Antananarivo - Post Report Question and Answers
Is this a "shopping post"? Are there interesting handicrafts, artwork, antiques, or other items that people typically buy there?
There are a lot of gems and minerals and people to make them into jewelry. Wood art and crafts. Also fabric and having clothes handmade. There is also a lot of cheap Chinese crap. - Apr 2025
Yes - people buy a ton of souvenirs/gifts here. Gems and handmade jewelry; stones, fossils, and petrified wood; cashmere; baskets and raffia items; wood carvings and furniture; etc. - Mar 2017
Some interesting craft items for sure. - Jun 2016
Cashmere (sourced in Mongolia, knitted by locals), dinosaur bones/fossils, petrified wood, gemstones, various carved wood items. - Oct 2015
There are beautiful local woven cloths called lambas that look great framed. Local silver bracelets are also very striking. There are lots of local gemstones of high quality, although not especially cheap unless you know the going prices and can assess quality and bargain hard (the pink sapphires are outstanding). Much of the art sold in artisan markets is mass produced but art galleries like Roses et Baobabs have one of a kind pieces of top quality (paintings, sculptures, drawings etc). Local musical instruments are available and fun to learn. - Mar 2015
There are tons of cool things to buy here - Raffia baskets, wood crafts, embroidered goods, stones. - Apr 2013
Vanilla, scarves, wood carvings, gems/jewelry, rocks, petrified wood, etc. - Apr 2010
Curios, gemstones, Wooden (but then you are probably supporting deforestation!), Rafia products like baskets, etc. - Dec 2008
