Connecting African Culture Through the Seas
The Amazing Journey of Bill Pinkney Imagine leaving your life and the familiar touch of soil beneath your feet to sail across treacherous seas around the globe with only a …
Dar es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania, has everything that demarcates it as the center for commerce and trade — a large port, towering buildings in varying degrees of modernization and decay. And then there is the world-famous traffic, which has caught out many an unsuspecting traveller in two-hour long jams while getting to their destination.
Though Dar es Salaam is often bypassed by many tourists and used simply as a stopover on the way to the beaches of Zanzibar or the safari parks of Tanzania’s interior, this is really such a pity; Dar is more than just a place to lay your head for a night. Though it’s not renowned for cultural or historical monuments, it is a cosmopolitan metropolis where you can get lost in the buzzing street scenes, dance until dawn, or dine in cliffside restaurants, homely local joints, or sleek modern eateries, all distinctly East African in flavor and style.
Though it’s draped around the calm, breezy shores of the Indian Ocean, this paradoxical city is a gargantuan, frenetic mass of 3.5 million people. It’s divided into three areas which reflect its many faces. The downtown area, known simply as “town,” boasts business hotels and glittery skyscrapers alongside antique Art Deco buildings; you’ll also find Kariakoo Market, the clock tower, the National Museum, and the Botanical Gardens here. Kinondonu, in the north is a more expensive suburban area that’s home to embassies, newer restaurants, expat shopping and boutique hotels; and Temeke, in the south, is more rural, closer to the beaches, and has far less infrastructure. Around the edges of the city are plenty of quiet escapes for those who get overwhelmed, from the beachfront at Oyster Bay, to the Pugu Hills Nature Reserve, to the shimmering waters of Bongoyo Marine Reserve.
Safety: Most neighborhoods outside of the main city center are safe and you can happily walk around day or night. The exceptions are areas around the port and karioku, which are sketchy.
The Amazing Journey of Bill Pinkney Imagine leaving your life and the familiar touch of soil beneath your feet to sail across treacherous seas around the globe with only a …
Tanzania’s largest city is many things: a major business center for east Africa; an international airline hub; and a transit point for travelers heading to safaris in the interior of …