Shopping in Africa
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Derb Fez El-Jdid
The kissariat along this bustling thoroughfare are home to stalls selling jellabas of every possible colour, quality, price and cut. Utilitarian polyester and wool styles predominate, but it's also possible to access Bollywood-style confections in satin and silk, as well as truly frightening faux-leopard-skin numbers.
reviewed
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KEAG
Standing for Kommetjie Environmental Awareness Group, this organisation is to be applauded for recycling plastic into colourful ornaments and fun jewellery. You’ll find their products sold elsewhere but this is where they are made and you can take a peek at the workshop and Imhoff Farm at the same time.
reviewed
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L'art Traditionnel
Pierced brass, sometimes with opaque or coloured Iraqi glass, is used for all the lanterns here: an ostrich-egg size costs around DH900, a small lantern around DH1400 and one with glass inserts around DH1200. There are also carved wooden chests, tables and old doors. The shop is contracted to Medina Express for easy shipping.
reviewed
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Central Market
This market dates from the 19th century and is a hugely colourful place to wander and stock up on food, with a mouth-watering selection of cheeses, fresh bread, harissa (spicy chilli paste), olives and pickles (surrounding shops sell tempting piles of the same) as well as fruit and veg and a wide range of basketware.
reviewed
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Skinz
If you want a little something made from exotic leather or animal skins – think zebra, springbok, crocodile and ostrich – then this is your place. It does regular cowhide leather too, but doesn’t that sound boring compared to purple-dyed crocodile? A whole zebra skin goes for between R8000 and R16,000, depending on the grade.
reviewed
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Galeries Frederic Damgaard
Essaouira has a reputation as an artists hub, and several galleries around town sell works by local painters. It’s a mixed bag of talent and you may need to look in all of them before finding something you like. Galeries Frederic Damgaard is the best and oldest in town and features the work of local artists.
reviewed
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Gnaoua Music Shop
You'll have to duck to avoid banging the drums over the doorway with your head, but you've come to the right place to go Gnaoua and join a jam session. These are the handmade, rustic instruments played in the Djemaa el-Fna, from recycled-metal castanets to goatskins stretched over sturdy frames that can take a real pounding.
reviewed
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Horass Handcraft
Sells some locally made crafts, including hand-decorated pouches cleverly marketed as ‘mobile phone holders’ or, our favourite, ‘guidebook holders’. It also has standard adorned traditional Bedouin costumes and camel-hair socks. If the shop is closed, knock on the door directly across the street.
reviewed
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Mercado Municipal
The Mercado Municipal, with its long rows of vendors, tables piled high with produce, fresh fish and colourful spices, and stalls overflowing with everything from brooms to plastic buckets, is Maputo's main market, and well worth a stroll. Get there early in the morning when everything is still fresh, and before the crowds.
reviewed
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Carpet Bazaar - Ben Zeglam Shop
This is one shop that stands out in terms of quality, price and range for Libyan (mostly Berber) items, such as pottery, Tuareg jewellery, knives and boxes, flat-weave kilim cushions and larger rugs. The owner, Ahmeda Zeglam, is a delight and epitomises the old-style civility that characterises so many Libyan shopkeepers.
reviewed
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Salon De Thé Batha
Here's one of the best patisseries selling excellent bread, cakes and croissants but the pièce de résistance is the patisserie: tiny exquisite biscuit creations featuring almonds, sesame paste, chocolate and macaroons. A 250g box of the best (essential when visiting Moroccan families) costs around DH30.
reviewed
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Riad Maison Bleue Spa
This spa uses Moroccan products such as ghassoul, argan oil, orange flower water and rose petals. The basic hammam treatment costs DH500, a session including the steam room, gommage (exfoliation) and massage costs around DH800; the Thousand & One Nights treatment adds a manicure, pedicure and facial.
