The main municipal market is where Malanje does its daily business — stalls of dried fish, palm oil, cassava flour, tomatoes, peppers, bananas, second-hand clothes, plastic everything. It is loud, crowded, and the most useful place in town for a feel of how the city actually runs.
Go early for produce, mid-morning for the social scene. Watch your bag in the busier aisles, ask before photographing people, and bring small kwanza notes — change in big bills is rarely possible.