Shopping in Africa
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Centre Artisanale
The government-run Centre Artisanale is the place to go if you want to get an idea of what to look for and how much to spend. Quality is high but prices are fixed. Other shops are located just outside the Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail. There are also some good pottery stalls set up on the western side of Place el-Hedim.
reviewed
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Beit Sherif
Zaki Sherif is responsible for the décor of some of Cairo's trendiest bars. Here he recreates his Ottoman dreams, mixing old furniture and objets d'art with his own designs and artfully displaying the result on three floors of an attractive old house. The glass-and-brass light shades are lovely, as are the richly embroidered cushions.
reviewed
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A is for Apple
Visit Cape Town’s best children’s bookshop to buy locally focused children’s literature such as When Hippo Was Hairy and Rudyard Kipling’s charming Just So stories. It also has a cute café with outdoor deck and a play area. You’ll also find a branch at the Old Biscuit Mill.
reviewed
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Iklane Association
This town has several carpet shops that mostly sell to trade, but the best option is to buy from the source 4km outside of Tazenakht at Iklane Association. Here the association takes 8% of reasonable retail prices for initiatives like the community clean-up program (hence the immaculate village); the rest goes to the carpet maker.
reviewed
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Spice Shop
Hassan Graoui and his son Khalid are justly proud of their emporium of spices. This is an excellent place to stock up on ras el-hanoot (shopkeeper's spice mixture) that Hassan grinds himself, from his own secret blend of cinnamon, mace flowers, star anise, turmeric, nutmeg, black pepper, coriander and more. Perfect for Moroccan cooking.
reviewed
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Rue des Artisans
Close to Grand Marché is this relatively low-pressure place to buy woodcarvings and brasswork - including some fetching malachite jewellery - from Burkinabé, Senegalese, Nigerian and Malian traders. The short street is east of Hôtel du Golfe, with some private art galleries at the north end. Come with your haggling cap firmly on.
reviewed
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Côté Sud
The best-priced of the design shops along Rue de la Liberté, and the friendliest too. Downstairs, you'll discover hand-painted tea glasses, red glass chandeliers and tasselled table linens. Upstairs, you'll feel a powerful temptation to throw yourself into the embankments of pillows in white cotton cases gone wild with embroidered red flowers.
reviewed
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Beinkinstadt
On the border of the old District Six, this marvellous emporium of Judaica is run by Michael and Fay Padowich, the third generation of original owners. Inside and out, hardly anything seems to have changed since it first opened in 1903. Good souvenirs include CDs of Jewish music from South Africa, and locally made challah covers and yarmulkes.
reviewed
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Said Delta Papyrus Centre
A spin-off of Dr Ragab (the father of quality papyrus painting), Said has a vast selection, from ancient Egyptian scenes to cool Cairo skylines. He’ll do a cartouche with your name in about half an hour. Prices are negotiable and quite reasonable, provided you arrive without a tout. (The shop is up two flights and down a dim hallway.)
reviewed
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Lim
Although the shop’s name is an acronym for ‘less is more’, this interior design shop has been so successful that they have had to add more room by expanding into the neighbouring house. Wander through the rooms admiring the stylish, pared-back selection of homewares, including fashion accessory items made from buckskin.
reviewed
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Mantis Prints
The observant will spot Ena Hesses’s distinctive hand-printed natural fabrics in several shops and on the home furnishings of many guesthouses. This is her studio-shop where you can buy her printed cloth by the metre or as ready-made cushions, robes and table-wear. She also stocks a few choice pieces of pottery and other crafts.
reviewed
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Artes Maconde
Artes Maconde has an excellent selection of carvings and other crafts from around the country. They do international air and sea shipping and also take orders for local crafts and carvings. For anyone interested in high-quality Mozambican crafts, it's an essential stop. There's another outlet at the Pemba Beach Hotel in Praia de Wimbi.
reviewed
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Riad Alkantara
A complex of six grand houses around a pool and garden, Riad Alkantara was due to open early in 2008. There are workshops in Moroccan crafts, art workshops for children, a café and evenings of poetry, storytelling and music. The spa (opening late 2008) has a hammam and massage room, and offers classes in movement, yoga and meditation.
