go to the bank to change our money.

Q. Can you remind folks again about what things they would need cash for and which will be covered by us?
A. All food, accommodations and transportation are covered for the entire 10 days. Accommodations are shared. If you need and/or require to have a single then that will be extra. Example if you were to share a room and it was $20 per person per night and you requested to be by yourself in that room then you would be responsible for the extra $20 because that is how they would charge us.
Game park fees, accommodations at the game park and game viewing are also covered by your registration.
Kande beach has horses, canoes, there is an island that they can take you too when we have open windows and there are other water activities. all of these are at your expense. Internet and any phone calls are at your expense. if we are out somewhere, the meal and a basic soft drink are covered, any alcohol is at your own expense. Please visit Kandebeach.com for listing of activities that are available and their prices.
In the three days of cultural activities we are arranging small group visits with healers, farmers, etc. We will give them a small stipend to cover their time. You are welcome if you feel inspired to give them a small tip for time. They will appreciate it.
If you are arriving a day early I will arrange for someone to meet you at the airport and bring you to the hotel. That is a taxi fare of about $20 and the nights accommodation of the same price which you will need to cover. It may be possible to have a car that will be free. I won't know this until its closer to the time.
If you are leaving a day early. By the way, is anyone leaving a day early? This will also be an added cost for transportation from Kasungu to Lilongwe. Approximately $30 to $50 dollars which you will need to prepare for.

DONT forget you need to have $30 in US currency to leave the country.

My best estimate is that if you bring anywhere from $300 to $1000 that is plenty of money.

Other things:

Diet: our meals will consist of a variety of vegetables, fruits, and then meat, chicken and fish. grains will be the local nsima (made from corn flour mixed with water), rice and potatoes. if there is anything more exotic than that we will be sure to let you know. Please let me know if there is anything that you don't eat or if you are vegan or vegetarian. For vegetarians with each meal there will be plenty of vegetarian options.

things that are needed: I am going to look into this and get back to you. some of you have asked and of course this is optional.

I can't think of anything else right now.

Please. If you have asked me a question and I haven't responded please send your e-mail to me again and I apologize that I haven't gotten back to you. I am a little more focused on this trip now and will respond as quickly as I can.

I am taking deep breaths and going wheeeeeeeee! as often as I can. I hope you are too. This will be on the blog in case you want to refer to it from time to time.

gratitude and blessings, Masankho

510 773 7328