 Ring & Ngong Road market, photo by Brian F by glabah | Go shopping in Nairobi with recommendations, reviews, tips and photos posted by real travelers and locals. Nairobi Map |
 | Nairobi Shopping | Tips 1 - 10 of 32 |  |
 The Sarit Centre by croisbeauty
I was very dissapointed by seeing cloths which cost a fortune and yet it is of law quality and more or less stock. Most of the trade-marks are completely unknown (so-called "no name") in Europe. Leave a Comment Theme: Other
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As far as I could see it, Nakumatt is the biggest chain of department stores in whole of Kenya, everywhere you go this name is following you, inside city areas or along the roads. Nakumatt offers all what an family needs, like grocceries, cloths, technique etc, but it is slightly expensive than Tusker, Uchumi or small retail shops. Most of Kenyans, with average salaries, avoid NaKumatt because they cannot afford such a high prices.
Take a piece of Nairobi with you when going back home by going to City Market or Maasai Market to buy some very nice handcraft beaded slippers, necklace, bracelets some made out of bones from camel, cows etcs. or even the nice maasai shawls. Leave a Comment Theme: OtherDirections: Nakumatt Downtown disappeared after big fire in 2009, see on the picture bellow
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 by grets
Street stalls sell these and a host of other local crafts. Almost every street where the tourist frequents, will have some wares laid out on the pavement.
Carved animals and caricatures of local people are the two most popular buys.
Bargain, bargain and bargain hard. But do remember that these people are trying to make a living. Settle on a price which is fair to you and them, ripping someone off os not cool. Leave a Comment Theme: Local Craft
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Nairobi's open markets are peraps the best place to get great bargains on local craft.
The huge number of sellers in the area means that theres a lot of variety and there is a lot of competition and soliciting to attract customers, often with very good bargains.
Sellers will even offer you deals in return for your watch, your cap or anything that seems worth trading.
Generally speaking, there are three main open markets in town... which come together on different days of the week.
Tuesdays- Globe Cinema Roundabout, City Centre
Fridays- Village Market, Gigiri
Sundays- Safari Park Hotel, Thika Road. Leave a Comment Theme: Local Craft
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 by Homanded
When attending the local shops or villages you'll have an opportunity to include these to the ever growing sundry of gifs and souveniers you are rapidly filling your suitcases with...(see buying a suitcse tip).
Maasai will tell you that they hand make these fabrics and weave the blankets. We found out differently from a Maasai we had managed to befriend - largely due to the women's friendly and flirtatious attitude!
Maasai blankets are largely made in European countries, primarily Scotland who has a contract with the tribes importing/exporting for them.
Imagine our surprise! Make sure what you buy is authentic and not massed produced. If it's authentic, chances are, you'll be shown an area where the local craft person is busily working on pieces of carvings or art.
Blankets and cloth are set prices (due to them being a re-sale) and ran an average of USD $30.00 Leave a Comment Theme: Local Craft
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We had thoughts of being able to Fed Ex or Mail souveniers back home after we had spent 8 days of intense shopping throughout the National Parks in Kenya.
Boy were we wrong!
We were quoted USD $485.00 for a medium sized box of souveniers after weigh in! Shipping out of Kenya was much higher than anywhere else we've been in the world it seemed. We easily shipped back to the US when we traveled to Hong Kong, China, Thailand and Bali, making arrangements to have someone else receive it on this side.
We were shocked when we were quoted the initial price!
We ended up buying a cheap suitcase (one medium one) and checking it in as extra luggage for our onward journey to Egypt.
Luggage is very innexpensive in Nairobi and there are several shops to choose from. We chose one within walking distance to the Stanley Hotel where we were staying.
As it met our luggage and weight criteria, we didn't even have to pay extra. Once at your destination (if you're not flying directly home), most hotels will have a storage area where they will happily hold your luggage until you fly home.
We tipped the porter an additional USD $10.00 for his trouble of storing the luggage for us. Leave a Comment Theme: Other
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As tourists, we tend to over react when we first arrive and are met with the first row of vendors peddling their ware.
Our initial impulse to buy this or that because it is new to us works against us!
The vendors and touts, especially just outside Nairobi at strategically placed shops such as the first overlook on the Rift Valley are particularly adept at convincing you that THEIR wares are unique and one of a kind.
DONT BELIEVE THEM! They are amongst the most expensive in Kenya!
Wooden carvings, jewelry, art work, spears, and local crafts.
All can be had much cheaper as you gradually travel outside of the Park system and gain some confidence and skill at bartering.
Always start low - VERY low! At least 20% below whatever it is they initially quote you with a known limit of a maximum 40 - 50% you strictly adhere to!
DO NOT pay more than 50% EVER! Unless of course, you feel you want to truly be generous.
They will act insulted, plead and tell you that there is no way they can sell it for that, they ar e losing money...etc. It's all part of the game. Once you start to walk away, trust me, they'll chase you down and accept it. If they let you walk, don't worry, you'll find the exact same thing (or very similar) at another place. Local handicraft hasn't changed in years. Leave a Comment Theme: Local CraftAddress: Any roadside vendor or village
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It was saturday morning and I was strolling around the city area with no particular interest. Have bought a couple of video cd's with traditional Kenyan music and there in the shop the guy reminds me on saturday Maasai Market which I missed to see in my previous visits........
TO BE CONTINUED Leave a Comment Theme: Local Craft
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The covered City Market is situated in the Muindi Mbingu Street, right in the centre of the town. The building was originally built as an aircraft hangar. It offers cheap and fresh fruits and vegetables on a daily basis. On the rear side of it there is small corridor where one can buy attractive handicraft made souvenirs, but remember, burgain first before buying them. Leave a Comment Theme: Food and Drink
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On several occassions thru my trip in east Africa, i couldnt help being drawn to shops that stocked local handicrafts. Bright and colourful, i would squeeze in a few mins at every possible chance, to pop into one of these shops. Often i bought stuff, ticking off names on the long list of people that i wanted to bring stuff for back in India.
Some i thought i got for a fair price, others prooved hard on the bargaining and i paid much more than i wanted to... all in all, good stuff but a bit expensive often. Our local contacts in the region would almost always say-- ya good, but you could have got it for half the price you paid:S
Sometimes, it did help to get the local guys with you, to buy something for you-bargain etc.
Coming from India, i should know how to bargain hard... but on our last day in Kenya, when we chanced upon one of the open markets, did i realise how much cheaper it can really get!
Masks, masai paintings, ceramic stuff, and lots more... masai spears and other weapons too!
Usually you can start bargaining by quoting half... the rest depends on how hard a nut you are to crack! Leave a Comment Theme: Local CraftDirections: All across town
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