Marché Sandaga

Commenting on the market including all the surroundings roads and buildings. Every road is for a particular product, for example Rue Abdou Karim Bourgi is for curtains, whereby you can get different types of curtains which can be stiched at your required length and height, and delivered at your place by the next day at latest. So basically you can get absolutely EVERYTHING you can think of there, just you need to know in which road the shops are located. You can google search before arriving there so as to save you time and energy. Also it is recommended to be there around 10am and to leave there by 3pm due to heavy traffic. Parking is almost impossible to find so better go by taxi/Yango etc. For foreigners, if ever you are having difficulty finding a particular product, better enter a shop and ask the employees/shop owners than asking anyone on the road. Because some people will harass you to take you to different shops of their choice and ask you for money. As soon as they approach you better tell them that you don't need them and to leave you alone. Prices are usually not displayed and you will have to bargain for almost everything. So better have an idea about the prices of different things you need so as to have some bargaining powers. The places are usually very crowded and some areas are very dirty.

This is a huge market with many different stalls and stores. I've been to several markets and this one was probably the most difficult to manage. I'm used to people following me and asking questions, but after a while they usually let me be. This time I was followed the entire time by two separate men, despite saying I was just looking and wasn't interested. I had two friends with me and the two men even followed us for a while after we left the areas of the market. It was too frustrating of an experience. I'd still recommend checking it out, perhaps I got unlucky.

Just avoid it, worst market experience we’ve ever had. We were harassed by two guys who insisted to guide us and wouldn’t accept a no for an answer. When we firmly stood up to ask them to leave us alone because we just wanted to have a walk by ourselves, they started shouting at us and forced us to exit the market. Unbelievable. Save yourself the horrible experience, there are so many great places in Dakar to enjoy yourself.

Great for finding fabric and a tailor , for wax fabric you should pay ~1,000/metre (September 2023) and you can buy it in 6 or 12 yards. 6 yards is more than enough for a shirt and shorts combo! The tailor should cost you ~5,000/piece (pending pockets, elastic waist, etc.)

Accessible, cool

If you’re up for a very crowded and big market, this might be your place! I really didn’t like the VERY intrusive sellers, following you for quite a long time.

A market to get anything you want it's so big and colorful

This place is a horrible experience if you are a tourist. From about a kilometer away, people will already start harassing you. They do not understand 'no, thank you'. You will be called all sorts of unkind things in wolof if you get frustrated with them. You cannot stand still for one minute without people tugging at your pocket for your wallet. I came to buy a souvenir but left empty handed, extremely annoyed and disappointed. I am quite used to such markets but this was another level. Will never return to Sandaga and would recommend others to avoid at all costs. If you want a wax fabric, I've read online that marche HLM is a good place, will go there instead!