Ulendo Safaris

Placement organization

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

Student

Name of student: Mario Pfeffer

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2012-2013

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour operator, Agency, Airline
Organization’s activities: Tour Operator, Ground Handling, Transfers, Ticketing, Car Hire, Charter flights, Safaris (mobile, flight)
Target group of the organization: Top-end
Company culture: Every office staff member is in same position in meetings or idea sharing, so am I. New ideas and personal opinions are always welcome.
Number of employees: 30
Dress code: formal
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes, but I had to live the first 2 weeks at a colleague’s place because the guesthouse was fully booked – no problem at all.

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 mainly Sales/Marketing (all other departements are possible)
Brief description of your daily activities: Diverse
Brief description of your company assignment: Feasibility study on community involvement
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Very good! The MD and another colleague were supervising me and gave tasks or were point of contact for ideas, problems or questions etc.

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, Photo Edit Programs
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Company arranged and provided accommodation in one of their guesthouses
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
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 Contact your tropical
doctor at least 1 month in advance.

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? n/a

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 1100,00
Accommodation (monthly): € 0,00
Local transport (monthly): € 0,00 – 5,00
General costs of living (monthly): € 50,00 – 100,00
Costs of visa: € Company paid this
Costs of work permit: €
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)

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I did not
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? Probably. The work colleagues are from many different origins, but mainly Malawians. They influenced me and my perceptions and working performance in different ways (depending on person).

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: mariopfeffer@web.de

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: – Open up to locals and colleagues
– Go out with locals you know
– Join local events (wedding, football game, concerts, local pubs etc.)
– Do not walk alone in the dark
– Visit the lake for a weekend
– Try to join educational trips with the company
– Try to learn a bit Chichewa (local language)
– Join a sports club/team
– Fight for the pool table to be part of Burley House again
–

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 (indoor/outdoor), gym, squash, fly-in safaris, mobile safaris, golf, etc.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link