Kwenda dukani (going to the store)

Sunday, 18 March 2007
Shopping in Tanzania is a lot different than shopping in the US. It seems like we spend a lot of time shopping. Perhaps it is because we’ve recently arrived and need to get a lot of things or maybe it’s because we only seem to buy smaller amounts at a time. Either way, I spend a lot of time getting food. And a lot of money too. Food here is either really really cheap or ridiculously expensive. Case in point: passion fruit and cereal. Passion fruit in the United States generally costs at least $1 each—often times it is $1.49 each. I know this because they are Bob’s favorite fruit. Here in Tanzania they cost 80 cents for a kilo! Each kilo has about 20 passion fruit so that’s about 4 cents each. (And just a tidbit for folks who might be visiting—there are many different varieties of passion fruit—some are for eating and some are for making juice. The really yummy ones are dark purple, almost black. The yellow ones are for juice. Those are good too but a little more sour). Anyway, the point is passion fruit are really good and really cheap. Cereal, on the other hand, is not cheap. Not by a long shot. The cost for a box of cereal ranges from 7,000-10,000 Tanzanian Shillings; that is between $6 and $9 a box! And the milk that you pour on it isn’t much cheaper. Most of the milk sold in Tanzania is the long-life UHT milk (like the Parmalat brand in the US). This costs about $1.50/liter or $6/gallon. In all, it makes for an expensive breakfast especially when you’ve got three kids who average 3 gallons of milk a week. Fortunately we are lucky and can get dry goods shipped to us in Tanzania through the diplomatic pouch. It makes a world of a difference (especially if you use CVS.com which has free shippingJ).
Shopping for food in Tanzania is not like the US. They do have “supermarkets” but what qualifies as a supermarket is not even remotely close to a Publix or Kroger. I think supermarkets here are defined by having a shopping cart more than anything else. The nearest supermarket to us is called Shoprite. It is a South African chain, and this particular location has a whopping 4 aisles! It’s about the size of a convienance store—maybe a little smaller. I’m actually not much of a fan of this particular Shoprite as they don’t have a generator so when the power goes out (which is all the time) then the food spoils. Whenever we need food and the power has been off then we make sure we go to Village Market. This is farther way (but still only about 5 minutes drive) but it is a very nice store. Yes, it is also small but it has a generator so all the food stays cold and it also has a little bakery and meat counter. It’s also very clean and bright. A third store near us is Srijees. Srijees is Bob’s favorite store. He likes them because they are cheap and have everything (yes, you probably could get a kitchen sink there).
Oh but here’s the twist—you don’t get your produce at the supermarket. Yes, they do sell produce (a little) but pretty much everyone gets their fruits and vegetables from the nearest fruit stand or seller.

There is one about 10 minutes walk from our house. It is inside a tiny semi-permanent building made out of corrugated sheet metal. Inside it is super cramped. That’s because it is wedged with people and food. They sell all kinds of produce—bananas, mangos, tomatoes, onions, potatoes, lettuce, green peppers, rosemary, pineapples, cucumbers, watermelons, limes, coconuts and of course, passion fruit. Heck, they even sell bok choy and asparagus and last Friday I saw some nice broccoli. A few times a week I will trek down to the fruit stand with my basket. Since we don’t have a car yet and Bob is usually at work I am limited to getting what I can carry (so not many watermelons during the week). In some places you would be expected to bargain but not at this place. The prices are pretty much set and they are reasonable for things that are grown locally. Sometimes on my way home I will stop and buy flowers. I recently got an enormous bouquet of tuber roses, birds of paradise and something else for $3.50. While it is a nuisance to schlep all this stuff home in weather over 90 degrees, I really don’t mind (unless I’m also schlepping a kid and then it’s a total drag). I like the fact that when you walk to the store here everyone will say hi to you. Even though Dar is the capital, it is still very much a small town.
Here's a picture of a recent shopping purchase. The things that look like potatoes are the passion fruit. This cost about $9 in total.