Omdurman Shopping

Spice and herbs are found congregated together in the market. They make a colourful display laid out in baskets or basins or jars.Those with allergies beware ;the smell can be pungent, and the fine powdery spices can be irritating to the nostrils.
Lentils, haricot beans, fava beans and rice will be found in hessian sacks.
Dried dates, dom palm nuts, tamarind pods, baobab seeds are also available in these shops.

What to buy: Many exotic herbs and spices are available, but foreign visitors like kerkadeh, the dried flowers of a variety of hibiscus , which is made into a tea or cold drink after being boiled or soaked and having sugar added. It is used as a remedy for colds, and is exported as a major ingredient in herbal teas, and medicines.
The seeds of the baobab and tamarind pods also make pleasant drinks.
Black cumin seeds are used with sesame oil for digestive problems and sore throats
Senna pods are laxative.
Everyday spices are coriander, sea salt, black pepper, chili powder. Ginger and cinnamon and cardamom seeds are added to coffee. Cloves may be added to tea.
Don't forget garlic, red onions and dried okra pods.
Gum arabic and other gums [frankincence] are often used for making incense.
Look around, buy a variety of spices . If you don't use them , put them in decorative jars or bottles and give them as gifts- the colours [red, yellow, black] will add a decorative touch to a kitchen.

What to pay: Very little.

There are a number of large bead shops, as well as pavement salesmen in Omdurman market. Beads are popular with the tribes of Southern Sudan who make many decorative items and jewellery from them.Strings of beads made from natural substances are worn by sufi followers as prayer beads.
Beads were brought to Africa as an item for trade by the early colonizers, and can be found all over the continent. Nowadays the Venetian trade beads are very rare, but also much sought after.
Beads can be hand made, carved, glass, plastic or made from nuts as well as from pottery, bone or silver and shells.
In the specialist shops the strings of beads are such a wonderful display of colour. Beads can be purchased by the string or in the case of larger beads by the individual item.

What to buy: In recent decades expatriate women are buying the beads to make jewellery. They combine beads, pieces of silver and local amber to make 'ethnic' jewellery as gifts. Some beads are more expensive than others. The most popular is the blue bead with a chevron design [I forget its name], which is now becoming rare and expensive. Local women like the black and white 'agate' which is often combined with red beads.

What to pay: Common types of beads cost very little, but do bargain. The rarer forms could cost a lot.