THE MARKET (AGAIN)

Today we went to a different market, one of the few places in Libreville designed for tourists. There you can buy all types of typical African thingies: clothes, figures, masks, jewellery, furniture... Obviously, no native will go there.

Once you enter the market, you cannot stop in front of any of the stalls. If you do, you´re in trouble - the seller will not let you go until you buy something ("Good morning, madam! Good morning, friends! You must buy these beatiful bottle openers!"). Of course, the price must be negotiated. I´m lucky: my man, even though terribly stressed, proved to be very successful in the delicate art of haggling. By the way, it was not a joke, we did get three bottle openers (see photo), the kind we had seen before at a friend´s house and loved. We had also been informed that they should not cost more than 2000 franks each (around 3 euros).

The seller sees we´re interested. He shows us every single design of the thing. The lady (ekhm, that would be yours truly) chooses the ones she likes (3 pieces). The gentleman (sweating, but it´s hot, obviously) enquires about the price. 7000 franks, that would be 21000 in total. We start laughing and it takes us around 7 minutes to get down to 6000 franks for the three of them (a dramatic scene of us leaving the stall included). I proudly grab my African bottle openers with one hand and my Galician boyfriend with the other, as I am impressed with his negotiation.

Next time it´s my turn. Even if I have to use all the French words I know, including fromage.