Fridays are Masai Market Day at my shopping
centre. I needed to upload a blog and get a few groceries and what
better reason that a market to get me out of the house! I LOVE
markets and looking at what they have to offer. I was a little wary
as Nairobi Markets do not have the best reputation at the best of
time, they are known to be ruthless, suck in a Mazungu if you are
dumb enough to fall for it and they are a lot of work and I know this
from past experience when a group of us attended a city market when I
was last here and let’s just say we all got ripped off, we knew it
at the time, and there was nothing we could do about it. I even went
back to my blog archives for that actual day and here is part of the
entry from that experience that I wrote nearly 2 years ago. This is
the beauty of keeping such a detailed account of my whole trip; I can
just pull it up and relive something that seems like a lifetime ago
now. How cool right!
“Now I have done a lot of markets in my
time, and I enjoy them. I like to barter and bargain with the shop
keepers, making sure that we are both happy. I just want a fair
price at the end of the day, as he has to still has to make a bob
right. Well the second we got out of the taxi we were swarmed with
men, pushing us and asking us where we were from etc. We got to the
front gate, and I tell you this now and it sounds dodgy, but for
whatever reason, we believed them, they told us we needed a guide to
walk around the markets with. If you see something you like, it goes
into a ‘maybe’ bag and at the end is when you do all your
haggling (I know sounds dodgy now right). It was a terrible
experience right from the start, as your ‘guide’ was there
showing you all the stuff, asking if you liked wood, did you want
drums etc. If you looked at something longer than 1 minute, he would
bounce over and get it for you. Everywhere you turned they were
there. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Back off buster. Anyway we probably did
about half of the market when we all looked at each other and said
enough is enough let’s get out of here. So this is where the fun
begins, as the ‘maybe’ bag had items in there we had no idea on
cost.
I was a little cranky by this time, and it
was time to get down to business – not a good combination. So I
told my dude to not fluff around, give me your best price and let’s
go from there. I made sure that I had a price in mind that I would
think fair so I had a ball park figure, cause at this stage I still
had no idea on what things actually cost except my bangles that I had
bought previously. So first item up was a beautiful limestone plate
– get this he wanted 250USD, okay so this is the way you want to
play, I’m out. He didn’t like my upfront attitude of are you
kidding, forget the plate – lets go onto the masks – what’s
your best price – he wanted 30USD per mask, I had 3 – forget the
masks, he is starting to give me a little lip and talk in his native
tongue to a mate, which I told him was rude. Not an auspicious start
to the whole bargaining process. Next up was the bangles, now I know
how much I paid for these so he started at 6USD each ( I paid 2USD)
so I told him to forget it and the last item on the overpriced market
visit was a pretty cool limestone hippo (the size of a fist) and that
was 35USD! That is ridiculous banter. I was walking away; he was so
ripping me off that I was done and ready to leave. The others were
also going through the same process. I was literally done, and he
kept coming after me asking what my price was, well I told him what I
was prepared to pay, which I though was fair and he huffed and puffed
and told me I didn’t know how to bargain. Don’t tell me I don’t
know how to bargain pal. Anyway after all the theatrics I got all my
purchases for a tenth of the price and even then I think I got done,
as he walked away with a massive smile on his face. I was happy with
what I got, but the whole process was annoying, a pain, restrictive
and if I have advice to you, it is still go to the markets, but DO
NOT take one of the guides, as it is CRAP that you need to have one
and just deal with the sellers direct. I did see people walking
around without guides but then it didn’t really click at that
point. What dickheads we were. I spoke to Katie later in the night,
and she got some awesome bargains going around on her own. I am
normally more switched on than that, but lesson learned. We were all
pretty grumpy when we finally left the markets, cranky and agitated.
We all thought the same and feel we had still been ripped off
somehow!”
