Getting my Djembe Drum

My parents can tell you I've always been a drummer. If I'm bored in a car, you'll hear me tapping along to a beat, and I've also been known to break a fish tank because I hit it with drum sticks....

Anyways, so since I was about 14 years old, I've wanted to get a hand drum called a djembe. It comes in various sizes, but is about 2 feet tall, and you play it like a conga, but instead it goes between your knees. So since I'm in Kenya, I figured what better place to buy a drum than in Africa?? Easier said than done.

I first tried to get a djembe about 5-6 weeks ago when I went to my first market. While I thoroughly enjoy bargaining, getting this drum has been a serious process. My first attempt to get a drum from the market started out with guys trying to sell me a drum from 12,000 shillings to, my personal favorite, 40,000. I talked some guys down to about 8,000, but I was not satisfied.

So, I went back...repeatedly. I talked to one guy who sold drums three different times, and another five! The guy I talked to five different times was a serious project, but after over a month of bargaining and me paying a bit more than I initially wanted, I finally got my djembe last Sunday!

When I first started talking to this guy, he started at about 14,000 shillings. I went to his station on Saturday and got him down to 5,500, but I knew I shouldn't pay that much. One of the girls in my program, Kiersten, also wanted to buy a drum before she left. So on Sunday, we went to the same market at a different location, we talked to him and the lowest he could go was 10,000 for two. So at this point we're both frustrated and walk away.

As I was leaving the market in the parking lot, the guy came and found me! He said he was giving us a deal, and I told him we were giving him an outrageously good deal at two for 7,000. So he offered 9,000, I said no, then he went to 8,000, he said no, and then he went to 7,000. At this point he was going down quickly, so I tried to see if I could go lower, which I couldn't.

I told him that we still didn't really want to pay that much, so I told him no. But then, after calling Kiersten, we decided we could settle at that price. SO, after over a month of bargaining and a bit of settling for me, I FINALLY GOT MY DRUM! Now I have to get it home....