What are your favorite souvenirs from Africa?
 

It's finally going to happen.... By the end of this week I'll be in Kenya!!!!!

I always like to bring something back from the places I visit. My last (and only so far) trip to Kenya (1988) I brought back a few things, but the ones I like most are: a ceramic cheetah, a wooden carving of a Maasai woman (which I bought for $20USD and a pair of high top tennis shoes) and a gourd with black ink etchings of various safari animals.

I had hoped to find special momentos in some of the more remote places that I had visited. The cheetah was bought in one of the camps (can't remember which one now), but actually ended up purchasing the other two items in a Nairobi marketplace.

Now, I realize certain items mean different things to different people and beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but would love to hear what treasures others have found, where you found them and what is the personal significance of those special items?

We bought what we hope is an authentic Maasai shield and two spears. It still smells of smoke which encourages us to believe it's real. We also bought a small carved Maasai medicine chest. I won't mention the large wooden elephant head...

They probably knock these things off by the thousands, but I love the wooden salad servers I got from a market vendor in Botswana. They are carved in the likeness of a giraffe and elephant. I use them all the time as I am constantly reminded of the wonderful time we spent in Africa.

I also have small wooden carvings of various animals that I decorate the dining room table with when I have company. The centerpiece is a candle I got in one of the shops in the airport and I surround it with the animals. It makes an interesting and pretty table setting.

I have two masks that I bought in Botswana but they were actually made in Ivory Coast. They also smell smoky, like the camp often did at night, and when I get near them it always reminds me of the trip.

I love my carved wooden rhino which I bought in the Masai Mara in 2004. And a number of lovely jewellery items from Tanzania and Kenya in 2008, including a lovely necklace with three large beads of polished brown cow horn. And salad spoon and fork that I don't use but are lovely, made of wood with beaded decoration.

I like the soapstone sculptures of various animals and abstract figures, mostly made in Zimbabwe I think. They are inexpensive, and if you pick carefully, some have great expressions. They are fairly fragile, they scratch easily, but I still have them scattered around. I bought a bunch of small ones for about $1 apiece that I use as place settings for Africa theme dinners. In Botswana, we bought baskets at some camps that the ladies make. Sometimes they will make one for you during your stay.

Oooh yes I got a whole bag of tiny sandstone hippos for $1 each! Love those!

I love that you used your tennis shoes as currency!

I'm sorry I didn't buy more of the Masai beaded stuff - We couldn't get anything large, of course, because we were carrying on, but I bought two bridal necklaces for about $25 each, as well as a wide beaded leather cuff. Will try to post photos in my trip report.

I also got some kangas - bright sarongs with Swahili proverbs - for $5 each. I think I'm going to use them for wall hangings in an outdoor room, but they would also work as pillows or table runners.

Interesting responses! Thanks everyone for sharing.

I realize it's the memories of the trip that are the best things to bring home, but I love hearing about everyone's treasures. Sounds like it's also stirred some of those memories....

How about this question---was there anything you thought about buying, but didn't and now wish you had?

Ok, I leave tomorrow --will hang in San Diego for a day then Thursday it's off to Africa!

Looking forward to more responses before I go...

Marija - the Masai medicine chest sounds really cool.

Elizabeth,
Have a wonderful, safe journey. Can't wait to see your photos. (I promise mine will be up by the time you return.)

Several years ago we began a car trip that began in Milan and would take us, 3 weeks later, through other parts of Italy, Switzerland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

On the 2nd day in Milan I saw a beautiful set of 12 plates - 1 for each month that would have looked great on the wall of my newly decorated kitchen. We decided not to get them because we would have had to schlep them around for the next 3 weeks. Big mistake! Not only did I never see them again, I often think about them as I look around my kitchen, decorated with many items from our travels.

However - it taught me a lesson - buy what you want when you see it - you may never see it again and may regret not buying it at all.

Foremost: Great MEMORIES - while we hope not to get Alzheimer too quickly ;-)

- kikois from East Africa
- Massai Neckless
- Ostrich egg shells from SA
- an Ostrich feather thing for cleaning the cam bought at Elsa's
- Diana Carmichael items - foremost cutlery) http://www.google.de/images?hl=de&q=...ed=0CDkQsAQwAw
- a leopard painting made to order based on one of our photographs
- flip flops East Africa
- any beadwork East Africa

((@))

- I forgot to mention all those great straw baskets

Elizabeth,
What a great topic! I regret that I may have stumbled upon this thread too late, but perhaps you're still in SD or at some stopover with internet access.
My favorite souvenir from our TZ safari is a map of Serengeti NP. While staying at the Serena Lodge in Serengeti, I impulsively picked up one of those beautifully illustrated Tombazzi maps of the park. I had no particular plan for it at the time. But on our second to last day on safari, I asked our guide, Joseph, to help us mark on the map, the locations of particularly memorable sightings. We numbered them and scribbled out a legend along the side. I was surprised and thrilled to receive it mounted and framed, as a Christmas gift that year. I love looking at it and recalling our trip. Guests always ask about it and we can relive our trip as we describe our journey through the park.
Safari njema!

I wish I had bought more jewelry. And I make a salad almost every single day, so those ubiquitous salad tongs are a favorite of mine.

On a Tanzania trip I got my niece a poster called "Wanyama ya Serengeti" (Animals of the Serengeti). It's in English and Swahili and it hangs on the wall over her bed.

Safari njema, Elizabeth!

I like to find a locally carved human figurine in each country. The faces remind me of the people I met while in Africa.