Tag Archives: Market

Supermarket Closed for Semana Santa Seville

Supermarket Closed for Semana Santa SevilleSemena Santa in Spain causes many things to happen. One of them is that stores close. This is a picture of a larger supermarket where I bought groceries one day, but was closed the next because a large Holy Week procession was going to be going through the neighborhood, I like the larger supermarkets. It is easier to get the kinds of items Continue reading

Daily Food Market in Algeciras

Daily Food Market in AlgecirasWhen I checked into the hotel in Algeciras Jose, the desk clerk, told me to go to the market on my way to the Maritime Terminal. I said I would and I headed that direction when I left the hotel. What I didn’t expect was a market with quite the vivacity of the market I found. It was a little overwhelming. Of course, I had to stop and pick up some Continue reading

Swakopmund Namibia Market

Swakopmund Namibia Market

Swakopmund Namibia Market

It’s the local craft market in Swakopmund. It was the only one I saw that wasn’t housed inside. Everyone wanted to help me buy something. There was a lot of choice. When I asked someone if they were there everyday, he said yes. They were close to the museum and the light house. Swakopmund is not a big town.

Africa Market Too

Africa Market Too

Africa Market Too

Here we see another African market in Livingstone, Zambia. There is a distinct contrast between the local flea market and the local supermarket. In small towns, the flea market is about all you will find. In the larger towns you’ll find at least one good supermarket with a bakery and refrigerated meat and frozen food. Life is quite different in the small towns of Africa than in the larger cities. In the rural areas, the lifestyle tends to be little more than subsistence living. There won’t be a lot of electricity, household furniture or even doors and windows. Africa tends to be a land of contrasts.

Africa Market

Africa Market

Africa Market

I took this picture of a supermarket in Livingstone. Gee, it looks like a supermarket like you might find anywhere else in the world. It was quite modern. They were busy stocking in the middle of the morning. It was on a Saturday. I would like to say that it wasn’t as large as a typical American supermarket, but it was similar in size to a locally-owned supermarket in a small town. Remember that Livingstone may be a reasonably good-sized city in Zambia, but it’s hardly has world-class status as a city.

Lilongwe Malawi Market Africa

Lilongwe Malawi Market Africa

Lilongwe Malawi Market Africa

Lilongwe had a very nice shopping center. A few blocks away was one of the local markets. It was something of a dump. Literally. It was on a river and it appeared that there could have been a few homeless people living on the bank of the river. All that material in the foreground of the picture that looks like it might be trash is, well… trash. And the smell was overwhelming. I didn’t last long in this part of the Old Town. I thought it would be in my best interest to turn around and go back to the middle-class shopping center. So I did.

Malawi Market from Truck Africa

Malawi Market from Truck Africa

Malawi Market from Truck Africa

It’s not really a good picture, but there is something of a problem taking really good pictures as we were traveling along the great Malawi motorway. The problem was that the good pictures could be gone in a moment of two. Yes, I could have been more prepared, but that would have required me to sit in readiness for the next great photo and I wasn’t willing to invest that kind of time into those few shots that were neat, but not earth-shaking. So, I tried to keep abreast of what was going on outside without letting it be all-consuming as far as my time was concerned. This shot was taken from inside the truck and, if you look at the largest size of the picture, you can get some detail as to what I would classify as a typical local market scene in a rural area. There were a lot of people, the environment was a needy candidate for adopt-a-street, and the market was full of things that could be bought for a very reasonable sum of money.

Tanzania Market Africa

Tanzania Market Africa

Tanzania Market Africa

We’ve left Stonetown and we’re moving down the road. This is a smaller town in Tanzania. The markets are very important in those towns. This was a pretty significant market. That’s why I grabbed the picture. Note that these people have no mall. They have no other significant commercial activity. This is the best commercial thing that they have going in their life. Happy shopping…

Stonetown Zanzibar Market Africa

Stonetown Zanzibar Market Africa

Stonetown Zanzibar Market Africa

This is a picture of the market in Stonetown. How I arrived at the market is an interesting story in itself. I was walking around looking for a bakery. I needed to find a couple of somosas. a local pastry that is quite tasty and costs 3 for $1. Needless to say, this budget traveler was eating them every time I spied what looked like a reasonably fresh one. As I was looking for a bakery one of the locals noticed me and attached himself to me. They do this in hopes they can wrangle a dollar or two out of a person. In the end, he not only took me to the bakery, he took me to the major market where this picture was taken as well as several other places. He turned out to be an excellent guide and I turned out to be a customer.

Super Market Kenya

Super Market Kenya

Super Market Kenya

It’s a supermarket that I shopped in in Karen, Kenya. If you go on a camping trip in Africa you will have to go to the markets and supermarkets to get food and supplies. I know, I went to many of them. They represent those little slices of interdependency we all have among ourselves. Someone grows the food, someone takes ti to the packager who packages it. Someone delivers it to the supermarkets who in turn sells it to consumers. The best possible situation is the one where the person who grows or raises the food is the one who consumes it. I keep threatening to plant a garden but I never do. Maybe it’s because I’m gone so much. 20120602