The whole shopping process - from locating quality places, bargaining, and making payment to packing and shipping - is an enlightening cultural experience. Like most of Mali, you'll never be bored with the visual feast.

You'll go to many fascinating places, meet talented artisans, encounter interesting people, and discover some unexpected treasures. You'll shop in traditional markets and street shops as well as occasionally wander into the bedrooms of entrepreneurs who keep the good stuff behind or under their beds.

In fact, shopping may well become the highlight of visiting Mali - it's often lively, colorful, and great fun!

Many shopkeepers also function as money changers, money lenders, and tour guides. Others may operate a coffee shop or restaurant or rent a few rooms.

Knowing this, you may want to ask the shopkeepers, "What other businesses are you involved with?" You may be surprised by the answer! Indeed, the local jeweler in a tiny shop may reveal that he can provide you with extensive tour services as well as give you an excellent exchange rate on your money or rent you a room.

Despite what you see on display in a shop or stall, many shopkeepers are very accommodating - they will sell you anything they can get their hands on through their network of relatives and friends!

Indeed, one of the great shopping challenges in Mali is to shake off the many pestering hustlers, touts, and would-be entrepreneurs in the cities, towns, villages, and even desert Tuareg camps who constantly refer to you as "my friend" as they try to get you to buy something from them.

Few of these people will take "no" for an answer. While they may irritate you to no end, don't try to fight this recurring annoyance - accept it as part of the tourist shopping game in Mali by being friendly and moving on with a positive attitude.

If you're in a vehicle surrounded by people banging on your windows and trying to sell you things, just ignore them by avoiding eye contact. However cute and ostensibly friendly, children constantly ask for money, pens for school, or anything you can part with.

It's all summed up in the frequently heard word "cadu" - "give me something." Always keep in mind that many of these pestering people have little to do and are living on less than US$1 a day; you're probably the only promising game in town, at least for the moment!

In fact, the stuff you see along the streets and roads and what is presented to you while walking is usually of questionable quality, including many counterfeit goods. Many of the arts and crafts, including so-called antiques, are made yesterday and weathered for the tourist market.

It's amazing what being buried in the ground for a few days or weeks can do to a recently made Dogon mask! Look for the "good stuff" by starting with several of our recommended shopping places and ask about possible shopping sources.

You may quickly discover quality products are found in the homes of artisans and craftspeople rather than on display in markets and street shops. Only by asking questions will you be able to uncover such shopping sources.

Many shops offer the same types of inexpensive handicrafts and souvenirs. However, some shop owners also have a special bag or box in their shop, or they may take you to their home, or to a shop or home of a friend or relative, which is filled with quality items, especially old jewelry, antiques, and collectibles.

You may need to indicate that you're really looking for some quality items. If they don't have a special bag, they may take you somewhere that has what you are looking for. In fact, many hospitable vendors will abandon their shop or stall to take you where they think you want to go.

The shopping rule here is simple:

Never assume that what you see displayed in a shop or stall really represents the total picture of what is available. You need to communicate your interests if you want to find quality items.

For example, we were in a shop that had nice quality items, but nothing we were interested in buying. There was one pendant that appeared to be an old piece. Indeed, it was antique.

Once the owner noted our interest in the old pendant, he pulled out a bag with several more old pieces - each carefully wrapped. We ended up buying three different pieces from this shop. We can't help but wonder if that one piece is kept out purposefully to test customers' interest!

If that collection doesn't grab your interest, you may be taken to yet another location, which may be the living room or bedroom where the really good stuff is kept for special visitors.

If you want to meet contemporary artists, you are well advised to hang out at the Bla Bla Bar in the Hippodrome section of Bamako as well as contact the French Cultural Center (CCF - Centre Culturel Français de Bamako), National Museum, San Toro Restaurant, and the Conservatoire de Arts et Métiers et Multimedia. These are important centers for Mali's small and relatively unorganized artist community.

Avoid wearing much jewelry in these places, be sure to secure your handbag and wallet, be alert to your surroundings, ignore strangers who approach you for assistance, and keep your cool by just moving on. Better still, approach these places with a professional guide who can help you navigate such places with relative ease and shield you from many annoying encounters.

Others operate from small makeshift stalls or cluttered shops with poor lighting (here's where your flashlight comes in handy). You may need to spend some time digging through the clutter to find anything of interest.

If you're looking for particular shops, you'll need to ask for directions, which will often be near some major landmark, such as a hotel, restaurant, or mosque. Expect to encounter difficulties with directions and ask several people how to find places.

If you have a telephone number and cell phone, call the place and ask for directions. In some cases, someone may come to meet you at a central point and then lead you to their place. If you're using taxis, ask your hotel to write out directions or brief the taxi driver as to your destination.

If you have difficulty communicating about prices, pull your calculator and request pricing information as well as use it for bargaining. Don't be surprised if a merchant takes out his cell phone and uses it as a calculator for negotiating prices.

You'll have difficulty moving on to other things as a seller focuses laser-like to get you to buy his products. If you walk by the shop or stall the next day, he'll remember you, the item, and the price he quoted.

And he'll probably start up again trying to get you to make a purchase by simply wearing you down to the point where you'll buy anything just to get rid of the annoying vendor!

If you want to help people, give to charities rather than reward and encourage greedy sellers by paying highly inflated prices.