Shopping for Shoes in Dodoma

Esther has been needing new shoes for a few weeks...

Buying shoes in Dodoma can be a real challenge- especially kids' shoes. There is really only one place to look for shoes: at the second hand clothes market of Saba Saba. The idea of taking 3 small children through the long, dusty alleys, pushing through the crowds and having my children being pointed at, called to in Swahili and having people stroking their hair and skin did not make me look forward to a shoe-shopping trip. I also dreaded the attention created by Joel's pram, which never ceases to amaze many Tanzanians, who do not seem to be able to get over the fact that I do not carry my baby on my back.
Our trip to the Saba Saba market was further delayed by the fact that Esther needed to wear her shoes for school each day. She only gets home in the afternoon, when the heat is at its most uncomfortable. Going out on a shoe-shop trip in the heat just did not appeal! So I had been putting the trip off for rather a long time...

However, last week, Esther and Ben were on their half-term holiday and the shoe situation was getting a bit desperate. The time for the Shoe Quest had arrived! Very early one morning, before the heat and before the crowds, we set off to Saba Saba market...

I am pleased to report that we had an amazingly successful trip on our Quest for New Shoes!
We went directly to the market stall that sells shoes, as recommended by my neighbour. I had never seen this stall before, but was pleasantly surprised to see lots of brand new shoes for sale, alongside the usual second-hand shoes. The stall holder was most helpful, telling me that the new shoes had been driven down from Nairobi. There were several pairs of sandals in Esther's size. It did not take long to select the ones Esther liked and felt comfortable in, at a price which did not require too much bargaining.
The seller was happy for me to get a snap of his shoe stall, with all the new shoes dangling on strings far above the dusty ground and the second-hand shoes piled high on the table behind Esther:

 We were home before the sun got too hot, very pleased with our unexpectedly successful trip. And here are Esther's new sandals!