reviewed
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Main Market
Mombasa's dilapidated 'covered' market building, formerly the Mackinnon Market, is packed with stalls selling fresh fruit and vegetables. Roaming produce carts also congregate in the streets around it, and dozens of miraa (leafy twigs and shoots chewed as a stimulant) sellers join the fray when the regular deliveries come in.
reviewed
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Africa Nova
One of the most stylish and desirable collections of contemporary African textiles, arts and crafts. You’ll find potato-print fabrics made by women in Hout Bay, Karin Dando’s mosaic trophy heads, Jordaan’s handmade felt rock cushions (which look like giant pebbles) and a wonderful range of ceramics and jewellery.
reviewed
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Victoria St Market
At the western end of Anton Lembede (Victoria St), this is the hub of the Indian community and offers a typically rip-roaring, subcontinental shopping experience, with more than 160 stalls selling wares from across Asia. Watch your wallet and don’t take valuables. Note: most shops run by Muslims close between noon and 2pm on Friday.
reviewed
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L'Orientaliste
The eternal European fascination with the other side of the Mediterranean is encouraged by this boutique, packed to overflowing with enough Arabesque accessories to equip your own harem: a Deco-decadent tea service, vintage lithographs, chip-carved ebony frames, and L'Orientaliste's signature fragrances in amber, jasmine and mimosa.
reviewed
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Arkwrights Gourmet Food
Amazing food store with fresh fruits and vegetables, freshly made breads and a large selection of Egyptian and imported food products. The quality of the produce is high, and this is the place to stock up for a more sophisticated picnic, as they recently started doing packed lunches, freshly made sandwiches and salads to take away.
reviewed
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Chez Boutbi Nadia
Nadia is one of the few women shopkeepers in the medina. Her small shop sells traditional Fassi ceramics at excellent prices (tiny tajines for salt and pepper around DH15; plates from around DH35) and it's the best place for that tajine so you can cook Moroccan-style at home (tajine for three servings Dh40, for six servings Dh50).
reviewed
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Antiquaire Haut-Atlas
Look out for the Antiquaire Haut-Atlas , the most reputable dealer in top-quality objects, with a huge collection of well-chosen carpets, fabulous jewellery and antique pottery. At Galerie du Sud artist Amahou Mohamed sells his striking paintings mounted in frames made out of recycled bike tyres.
reviewed
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Au Coin Du Bois
Worth visiting if only to see a beautiful example of a Fassi house, this shop stocks large pieces of furniture which they'll arrange to ship home for you. There are tables, doors and windows, cupboards and chairs - some antique and some not. An old carved door will set you back some around DH4500, a carved and painted box Dh1700.
reviewed
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Heath Nash
Give the international hit of the Cape Town arts-and-crafts scene a call before visiting his Woodstock studio, in an unmarked building just off Victoria Rd. Here you’ll find his full range of fab Flowerball shades made from recycled plastics, wirework fruit bowls, candelabra and coat racks, plus new products in the making.
reviewed
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Ikamva Labantu
Wonderful fabric products, including stuffed animal toys, Nelson Mandela dolls (R180 and R225) and kids’ backpacks and clothes are made by the people with disabilities who are employed here. This is the factory shop and there’s also an outlet in the Red Shed Craft Workshop at the Waterfront.
reviewed
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Marché Africaine
On the far side of the oued is the gargantuan Marché Africaine, a daily market selling all manner of produce, from spices and traditional clothing to huge metal cooking pots, velour carpets and dodgy cologne (Tuareg pour Homme anyone?). To see the market at its liveliest, it's best to come in the morning.
reviewed
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Art Du Bronze
Handcrafted brass and metalware gleam from every corner of this large shop. Much is made on the premises and you can see the craftsman at work every day from 09:00 to 17:00. Brass plates and teapots start at around DH150. Good quality camel-bone mirrors start at around DH500 and there are filigree lanterns from around Dh2500.
reviewed