Arusha is a shopper's dream come true, with handicrafts and gemstones being the most popular items on sale. Things like batiks, Masai jewellery and Tingatinga paintings are also quite the rage among visitors.
This Arusha Shopping Guide gives an indication of the best places to go shopping whilst in the city. Our Tanzania Shopping Guide has further information about the best things to purchase whilst in the country.
Arusha Shopping Guide
You can find some of the most delectable shops located between the clock tower and Ngoliondoi Road, selling beautiful Makonde carvings, Masai bead necklaces, batiks and meerschaum pipes (meerschaum is a rare mineral, whose largest deposit is found in Lake Amboseli in Tanzania). But intense bargaining is essential here; make sure you pay no more than half of the initial price quoted by the shopkeeper.
Apart from the market, safaris offer numerous opportunities to buy mementos. On the way to the safari you'll find two big, well-known souvenir shops - Oldonyo Orok and Cultural Heritage. Cultural Heritage is a little on the expensive side. Most hotels too have souvenir shops.
Tanzanite is a very special gemstone and was discovered in Tanzania as recently as 1967. Considered one of the most beautiful gems to have come from Africa, it is sold in all gemstone shops in Arusha, along with other gems like tourmaline, rhodolite and ruby that are mined locally. Oldonyo Orok and Cultural Heritage are again the two shops where you can be sure of buying genuine Tanzanite.
Digging facts about Tanzanite
Tanzanite was discovered in 1967 at Mererani, which lies around 40 kilometres southeast of Arusha. Even today, Mererani is the only commercially viable source in the world for Tanzanite. The name Tanzanite comes from Tanzania.
