Bargaining

In western countries, merchants are expected to have change the moment they open the door for business. It is not generally so in Developing countries of West-Africa. There are not enough small bills to go around. No one ever has change. Even a merchant in his store may well be unable to take a 5000Fcfa bill for a 1000Fcfa item. It's worse in the market, where even a 1000Fcfa or 500Fcfa bill can be hard to break.

So, it pays to be prepared. Get enough small bills before you leave home. There are no credit cards , yet, in villages and small towns.

How to bargain

When you are quoted a starting price that is two or three times the normal price for the item, don't get angry and assume the vendor is trying to rip you off. The first price is usually high. Before the bargaining starts it helps if you know what the item is supposed to cost ask around and what it's worth to you.

Take into account what your time and energy is worth to you. Is it really worth a half hour of arguing to get from 11,000Fcfa to 10,500Fcfa?

Walking away is the surest way to find out if the vendor really can't come down any further. Don't start bargaining unless you're serious about buying the item.

Go shopping with a Pullo and see how it's done. Take it easy. Keep it friendly and fun. It doesn't have to be adversarial.

When not to bargain

You must bargain for some things, but not for everything.

You don't generally bargain for the following:

for anything costing less than 500F less than a US$1.
items already grouped into little piles: most items in a store mayonnaise, sardines, Coca-Cola
cooked food.
Other items that have generally agreed-upon prices rice, salt, sugar, powdered milk, meat, bread, etc.
public transportation such as Bus there are a few exceptions
official prices set by the government.

It is generally appropriate to bargain for tourist items and handicrafts large quantities of anything big, expensive things house wares and someone's services

Bush-taxi travel

No amount of advice here could properly prepare you for the experience of traveling in West-Africa. Here are a few basic pointers: Your options are minibuses minibus, kaar, small cars Berlin and station

wagons familial. The minibuses are cheaper; the taxis are faster and marginally more comfortable.

Most taxi parks have a syndicate of drivers that controls which car leaves first. Unless you want to hire an entire car you can't choose between cars. All vehicles leave only when full (and we do mean full). You also may have goats, sheep or live chicken as fellow passengers. Passengers are generally accommodating and friendly. There are no fixed schedules.

Most vehicles are old and poorly maintained; breakdowns are the rule, not the exception. Expect to stop often to push the car from sandy or muddy road.

The worst roads get the worst taxis. As a rule, fares are fixed. You will, however, need to bargain with the boys at the Car station who handle your bags, on the price for oversized or unusual luggage e.g. bikes. A single reasonable sized bag should cost nothing.

Begging and asking for Money

You will see a large number of beggars in the streets of the big cities. You are also most likely to run into people asking you for money for one reason or another. One can identify three types of groups: the gnaagotoobhethe, the talibe or Almudos, and the poor.

First, there is a cultural aspect that gives right to a category of people such as the gnaagotobhe griots and gnegnbhe to ask for money. They ask money to noble families during weddings, naming ceremonies etc. Then, there are the Almudos. The Almudos are permitted by their school to beg for their subsistence and for that of their school. Islam does allow begging as part of the charity or alms giving that a fellow human being can give to a less fortunate brother.

Finally, there is the poor. Whether handicapped or simply bankrupted by economic hardship, the poor make up the majority of the beggars. As droughts, civil strife and wars multiply in the continent, displaced people flock in large numbers to the cities searching for a better life.

Someone coming from the developed countries should expect to be often asked for money. There is after all the presumption that everyone from a wealthy country is wealthy himself.

Common sense should be the guide in these cases. It is OK to give a tip for a service, or if one feels like it. One should take the fact of being asked for money in stride, and not bring forth the whole theory of political economy, nor engage in a full fledge psychological analysis of cultural gaps. The good counsel is to be prudent in managing one's money in a foreign country and enjoy one's travel.