Kajo art gallery — Local services in Arusha

This market is a one stop shop. You can get all the souvenirs you want for family and friends back home. Yes, you feel a bit pressured, or guilted, to go into many shops, but you need to remember that this is how the merchants support their families. They appreciate you looking and enjoy conversation. They hope you will buy because it may mean meat, instead of just ugali, on the table for their dinner that night. If you go with an open mind and an awareness of the culture and despair, you will like it. There are five alleys (that are called streets) and shops on both sides on all of them. A lot have similar items and will negotiate to give you a better price. I have been here many many times and have actually befriended a couple merchants who recognize me when I walk in now. I go every year and am excited to see them. Some shop keepers are willing to trade things with you. I traded an old timex watch for some wooden statues. One year I traded my old (but still decent) running shoes for a large painting. I bring students there every yet, after we are finished a hard days work of building structures. Go with an open mind and enjoy...

The market consists of more than 200 stores that essentially cell the same stuff. As someone below mentioned, there's no concept of fixed price there, you just pick what you want and they give you the price of the whole purchase. This price might be completely different in one store from another (in our case, what was quoted as 70000 tzs in one was offered for 250000 tzs in another one). For people who are new to price negotiations this is the strategy that we used: Go to any store that you like, pick stuff that you like, ask for the price. Then ask for the best price they can give you. Then respond with the same price -25%. At the end you will get a number. Leave this store and go to another one that you like. Pick the same stuff as in store 1 and ask for the price. Then tell them the price from store 1 and ask for a better price. Repeat step 2 with as many steps as you want and have time for. Using the new minimum price. Come back to store 1 and tell them the updated minimum. If they give you a better price than other stores, buy there. Otherwise, go to the store with the...

Take your time to find out prices, don’t hesitate to leave if you feel the price is uncomfortable. The variety of items here would be similar and yet a little different from Kenya. Some items like bags are lesser in quality, but kitenge cloth and other wood crafts are more in variety.

Go for the shops in the middle 2 and rightmost shops. Avoid the first lane (manyara street I think) as the sellers there are the most aggressive, and extremely rude at times. Some are quite rough to literally grab and drag you in.

The second street (Serengeti) has some ladies that give very good prices, we got kitenge cloth from a mother/daughter owned shop on the right. Another lady’s shop on the right that occupies two lots also gave us...