Dar es Salaam

Although the inland town of Dodoma is nominally Tanzania’s capital, it is the thriving city of Dar es Salaam that remains the economic and social heart of the country. Named ‘haven of peace’ by a sultan of Zanzibar, ‘Dar’ these days exudes an air more of hustle, bustle, urban excitement and streetwise charm than of peace. Despite not being a traditional holiday destination for overseas visitors, a visit to Dar is still a must for anyone wanting to get to the hub of Tanzanian culture, experience the best the music scene has to offer, and enjoy interesting museums and art galleries the city has to offer. Dar also has its fair share of excellent cafes and restaurants, and although the beaches to the north and south aren’t of the same standard as those in Zanzibar just across the water, they’re still good places to while away a day or two in the shade of a palm tree.

Much of Dar’s architecture owes its origins to Indian traders who have made the city their home for centuries. Elaborate latticework balconies adorn whitewashed buildings and shopfronts, the domed green roofs of mosques jut above the surrounding scenery, and wooden interleaved doors open to reveal dim shop interiors, the air thick with the scent of spices. The town still has a thriving port, with traditional wooden dhows cruising into harbour alongside giant ocean liners bound for the Middle East or beyond.

Above all else, Dar es Salaam is a melting pot of cultures and a blend of the old and the new. Remnants of the city’s past still exist in the form of historic buildings – the Old Boma, the Hospital, State House and St Joseph’s Cathedral are all fine examples of the city’s mixture of Arabic, Indian and colonial architectural styles. One of Africa’s best museums, the National Museum, sits in a pleasantly cool garden in the heart of the city, and houses important hominid fossils retrieved from the archaeological digs at Olduvai Gorge, as well as Swahili artefacts found in the ancient city of Kilwa. Another of Dar’s attractions is the Village Museum, which displays life-size replicas of the huts used by Tanzania’s various ethnic groups.

Dar es Salaam is without question the best place to pick up examples of Tanzania’s thriving arts and crafts scene at the best prices. Several artists’ collectives in the city offer excellent specimens of Makonde carving, the sinuous ebony sculptures traditional to the Makonde people of Tanzania’s south. These days, for environmental, reasons, ebony is rarely used, and other dark, hard woods are substituted instead. Dar es Salaam’s Nyumba ya Sanaa, or ‘house of the arts’ is a good place to find sculpture, painting, fabrics and other craft objects all under one roof, with many painters on the premises still following the tradition of Edmund Saidi Tinga Tinga, the father of the naïve art form that bears his name.