Originally Posted by
flying_blue_white_red
It reminded me than before MKW currency devaluation, several times all travelers departing were asked to declare how much local cash money they would take away, at airport mostly, as amount was limited (can't remember how much now)! Was it a normal trick or a real rule from the employees/officials?
Oh it's a real rule - you are allowed to take MWK 200 out of the country as of today (approx. US$0.30) and they still check pretty much every single time at the airports. They know me well enough nowadays at Blantyre airport, so they joke that "Bwana, your wife is not giving you Kwacha to take with you again?". Lilongwe will actually hand search your bags if you are on the ET, KQ or SA flights (but usually can't be bothered if you are flying on Malawian).
The only time I have had an issue with currency was at the land border at Mchinji where they asked to see the purchase receipt for my US Dollars being taken into Zambia - ironically they didn't care about the Kwacha there. I didn't have one since I had brought the dollars into the country from abroad, but fortunately I had a currency declaration from a previous trip that they scrutinised suspiciously (since they had probably never seen one before!) before letting us go. Didn't hurt that my wife gave them a scolding in Chichewa for trying to harass us. Eventually they got some small small for Fanta once everything was done and dusted.