reviewed
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Division de Cartographie
Rabat is one of the few places in Morocco where you can get a range of topographical Moroccan maps and town plans. The Division de Cartographie sells topography maps, but staff can be sensitive about selling some maps. Take your passport. Most maps need to be ordered and can be picked up 48 hours later.
reviewed
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Fruit and Vegetable Market
The medina is the best place to go for self-catering supplies. The indoor fruit and vegetable market has a fantastic choice of fresh produce, dried fruits and nuts. You should be able to find everything else you need (including booze) at the surrounding stalls or along Rue Souika and near Bab el-Bouiba.
reviewed
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La Rose
Designer fashion with a bonus: any of the styles you find on the rack can be modified to suit you. Prefer that hooded top in linen, or that dress with short sleeves? Consider it done. Better still: prices here are lower than you'd expect to find on this boutique street, and far less than chain-store retail back home.
reviewed
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Peter's Antiques
This place is an Ali Baba's cave of treasures, specialising in colonial relics, historic literature, West African art, politically incorrect German paraphernalia and genuine West African fetishes and other artefacts from around the continent. It's a place that travellers love to hate, but many succumb to its wonders.
reviewed
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Eddie Zoom
Eddie Zoom is one of those expact characters that Cape Town seems to attract. Matey with Jimi Hendrix and the Rolling Stones (he played on their Sticky Fingers Album) he now hawks a jumble sale of retro furnishing from the 1950s to the 1980s that are guaranteed to give a touch of originality to your boudoir.
reviewed
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Clementina Ceramics & A.R.T. Gallery
There's a continuously changing display of one-off works by Clementina van der Walt and other artists here, as well as a full selection of Clementina's distinctive tableware, hand-painted in bright overglaze colours. Attached is the relaxed Café des Arts where you can take tea in a courtyard overlooking the bay.
reviewed
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Abd El Zaher
Cairo's last working bookbinder also makes beautiful leather- and oil-paper-bound blank books, photo albums and diaries. Free gold monogramming is included in the prices, which are heartbreakingly low, considering the work that goes into them. Getting your own book bound starts around £E15 and takes a few days.
reviewed
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Pharmacie Koutoubia
All the essentials you forgot to bring are here, plus fragrant Nectarôme skin- and hair-care products from the organic gardens in nearby Ourika Valley. If you're not feeling your best, just tell the sharp young pharmacist what's wrong - she'll point out the best pharmaceutical or homeopathic cures for what ails you.
reviewed
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Kalk Bay Modern
Upstairs from Olympia Café & Deli is this wonderful gallery stocked with an eclectic and appealing range of arts and crafts. There are often exhibitions by local artists showing here. Check out the collection of Ekoka print cloths, a fair-trade product made by the !Kung Bushmen in Namibia.
reviewed
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Galerie Nejarine
Ahmed specialises in reproductions of old ceramics, so while a 40-year-old bowl in his shop costs around DH650, the reproductions are around DH250. He also has small bowls, resin and bronze candleholders and two-seater rectangular pouffes. He's contracted to Medina Express so shipping things home is safe and easy.
reviewed
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Bini Ou Binek
Work that riad-relaxed look with breezy, comfortable local designs in groovy paisleys, upbeat orange and blue polka dots, and other splashy prints. Snap up a dress for the price of a T-shirt back home, and be the toast of cocktail hour at Kechmara around the corner. The shop is in the entryway of Hotel Toulousain.
reviewed
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Gateway Mall
The giant Gateway Mall, the mother of all shopping malls, houses some indoor extreme activities including a wave house (www.wavehouse.co.za), the first of its kind in the world (which includes a huge skate park), and the highest free-standing indoor climbing rock in the world. The mall is north of central Durban.
reviewed
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Super Mares
Supermarkets in Maputo are on the pricey side, but well-stocked, with a wide selection of imports from South Africa. Luscious papayas, mangoes and other excellent tropical fruits and vegetables are available at Maputo's markets and from streetside vendors. Super Mares is an upmarket and well-stocked supermarket.
reviewed