The Spoon Battle for Porridge….

I jetted off into Lusaka, Zambia to visit my family and to also get some on the ground views on travel around Zambia, DRC and Malawi. We were slightly delayed disembarking the flight, as there was some big shot on the plane in business class. Peering through the cabin windows, I counted about 6 airport officials running on to the tarmac to greet and welcome someone whom I can only believe is an MP or something. Leaving the airport itself turned out to be a mini mission, as the roads were blocked as there was an envoy which my sister assumed to be the president or someone high up in the presidential ranks.

The trip was fruitful in terms of seeing family and spending time with my nephew who is 2 and half and has ‘entitlement’ tendencies that result in out-bursts of tears if they are not immediately adhered to. I made some contacts who have been to DRC Lubumbashi and they shared advice around the people, culture and what to expect. I managed to procure some Zambian Kwacha to use when I cross the border so that I don’t have to hustle with the black market dealers on the boarder for a good rate. The economy is taking a bit of backlash (just like RSA) due to the strengthening of the US Dollar with the official rate going from 1 USD to 7 ZMK to 1 USD to 12 ZMK in a matter of months. The main topic of conversations among businessmen and woman in Zambia in the circles I found myself in, was about how the USD was affecting business and the purchasing power. I heeded this conversation for it applied to me strongly given I have to purchase US Dollars and how African countries revere the USD  because of it’s purchasing power.

In the last week I have firmed up my itinerary and gone into detail into the dates so that I can share with friends and begin to make bookings where I don’t have accommodation arranged with friends/family/social media ‘friends’. I have joined couch surfing in the hopes that in countries such as Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan I can find someone to host me or show me around. I am hoping that the power of social media helps me to connect with people across the continent. I know there are some serious concerns about Burundi and what is happening there at the moment with the president seeking an extra term and the civil unrest http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-34814832 and hence have to decide right now if I am going there due to the visa costs involved as well. My plan to reach Morocco from Egypt is looking very expensive at the moment in terms of my budget, I found out and confirmed that the border between Algeria and Morocco is closed and entry is allowed on either side. There are ongoing disputes about the border and Western Sahara land. I am trying to keep a positive view in all this, but I need to decide urgently If I will go through Tunisia (potential issues), Sudan (skirmishes and rebels) as all these require visas each costing USD$100 or more. Spending that money and not being able to go to the country would not be costly and saddening (to put it mildly)

This Saturday, I went to the bank to initiate a transfer to pay for accommodation in Mocambique and I had to shed a tear. The economic situation from a foreign exchange perspective is not in my favour, the Rand is weakening against the dollar and currently 1 USD dollar costs 14.57 Rand to purchase. This is seriously affecting my purchasing power and I am going to have to purchase US Dollars in the next 2 weeks just in case the rate worsens. This could have serious ramifications for my trip and spending power. To mitigate this, I am calculating my costs on 1 USD dollar costing 15 Rand to purchase. A friend of mine who regularly visits Zimbabwe (a country that uses multi-currency) has warned me that certain parts of the country are refusing the Rand currency due to its weakness against the dollar.

On a light note, as I sat to ‘ate’ my porridge while visiting my family in Zambia, my nephew and nice (7 years old) decided to eat with their uncle (pic attached). Those rascals showed no mercy for my plate of porridge, armed with silver cutlery and driven by youthful energy, they cleaned out my plate. I only managed to eat one spoonful, we even fought for the last spoonful of porridge and they won much to the disdain of my morning hunger pains! Kids will be kids, my nephew and niece were playing in my nephews rooms (which was my room for the weekend) unpacking toys, cupboards and bags (my bags). I woke up early on the Sunday to shower and catch my flight only to realize that my toiletry bag was missing. I had a flashback of my nephew and niece playing in the room the previous day. I asked my sister and she went into the toy box and began showing me her head bands, that the kids had procured and turned into toys! among other things. I could only imagine my poor toiletry bag being used as a suit case for the toys. I quickly showered and headed out with out brushing my teeth and no roll-on among other things. I had to purchase mints at the airport to hide the alcohol induced morning breath smell that lay in my mouth.  If this was a match, Team Nephew and Niece 2 – 0 Uncle.

The last spoon