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Very detailed Africa travelogue with lots of information for anyone planning a trip. Indexed for easy reference. 11 Countries over 3 months.
3 months in Africa -- detailed travelogue, travel tips, indexed
Larry2006-05-27 03:11:54
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/>through the nose for anything you find. The prices here are so much higher
than in the rest of the country, it's almost laughable -- and bargaining
does little good, since the starting price is so astronomical. The sellers
here know there are more than enough rich, older tourists flying in everyday
to buy their curios that if they don't get your business at a price 20x what
it should be, they'll just get it from someone else (and sadly, most of the
time they're right). So take this warning: DO NOT wait for Victoria Falls
to buy souvenirs unless you want to be fleeced.
At one of the outdoor curio markets, a hawker said he could find me a bao
board (called "ndsoro" in Zimbabwe), and asked me to come back in a few
minutes. While waiting, I stepped into the one indoor shop I had skipped
earlier, and there inside the shop was the hawker, talking to the shop's
salesman (as luck would have it, the one shop I had skipped earlier was the
one that actually had bao/ndsoro boards for sale). As I walked over to look
at the boards (they had no price stickers on them), the hawker approached
me, saying the price would be Z$1,000/US$27 (with him obviously getting a
handsome cut of the profits) -- but the four boards they had weren't half as
nice as the one DJ bought in Malawi for MK360/US$7.82, and though he went
"down" to Z$800/US$21.62, it was still WAY too much. The next day, I walked
back into the shop by myself, and noticed the boards now had price stickers
of Z$776.25/US$20.98 on them. I walked right out.
When looking at some of these curio stalls, one trick used by hawkers is
to say "Oh, I like your cap! I'll trade you something for your cap!" or "Do
you have a pen? I'll trade you something for a pen!" -- but don't fall for
this line: it's only a ploy to get
...
See photographs from:
Botswana Gallery
,
Cape Verde Gallery
,
Kenya Gallery
,
Lesotho Gallery
,
Malawi Gallery
,
Mauritius Gallery
,
Swaziland Gallery
,
Tanzania Gallery
,
Zambia Gallery
,
Zimbabwe Gallery
I just thought it might be helpful for you to know how i am finding your system.
Thank you
Susan J, 2008-01-28 14:00:20