.png)
Remote travels, mzungu vs. locals, stereotypes, getting ripped off, from transportation to markets and restaurants, getting change, competition and help
The first few days in Tanzania we travelled quite remotely and were basically the only foreigners around for a good 5 days. Locals were very happy to see us and if we brought them some business, they were delighted. We never got overcharged for anything.
With that being said, it often does happen that as a mzungu (aka. foreigner) you are charged way more than a local. 💸
Unfortunately there is a stereotype around that when you're white, you have money. While I do agree that most of the time we foreigners do have more compared to Tanzanian folks, it is all a matter of perspective. Life generally is also more expensive in (most) western countries compared to Tanzania which balances out the difference. ⚖️
So with that in mind, there was a good chance we'd get ripped off a lot. In retrospect, this actually only happened whenever we would be in bigger towns or cities. Or places known to tourists.
Whether it was for transportation (more on that in a different post) or food, we needed to always deal. Of course there are also a lot of markets and dealing is normal there, even for locals. Although there again, they automatically set the first price higher for mzungu's as compared to locals. Sometimes it wasn't easy to estimate what something would normally cost so we would compare it with other stands. This also helped to get a general picture on prices and to get "the hang of it". 🙂
The only exception were food markets. Veggies, fruits, open spices and grains are available in different quantities or sizes but have their fixed prices.
The same goes for local restaurants. Whenever we ate out at a local place we would be treated as a local, therefore also paying as a local. But saying that, I really mean local! Whether it was street food, some back room of a stand or a restaurant only locals went to. There are restaurants who serve local food and they have a menu for tourists with higher prices than what locals pay in the same restaurant. However, I observed this only on Zanzibar.
We found that it's best and easiest to always have small change with us so we could pay directly the amount asked. Generally it's okay to have bigger notes although we noticed that often times they don't have smaller change and need to ask around to get it.
This however is beautiful to observe because they all help each other. If everyone sells the same thing they of course each try to convince you to buy with them – It's a competition. But when it comes to helping out with change, they don't hesitate to help out one another.
Those are definitely different customs than what I'm used to in Switzerland. 😉
Sabbu ❤️
Comentários