Shopping in Africa
People in Benin are really chilled. Actually, they're so easygoing that you can walk around the large crowded central market and the only confrontations will be a polite bonjour. The centre of the market is the concrete box near the waterfront. From there the market spreads out in every direction. Each kind of goods have their own section, though there are lanes where you can pretty much find everything. As this being voodoo land, there is a small fetish corner with monkey skulls and dried snakes north east between the box and the waterfront. Expect to pay for a photo of people, particularly at the fetish market.
Anyone shopping for curios could do a lot worse than visiting the state operated Centre National d'Artisinat d'Art. The centre displays a broad range of the finest handicraft Burkina has to offer. Bronze castings, carvings, clothes and instruments here are good quality, but what's worth an extra look is the batik. Burkina's batik is renowned all over West Africa as some of the best in the region. There are fixed prices in the front shop and this makes it a good place to shop for souvenirs for anyone who doesn't feel comfortable with heavy bargaining. For the rest who enjoys a good haggle, the centre is a good place to get a general idea of the price level. Good deals and bargaining are available in the courtyard behind the store, where it's also possible to see the artisans at work.
In a small, nondescript workshop behind Man's central mosque, the Sidimé family has carved out their life's work for generations. Literally. The carpenter family might well be the only one in Côte d'Ivoire working in Kola wood. And as the tree is unique to Western Côte d'Ivoire, they might also be the only family in the world. What is so special about Kola wood is that it's naturally red and when it's worked and treated by the craftsmen the wood can produce no less than seven shared of red. Doumbia, the family's master carpenter, will be happy to show visitors the different ways to bring out the various red colours – the brightest colour, for example, comes from the roots. Doumbia and his family are particularly skilled in making animal statuettes.
All over West Africa, Ghana is famed for its cloth and the colourful rolls you often see elsewhere in the region originate from Ghana. Paradoxically, much fabric on Ghana's markets are made in China. There's usually small stickers on cloth made in Ghana, so watch out of those. Most famous is the kente cloth. Made by hand in long narrow strips, weavers from villages all over the country travel to the nearest markets from where it'll be passed on to the big market towns, such as Kumasi. Kente is made from interwoven cloth strips made from silk and cotton and was traditionally worn to symbolise the wearer's social status. Bright and multi-coloured the kente cloth have had a significant influence on the colourful clothing schemes seen all over the region today. For clothes, kente tends to be too rough, and most people chose softer cotton cloth, which is then made into a shirt or pagne, the traditional colourful African dress.
The biggest town in Guinea's south-east is something of a dead-end for anyone not travelling to Liberia. For Guineans, however, the town is best known for its large market which reputably is the best place in the country to buy cloth. Especially sought after is the colourful prints and indigo gara cloth from Liberia and local orange-and-black "mud cloth". The market is also a place for excellent deals on cotton and other less traditional fabrics. If you are willing to wait around for a couple of days, the town's hundreds of tailors will be happy to turn your cloths into everything from suits to traditional dresses. To get the most out of the market, it's essential to time a visit with Wednesdays, which is market day. Should this fail, it's easy to spend a few days in the surrounding area, particularly around Mount Nimba.
Disliking Bamako is easy. It's a lot harder to dislike the city's many authentic markets. The streets around the Grand Marché are some of the most chaotic in the entire city, but inside the chaos have somehow been structured. Even more rewarding is the Artisan's Market to the northeast. Silversmiths, carpenters and leather workers are here busy hammering, sawing and sewing in their designated squares. There's relatively little pressure to buy their wears, and the feeling of watching the raw materials take form is strangely satisfying. To the north of here, things turn more foreign. The marked for traditional medicine is not just full of herbs, dried plants and other such remedies curing everything from hangovers to impotence. More morbid is the dried animal skins; especially from snakes and iguanas, but also from antelopes and lions. Most scary are the piles of dried heads, who'd neatly parted way with the desert dogs' bodies.
In the old town of Marrakech (the Medina) there is a giant maze of intricate alleyways filled with markets, so-called souqs. There are whole streets dealing for example only with furs, shoes, pottery, bronze items, vegetables, meats, etc. It is great fun to go into this colourful maze, but it can be difficult to find your way around - and there are not many street names to help. There are also many good restaurants and roof terraces in the Medina, but you must know where they are located, since they are well hidden in closed riads (courtyards).
Hollywood and Leonardo DiCaprio introduced the world to conflict diamonds with the blockbuster "Blood Diamonds" using the phenomenon's less official but more descriptive name. Today, mercenaries, limb-chopping rebels and war have, thankfully, all left Sierra Leone. Diamond smugglers are, however, still around. And while it can be tempting to buy some rough stones to cover a bit of travel expenses, amateurs are most likely to be hustled into buying fake or poor quality stones. Potential fortune hunters should make sure to use a reputable dealer, preferably in Freetown, and make sure to get the necessary export documents and a Kimberley Certification to prove that the gems are not conflict diamonds.
Far too often do magnificent old markets and bazaar turn into nothing more than tourist traps. They become places where it's more likely to find cheap Chinese-made souvenirs than local crafted arts. The main bazaar in Tunis can seem a a little like this at first. As the endless hordes of cruise travellers and package holiday vacationer clog the main artery of the bazaar, it's actually a fairly negative experience. But one alley does NOT the bazaar make! Taking any of the dozens alleys that lead off the main road will transport you to the bazaar you were hoping for. Locals meet, greet and haggle for daily products. Workmen pound away on their metal or wood. A men sit and smoke hukka/shisha/nargile before or after visiting one of the lovely mosques. In the case of the Tunis bazaar, those who wander are not lost, but rewarded.