Malawi vs Moldova: McDonalds

Malawi

This is the closest thing to a McDonald's in Malawi. This vendor in Cape Maclear near Lake Malawi had this clever sign advertising his "chips" (in the British sense, which is french fries to us Yankees). Colii and I didn't try them, but I haven't tasted anything in Malawi that comes close to real french fries.

Oddly enough, we do have one American fast food chain in Malawi though. KFC is located in Blantyre. They offer chicken and chips, and for a little local cultural flare-- fried nsima balls. I might make Colii try them with me if she comes back to Malawi next year.


Moldova

Moldova has the real McDonald's. I had Colii take my picture here, but we didn't actually eat here.

Adventures in Malawi - Lake Malawi

Once Stesi was finally on "official" vacation, we went to Lake Malawi and stayed at a cool hostel that Stesi and her PCV friends had been to before. 

We walked around the town and came upon this really cool tree!

There were these "Chembe Water Project" (http://www.chembeprojects.org/) taps throughout the town, which was really awesome. "The Chembe Water Project supplies the community of Cape Maclear with free, safe, clean drinking water by use of UV technology."

We helped ourselves. :o]

There's no escaping McDonald's i guess. ;op

One of the few remaining payphones in the world...and it's pink! I don't think it was actually operational though.

This was on the beach where our hostel was. It was an interesting location to have a hostel that caters to mostly Westerners. Next to the hostel, only partly separated by a bamboo fence, was the local village where the villagers did their normal everyday chores - washing clothes, dishes, and themselves in the lake. It was a surreal experience.

Just chillin' on the hammocks.

To the right is the bamboo fence that separates the hostel (tourist hotspot) from the village.

Malawian susnset. :o]