Description: Like a lot of buildings in Bamako, this low Sudanese style market could do with a lick of paint, if only to highlight its presence in the clutter of numerous surrounding pavement stalls. Enclosed within its walls are a variety of workshops and stalls all producing and selling local handicrafts. The quality of the workmanship is variable, but the prices reasonable. There is a reasonable, but not unbearable, amount of hassling goes on. The range of goods on display is fairly comprehensive and the market is a good place to get an idea of what’s available, and rough price guides BEFORE setting off round Mali.It’s also a good place for last minute shopping before leaving Mali. It will almost certainly be your introduction to the tribe of ‘Bon Prix’! You will find that nearly everyone who tries to sell you something in Mali is called ‘Monsieur Le Bon Prix’ and you can guarantee that his prices are the lowest to be found in the country despite what his fellow ‘Bon Prix’ tells you.
The problem with this and most touristy type shopping areas in Mali is that if you look at something for more than a nanosecond then you’re immediately subject to a sales pitch that’s positively exhausting. I spent ages trying to convince one shopkeeper that some of us would be more likely to buy something if we were left to browse quietly. I did discover, however, one way of alleviating the problem. Find out when there’s an important football match playing on TV and go to the Artisanat while the game is on. At least half the shopkeepers and craftsmen are huddled around the TV sets that have been brought out into the central courtyard, and they wouldn’t notice if the Martians had landed. You can almost browse at your leisure then.
Unfortunately, they’re not such big footie fans in the fetish market and browsing is discouraged, in some cases aggressively. Yes, the shrivelled dead things and lumps of stuff for sale make a wonderful photo opportunity but that’s not the attraction. It’s the fact that you are staring at the unknown and you want to find out some answers. What do you do with a dead cat-like animal? What is that ground up brown powder and what do you do with it? Why is that man yelling at me to go away? A visit to the fetish market can be slightly unnerving so I wouldn’t call it a ‘must see’. It is however, an interesting experience and would love to find out more about the uses of some of the things for sale.
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