We stayed in quite an affluent hotel our first night (and on our final night too). Never having been to Malawi, we wanted a reassurance of a comfortable and quite 'Westernised' hotel. We were not disappointed by the Crossroads Hotel and its amenities. Located beside the hotel was a commercial area where we had a chance to look around and see some of the food on offer. Not surprisingly, because of the area, there were quite a few 'azungo' or foreigners around too. Like typical teachers we had a look around and made a note of some of the prices of the goods to teach the kids at home. 500g of butter was priced at 1190 MK (kwacha) which is equivalent to £4.95. 200g of Nescafe coffee was 2480, about £10!! However, some South African coffee, a can of 750g, was 1990 MK, about £8.21. A loaf of bread was 130 MK, about 55p. There were a lot of exported goods in the shop, mainly from South Africa. As we travelled over the next two weeks, we could see why a lot of the groceries were so expensive. A typical Malawian meal would not involve many of these ingredients.
There was also a nice pizza place in the plaza where Mary and I ate for lunch. A lot of affluent looking people frequented the place as well. This became quite a familiar theme during our stay as it became apparent that there are those that 'have' and those that do not. Fortunately over the two weeks, we were able to experience all aspects of life in Malawi
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