Ulendo Safaris

Placement organization

Name of organization: Ulendo Safaris
Town/city: Lilongwe
Country: Malawi
Website: http://www.ulendo.net

Student

Name of student: Danique Bolleboom

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2013-2014

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour operator
Organization’s activities: Tour Operator, Ground Handling, Transfers, Ticketing, Car Hire, Charter flights, Safaris.
Target group of the organization: upper market
Company culture: Top-end Everyone is equal and the atmosphere is very good although it is hard working sometimes in between there is always time for a laugh
Number of employees: 30
Dress code: formal
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Marketing / Sales, Accounting / Finance, Product Management, Ticketing / Reservations, Operations, Airlink (airline Sector)
I worked inly Sales / Marketing (all other departements are possible)
Brief description of your daily activities: Diverse
Brief description of your company assignment: Foreign market analyse
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Very good they gave me tasks and for questions I could go to anyone and they would help me.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? flexible, sociable
Additional company requirements for this placement? Word Excel, Powerpoint, Internet, Adobe, Social Media, Outlook
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German: Basic
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Company Arranged
How did you go to work every day? Own bicycle (borrowed from company) or lift with a company car (with driver/colleague).

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? yes but company arranges it
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents: It’s possible to arrange all papers and information in less than 1 week, in cooperation with company supervisor and previous interns.
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? one week
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes
How long in advance? 2 month’s

Language course

Did you take a language course before you started your placement? No
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? No

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 1100,-
Accommodation (monthly): € 0,00
Local transport (monthly): € 0,00 – 5,00
General costs of living (monthly): € 100,-
Costs of visa: € provided by company
Costs of work permit: € Not necessary
What did the company pay for/to you? €250 p/m paid in local currency
breakfast, lunch, dinner (at guesthouse only)
bicycle or arranged transport
guesthouse (provided)
or Crew house and 15.000 MWK a week for food

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
Read online about Malawi
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? Yes

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: Danique_80@hotmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: – Open up to locals and colleagues
– Go out
– Join local events (wedding, football game, concerts, local pubs etc.)
– Do not walk alone in the dark
– Visit the lake
– Try to join educational trips with the company
– Try to learn a bit Chichewa (local language)
– Try to understand the culture and just have fun!
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Hiking, diving, snorkelling, swimming, other watersports, road trip, biking, jogging, (beach)volleyball, soccer, gym, squash, fly-in safaris, mobile safaris, golf, etc.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link