The East African country of Tanzania is the place with the most gems in the world, where natural gems are everywhere like pebbles. Many precious gemstones are produced in Tanzania in large quantities, such as the changing colors of sapphire and garnet, the charming chrome tourmaline, and the world-famous tanzanite. Attractive gems have attracted countless foreign businessmen and tourists, and people have gathered in Arusha City (located on the south side of Mount Meru), the important gem trading town in the north-central part of the country. Although Mount Meru is not the highest, it is Sister volcano of Africa’s highest peak Kilimanjaro, Kilimanjaro is 60 miles east of her) to buy gems.
Sitting in the shop of the gem dealer in Arusha City, watching the local gem miners and merchants take out all the natural and cut gems is a delight to watch. There are no less than 100 official gem shops registered in the small town, selling colorful gemstones. Here, naughty children smashed the stone on the windshield of the car, which may also be a gem that can be sold for money, and African women in full dress guarding about 20 kilograms of natural tanzanite waiting to be sold are everywhere. What’s more, some old people also show off their bright polished garnets and sell them loudly along the street. The small town of Arusha in East Africa is indeed full of gems.
In Arusha, small traders tucked small packets of gemstones carefully into their headscarves, tucked them into shirts or tucked them into their trousers, while others brought several kilograms of opals from 300 miles away and sat screeching. Diesel cars brought to town. The city is full of businessmen, janitors, bartenders, taxi drivers, waiters, and of course a multitude of non-professionals, always trying to sell gems for a few bucks.
Legally speaking, gemstone sellers must be registered gemstone dealers. It is very risky to buy gemstones on the street without the presence of a regular dealer. Foreigners who carry gemstones without legal proof may be arrested or confiscated. There is an arbiter between buying and selling. An intermediary can not only help the buyer negotiate, but also ensure the honesty of the seller and not cover up the flaws in the gemstone. Gem dealers don’t want to sell all their gems at a high price, they just value similar prices from previous buyers. In fact, a wise businessman can figure out the habitual dispositions of buyers and sell gems appropriately. And foreign buyers usually package the acquired gemstones and bring them to Europe, America or Asia to sell.
Patience is paramount when buying gemstones in Arusha as there are tons of gemstones on sale and prices fluctuate. Travelers should stay in a small town for a while, take time to appreciate the scenery, and buy into the sweet gems after the comparison. What tourists need to know is that on top of the agreed price, the gem dealer will also add 2% to the price, which is the packaging fee and the government department’s sealing fee. This kind of sealing fee must not be saved, otherwise when you take the gem out of the country, it will be confiscated at the airport.
On a trip, I was sitting with a friend in the office of a gem dealer when I saw a Tanzanian mine owner walk in with the goods in his hand. The bouncing gems glowed red and orange as he poured them down on the merchant’s table to show us. On our return, we brought back more than 20 gems. When he showed it to someone who knew gems, he was stunned by the sunstone, which actually had multicolored flowers like crystal candies.
Sunstones in East Africa range from light green to colorless, with flakes of snowflakes inside, and transparent flakes of orange, gold, or orange-red. When the stone is spun, it appears to be covered with stars, and the finished gems often weigh between 20 and 120 carats. Top quality gemstones are rare, mainly due to cracking and impurity, making many gemstones unsuitable for faceted gemstones, or even difficult to grind into round gemstones in their natural shape. Low-quality gemstones can only be used as accessories such as beads. For better gemstones, it is also very difficult to polish the facet cracks and need to be sealed with wax.
Now, a new type of gemstone mine has appeared in East Africa. The locals call it “Masa feldspar”, which was discovered by a young indigenous Masa tribe in 2000. The basic color of the stone is reddish-orange, and the bright color is like the red dress of the Masa tribe girl, so the gemstone produced is named “Masa gem”. Now, there are two Sunstone mining areas, 7 miles apart. It was in a grand canyon with thick layers of soft biotite schist covered with hard granular quartzite. Beneath it are the various lengths of white prism and pink feldspar, and those massa feldspars lie in the schist.
We also went to the Maasai mining farm, where 50 miners lived in wooden grass and mud huts, surrounded by livestock pens and surrounded by thorny plants, 15 feet high to prevent lions from sneaking in. camp.
Follow the 2-mile road through the woods, which crawls through dry forests, rushing streams, and long rocky cliffs, to the mining area. Two giraffes watched us vigilantly on the road, guarding us like guards. In the miners’ abandoned sheds there are dried snakeskins, dug pits, and lots of sparkling broken gems. The 5-acre site was dug upside down, and tons of rock flakes were littered.
The next morning, we drove to the second pit. Outside a small village, we parked there and walked 3 miles up the mountain to the mines. A young Maasai man escorted us as we were on the lookout for a lion attack. It is said that African lions avoid the Maasai people, but what puzzles me is that the weapon in the young man’s hand is just a stick. We got to the second mining village, which was even smaller.
When we got to the pit, which was 50 acres in size, we met a young miner who spent the night in a nearby mining village. He showed us the mines he had dug and proudly displayed a large bag of sunstones, which we bought after haggling.
Walking back down the same path, I saw tons of obsidian pieces thrown away. These are also very valuable outside of Africa, and now they are all thrown away, I am really moved. I was daydreaming when I was suddenly pulled back into the harsh reality, and the guards pointed to fresh lion footprints, telling us to be careful, because they had just passed by. We crept silently down the path back to the car and got into the car. Looking at the dark bushes by the side of the road, I really don’t want uninvited guests there.
Coming back from Africa, I brought back so many gems that I couldn’t wait to drop all my work and cut the most beautiful gems in the world in the face of the shimmering brilliance.
