BLOG

Le Marché des Valeurs is the largest conglomeration of Congolese arts and crafts for purchase in Kinshasa. The only problem is that it is also the largest conglomeration of crooked Congolese salesmen in the entire city.       It's an obvious magnet. There are countless expats wandering through the stalls of the market, looking for a good deal on something "authentic" to take back to friends and family or decorated their Congo home with. The Congolese aren't stupid. They picked up on this fact and the fact that most of the people are from countries where haggling is considered low brow and thusly, they don't do it. But even for those who are willing to haggle, it's a lot of work to get anywhere near a decent price on this.       On our first visit, we did rather well. It was a Sunday and it seemed like it was a slow day or they were just out of it, but the haggling was good. We managed to pick up two necklaces for $7 that they originally wanted $25 apiece. That's not so bad, but it should be kept in mind that they probably cost less than 50 cents to make, so even this markup is quite massive, but we were happy with these few souvenirs that were hopefully made in DR Congo.       It should be noted that the actual name of the place is "Le Marché des Valeurs" which means, "The Market of Values", but most everyone calls it, "Le Marché des Voleurs" which means "The Market of Thieves". With this in mind, it's no wonder that our second visit fared much worse.       The biggest problem that most folks run in to is the general attitude of the market on the day that you visit. The second day we were there, they were not in a haggling mood. There were one or two other mundele (white folk) wandering the stalls, so they didn't feel like they needed to come down on their prices at all. The other big problem is that they communicate with each other faster than the speed of light. If you start looking at an item in one stall and ask about the price, but then put it away to go to another stall, it's more than a little suspicious that the next guy will offer you the same thing that you were just looking at with the same starting price. For instance, we took a liking to these tribal necklaces that probably originally consisted of red flat, round stones or other items strung next to each other, but were now round plastic discs. Despite this, they were still quite cool, but the "merchants" had the nerve to quote a starting price of $65! Again, they're probably about 50 cents to make and when throwing them down on the table in disgust, they halved their prices immediately because they knew that they had completely overshot. We moved on to other stalls to find the same type of necklaces with the same unfortunate prices. There was no bargaining with these guys. They knew that we wanted one of those necklaces and so we just gave up. It was not a good day to shop.       For anyone else that finds themselves amongst the "value thieves", keep a few things in mind such as the fact that you can easily haggle 60-75% off the asking price. Also, while they will tell you that someone is coral or a precious stone, they most likely are not. Beware the sellers that can speak English. The assumption in Kinshasa is that if you speak English, you've got money and they're ready to get that money from you. You will constantly hear about how much "quality" there is in each piece. I've had nights out drinking in dive bars that consisted of more quality than is in most of the stuff at the market. I mean, it's a bunch of stuff on a string, let's be realistic and just call it a knick knack that most of us aren't planning to have become part of their inheritance to future generations. Lastly, if you don't feel like dealing with these guys, then go to a place to eat like Surcouf where there are some guys who will come by your table with the same things that are at Le Marché des "Voleurs". The difference is that their prices will be lower and you can sit down while haggling and take your time as you eat. It suddenly makes the tables turn just a little bit more in your favor.

After getting bumped off of one of the UN flights east, we took the day to go up to see the bonobo monkeys in a protected reserve a bit outside of Kinshasa. Thankfully some friends of friends were headed that way as you really have to have a car to get to Lola Ya Bonobo.       DR Congo is the natural habitat for the bonobo monkey, which naturally means that they, like a great many animals in the country are threatened by all kinds of things from habitat destruction to poaching. This reserve is a place that was founded to give ones that have been abused a place to heal and live in safety. That being the case, these guys are quite friendly with humans, to a point of being kind of creepy.       The bonobo happens to be the closest animal relative to the human being. They really are something with how they look at you with what seem to be intelligent stares. It's to the point where I would dare any creationist to go and visit these buggers and then look me in the eyes and tell me that evolution is a steaming load of crap. You see where we come from when you look at these guys.       Bonobos happen to be some of nature's biggest perverts. They solve disputes through stimulation and sex acts instead of fighting, so they're always mighty friendly with each other. They thing nothing about giving each other a little "rub" here and there to make sure that things are good. They don't really care with which gender they give the rubbing. They also don't think twice about sitting under each other while one pees and they can have a drink. They're just out and out nasty. Oh yeah, the groups are also matriarchal, which means that the ladies are in charge.       Unfortunately it was the peak of the day and quite hot out, so the monkeys were a bit lazy. When they're more active, they'll think nothing about stealing your water bottle, heading over to a stream and filling it up. They also love to steal cameras and destroy them if you get too close to the fence. And as they stare out at you from behind that fence, you also feel as if we're the ones on show for them. Again, I can't get over how they look at you.       For those even more curious I managed to put up a bonobo gallery to show our little stroll through the land of these monkeys.