The central market of Abeche is one of the most compelling in eastern Chad. It operates as a genuine frontier market, drawing traders from the desert fringes: Zaghawa camel herders leading strings of animals through the crowd, Arab merchants with piles of dried goods and fabric, and nomads from as far as Sudan selling livestock and leather. The market has a spontaneous, unscripted energy that the more touristic markets in N'Djamena lack.
Goods on offer include livestock, grain, spices, dried fish (transported improbably from Lake Chad), plastic goods from Sudan, tea sets, and an assortment of hardware that seems to have arrived via every trade route in the Sahara. Livestock trading is heaviest in the early morning. Come as early as you can; activity winds down significantly by midday in the heat, and the market has largely dispersed by early afternoon.