So my experience with a Nairobi Market was not
that great but I needed to get some things for the apartment and with
the market being in a ‘whities’ shopping centre I was guessing
that the experience will be a little different and also guessing for
the very same reason that the prices will be Mazungu, meaning
expensive and more of a challenge to get to a price that I am happy
to pay. I’m not out to rip these guys off, I just want them to
give me a good price and I in turn will pay what is fair. They have
families to feed and a livelihood and possibly bosses they need to
report back to.
I called my taxi guy Steven and he was in the
area, I was ready and he was here in 10 minutes. I love having these
‘drivers’ around and I hate to call them a ‘taxi’ service
when it all seems a little more personal than that. GG said I would
find the drivers that I liked; it was like a job interview for them
every time I get into a new cab and he is right to an extent. I’d
like to think that these guys will become friends over time, but
let’s not jump ahead of myself for now. On the 7 minute drive to
the centre I asked Steven about the cost of a trip to the airport as
I am going to get Shelly to send some boxes from Australia next week
and just see how that whole process will work. I was told 3000KSH
each way which is a lot (35AUD) each way, but it seemed fare with my
limited knowledge of the cost of fares to date and again you can’t
put a price really on my personal items that were going to be sent
from Australia. He also has a sedan car, so I think I will be able
to fit in 4 boxes and hopefully 5 of the cheap stripy bags that I
have prepacked and pre-inventoried ready for dispatch. Worse-case
scenario and the all the boxes and bags don’t fit, I can just hire
another taxi to take me (as I won’t know them) and the remaining
bags and follow Steven home.
I decided to head straight up to the markets to
start with and just see what was there. The Masai Markets have been
operating at the centre for a long time and claim to be the longest
running markets in Nairobi and they also claim to have 350 stalls. I
was hoping that I w[wouldn’t be the only person at the market, as
that is always awkward, but that fear was quelled when I got to the
roof where the market is held and there were people everywhere and
90% of them Mazungu’s. This was a good thing and a bad thing.
Good because I wasn’t going to be the total focus of the sellers
and Bad because it meant I was going to have to barter hard to get a
good price and not a Mazungu price, that is if I saw something of
course, which I will need to be selective as I am getting my
souvenirs sent from Australia and I just need to be patient. But
looking doesn’t hurt right!
Well just ‘looking’ is always good in
theory, but when I got to the roof top there was all this colour and
sparkle and a HUGE amount of stuff, and it wasn’t the crappy kind
of things, it was high end stuff. How could you say no to that?
After I had done the completed the first aisle I realised I wasn’t
going to get out of the hard sell from the sellers. They were still
in your face to a point, standing in the aisle hitting you up as you
walked past their stalls, lots of Jambo’s, hey lady and the most
popular line was it is free to look-yeah right, until the second you
look at something and they pounce on you, grabbing the item and
giving you a spiel about it when you may just have actually been
looking and not really interested in the piece. Then the next
popular line was it is free to ask a price-yeah right, once you ask
for a price you’re toast. You have started the bargaining process
and once that starts it is bad etiquette to get out of it without
buying the item or giving them a ridiculously low price that they let
you walk away. I just kept smiling and saying hello to everyone that
said hello to me as I think, no I know, I will be back and if I’m
nice to them they will get used to me and be nice back. I found some
nice paintings from 2 local guys-so they say-you ask them all and
they all say they all paint their own stuff but these paintings were
a little different from the stuff you see everywhere, some of it
really is mass produced and I am guilty of buying it as it sits in a
box back in Brisbane. I asked for a ‘local’ price and not a
Mazungu and got the price from 7600KSH to 4000KSH for 3 paintings
that were stretched on frames. I am not sure if that is a good price
but I was happy with what I paid and that is all that counts. I
asked them to hold them for me as I did a full lap of all the stalls.
It was all so colourful and lots of good gear I had to dig deep not
to buy everything I saw and liked and it was nice to sharpen my
haggling skills once again. There really is some nice stuff and I
saw a beautiful statue of a Masai warrior made out of ebony, it would
have been hip high, but it was 300USD. Even if I got him down 50%, I
was not sure if it was what I wanted to pay. I’m all for buying
good quality nice pieces rather than a wad of junk pieces and I would
need to run that price past someone that was more in the know than I
was at this point.
