Perfect Pitch

While we were driving the Garden Route toward Cape Town, we stopped at a beautiful place along the coast called Mosselbaai -- pronounced "Mussel Bay." Right along the dock there were a bunch of local salespeople selling everything from handmade figurines to World Cup gear.

One guy actually owned a large seal and had me place my legs on both sides of it and feed it a fish from behind its back. The seal actually waited for the guy to count before it took the fish from my hands.

-- CLAIRE FUSTER

There were markets in every city we went where a little negotiation could lead to a great deal. While it was listed at 3000 Rand, I ended up paying 500 (about $65) for this hand-carved ebony chess set.

-- BEN SCHWARTZ