Haggling – Nairobi, Kenya - Tuesday, Aug 21

We met up with the whole crew on Tuesday and our first adventure was the Masai Market on top of the Westgate Mall in Nairobi.  Jac is an expert negotiator so she gave us advice and price points for items she had previously purchased at the market.  It was a bit overwhelming but we scored some great handicrafts.  We loved the soap stone hippos, paper necklaces, purses, jewellery, nativities, etc.  This is how it would go with every person we met at the market:

Seller :  What is your name?

Me:  Sara.  What is your name?

Seller:  James, Judy, Emmanuel, Oscar, Jeffrey, Margaret, etc

Seller:  Are you a Christian?

Me:  Yes

Seller:  We are sisters in Christ.  You must come to my shop.  Looking is free!

Me:  Laughter and I would start looking

Seller:  With newspaper in hand would write down an astronomical price for an item

Me:  Laugh and said that it outrageous and way over priced

Seller:  Would cross out the number and say that was the Japanese price and would ask me what my price was.

Me:  List my final price and I would tell them that my friend who lives here could buy it for that price

Seller:  No, no, no.  What is your final price?

Me:  I would stand my ground with the final price and walk away.

Seller:  Ok, ok. 

Me:  I would walk away with my item at my final price!

BTW – for those of you who remember my trip to Turkey, no, I did not come away with a rug I didn’t want. 

Later that afternoon we hired a driver to take us out to the Giraffe Center located outside of Nairobi.  It was an interesting drive through the city. I particularly loved one road that I affectionately named “Home Depot Road” and I am kicking myself for not taking any pictures.  Alongside the road, people set up roadside furniture and beautiful garden shops.  It was fascinating watching people make handicrafts and selling them alongside the road.  If I lived in Nairobi, I would have purchased a billion things.  The craftsmanship was incredible.

The Giraffe Center was great.  We were able to feed and pet the giraffes.  I was pretty grossed out by their tongues...but you know me and peer pressure....I gave in and ended up loving it.  I couldn’t get enough of these gorgeous animals.  Their eyelashes were stunning and they walk so gracefully.  I now want a pet giraffe.