I did a full lap of all the aisles, dodging the
calls, shaking a few hands, people asking where I was from trying to
guess American, English, I even got German before they would give up
and I would have to tell them. Not one out of the 7 people that
asked me even asked if I was from Australia. Their response to that
answer is ‘kangaroo’ which made me smile each time and it was
refreshing that they didn’t know the ‘g'day mate’ that seems to
be the catch cry of an Australian according to some overseas
countries. It’s like Fosters-no Australian drinks that beer, but
is mass marketed overseas, especially in the US as an ‘Australian
beer that Australians drink’. When I think about it they probably
don’t see many Australians this side of town. The Australian
Consulate is on the other side of the city so it explains when the
stall holders asked where I am from they are shocked when I reply
Australia. Especially with the American Embassy just down the road I
am one in probably 10,000 Americans, give or take a few Aussies that
may work with the UN which is also down the road. One dude asked me
for an Australian coin as he is a teacher, but I said I didn’t have
one on me but I have one at home and I told him I would bring one
back next week if he was here and I had another guy that was really
nice and hit me for the ‘mass produced paintings’ and I said that
maybe next week, so I promised Mike I would be back and I will stick
to my word, I think I will have to buy something small just to do the
right thing. These guys will do anything to get you to come and look
at their wares and I couldn’t help but look at the plates and ended
up buying a beautiful African plate for 2500KSH and a set of 3
painted plates for 2000KSH and 10 small stone hearts, they are really
cute. I went back to my painters and asked if they could look after
those items for me as well and that I would be back in a few hours
while I went back into the centre to get some more chores done.
So with some hard core shopping done and me
dodging the Masai warrior seller twice I headed down to the computer
shop to use the internet to upload a blog I had written at home,
check Facebook and Hotmail and then leg it out of there. The sales
guy asked if I had picked an internet plan yet-GG and I had spoken to
him about getting something connected up last week-they are an agent
for Access Kenya. I’m waiting for GG’s brother to get back to us
re what other costs for other networks are before I make a decision.
If it is what the going rate is 140AUD a month, then I am just going
to have to pay, but it will be nice to know that we have done some
homework before I pay for the world’s most expensive home internet
plan, and it isn’t even the top plan at that. If I put it into
perspective I am not going out, I’m not buying clothes, I’m not
going to concerts and if internet is my vice, then so be it. If I
haven’t heard anything by next week I will just bite the bullet and
sign up. Talk about taking a step back from technology when you land
in Africa. I have gone from having 24 hour access to getting online
twice a week for 30 minutes. I am not seeing this as a bad thing,
but I am feeling a little out of touch with friends and what is
actually happening in their world, a little disjointed and I will
right that in the coming week. While I had internet I sent Zeme
message about setting up a date for me to go to Addis Ababa to
collect some jewellery, clothes and some items I left in his care
when I was there in September, well that is if he still has it all of
course. I will leave it a week and then I will phone him and then if
that fails I will have to resort to plan C and I am not going to be
Mrs Nice Guy anymore. I have a plan and it will not be pretty, but
it’s time to get tough, and tough I will get if I have to. There
was also an email from a volunteer organization that I am on a mail
out for and they have a programme in a few African countries
including Ethiopia and Uganda and Peru in South America. There is a
work field trip coming up in May for Uganda which I was interested in
possibly doing until I opened the link and the cost popped up on
screen. I don’t mind paying money for food, accommodation and any
other outgoing cost that are involved but for 7 nights it was 1700USD
and then there was a compulsory 500USD donation to their local
charity in the area. I am all in for helping and donating money but
find it a little expensive to chip in 2200USD for a week of volunteer
work. I will pass and just keep my ear to the ground and will
continue to look when I get internet.
