Kariakoo market

So everything is all relative. I thought Dar couldn't get any more crazy and chaotic and colorful and full of people and noises and smells, until this morning I took a trip with Lucy (a Dartouth '07) to Kariakoo, a part of town on the outskirts of the city where lots of people live and work (more than in city center) and where few tourists ever venture. We were in search of the Kariakoo market, and after taking a daladala (crazy minibus sort of thing thats the most common form of public transportation) to Kariakoo center and navigating our way through more people than i've ever seen in my life (except maybe in India) and a seemingly infinite number of shops (more like shacks) and stalls, we found a guy who led us to the market, which was half inside (in a big warehouse sort of building) and half outside, under awnings. I thought back to the farmer's market in Norwich and how the meaning of "farmers market" sure covers a lot of ground. Here we fought our way through hordes of people (definitely the only foreigners, and as such, subjected to cries of "mzungu", meaning white person, and some of the more persistent people tugging on our skirts) and passed by sellers hawking mangos, coconuts, chilis and all sorts of exotic fruits and vegetables. Then inside in the sort of dingy warehouse were spices, grains and beans all piled high up in big baskets. They were even selling packages of flavored pods from baobab trees, which I recognized from trips to Baine's Baobabs in Nxai Pans (Botswana), and which taste citrusy but with the consistency of astronaut icecream, if you can at all envision that. And then every kind of plastic doodad and electronic device (questionable if anything actually works) you can imagine. We wandered around until we'd seen most of the stalls, and Lucy bought a very pretty sarong type piece of cloth (not sure what they are called here) before we walked back (well me hobbling actually becaus im trying to break in my new Rainbows) to the daladala rink.
So that was my morning, and I've probably left out a whole bunch of other stuff we saw but I think I could only fit so much sensory input in my brain before it shut off. On the way back we stopped at Shoprite where I was able to find all my favorite southern african treats, like tennis biscuits and choco-kits and black cat peanut butter, so I felt a little bit at home at least. :-) Then tomorrow morning, I get on the overnight train ride to Mbeya, where my forest adventures start!