I had Thai for lunch, sizzling beef, and it was
nice to have some meat back in my diet and I have to say it was
delicious!!!!! It was also a MASSIVE serve and I could only eat half
of it, and with only a microwave at home for dinners I was not going
to let the left overs go to waste, so as I got some funny looks from
people taking my tray back to the food outlet, I asked if I could get
the remaining food in a take away. Seriously there was enough there
for a whole other meal….. I’m not sure if it is a done thing,
but they didn’t balk at my request and I got it back on a plastic
plate wrapped in cling wrap and a plastic knife and fork in a plastic
bag. Dinner tomorrow-wallah!!!
I headed next to Nakumatt to see if they had
any pies in the freezer. They didn’t have any in stock when I was
there on Tuesday and they seem to be my main staple for dinner each
night served with a salad. It’s easy, it can be microwaved and
they are tasty and what do you know they had some in stock and 3
different flavours. Last time I bought a box they only had one
flavour! I was in luck and not one to let an opportunity pass I
bought 3 boxes of pies, that’s 12 pies and hopefully that will get
me through till my boxes arrive from Australia and I will be able to
get access to my BBQ hot plate and then I can start to cook proper
meals like hamburgers and spaghetti bolognaise and sausages and steak
again. You know serious meals from a serious chef! There is a
butcher in the centre, which I am yet to go in and have a look, I may
just do that next week, but I have a feeling that it will be
expensive, but then I am also assuming that the quality will be up to
scratch. Hopefully. I got some stares with my 3 boxes of pies in
the check-out queue, but hey a gal has to eat right. If that doesn’t
scream single and not a cook I am not sure what does. Maybe it was
the shock of such a small shop in the store since I moved-I’ve
spent a fair bit of coin in there the last 2 weeks.
So with my chores all done it was time to head
back to the market to collect all my purchases from the painters
again dodging the Masai warrior man seller as he keeps asking me for
my best price. All my stuff was still there and I paid the remaining
balance of the paintings and boy did I feel like a real tourist
leaving there with all my purchases under my arms. Oh well-I’m
helping the local economy and who cares what people think. I got a
Village taxi back home, checking the price was 500KSH. Moses was my
driver today and he was going to take me to Ruaka Road where a lot of
expats live, not I, I am in Ruaka Town, luckily it was on the way but
it made a point to me to tell people now that I am in Ruaka Town. I
also got some additional information from Steven the other day of the
name of the road, I had the number of the road and where it goes to,
so if I ever got into a taxi that didn’t know where I wanted to go
I had some other points of reference. Worse-case scenario I can just
tell them the Village Markets as everyone seems to know where that is
and then I can direct them from there, which is literally 7 minutes
past the centre. I asked Moses about a price to the airport and he
quoted me 2500KSH each way, 500KSH cheaper than Steven and he has a
similar car, but for the sake of 10AUD I think I may just stick with
Steven for now. I love getting out of the apartment and with a few
purchases under the arm it was another good day.
I have had a few Facebook friend requests from
Africans I don’t know the last couple of days. I generally as a
rule won’t accept anyone that I don’t know but I have accepted
one person based on face value. I do need to get myself out more and
he went to the trouble of sending me his email address and phone
number, he lives in Nairobi and he quite clearly mentioned being a
friend. I do need to get myself out there sometime and whether it
was male or female I think I would have done the same thing. If I am
to meet anybody, may I could just meet them at my hotel in town.
They have a bar there, a nice restaurant and at least I have people
who know me there, my security mates Dominic and Maureen and they can
keep an eye out for me there. I have also had 2 requests from the
web site ‘Meet Up’ that I joined when I first arrived. It is
supposed to be a site where groups of people arrange to ‘meet up’
but my 2 messages have been looking for a serious relationship and
left me their mobile numbers. It is those people I will NOT respond
to and it is not the reason I joined the site in the first place.
No comments:
Post a Comment