Dar es Salaam

Now the graceful triangular-sailed dhows which have plied these seas for centuries share the harbor with mammoth tankers, as the sleepy village has been transformed into one of East Africa's busiest ports, second only to Kenya's Mombasa. The country's major commercial center, Dar es Salaam has also become its largest city, home to more than 3.5 million inhabitants. Dar es Salaam also serves as the seat of government during the very slow move to Dodoma, which was named the official capital in 1973. The legislature resides in Dodoma, but most government offices are still found in Dar es Salaam.

In the early 1860s, Sultan Seyyid Majid of Zanzibar visited what was then the isolated fishing village of Mzizima, on the Tanzanian coast. Anxious to have a protected port on the mainland, Majid began constructing a palace here in 1865. The city, poised to compete with neighboring ports such as Bagamoyo and Kilwa, suffered a setback after the sultan died in 1870. His successor, his half-brother Seyyid Barghash, had little interest in the city, and its royal buildings fell into ruins. Only the Old Boma, which once housed royal guests, still survives.

The city remained a small port until Germany moved its colonial capital here in 1891 and began constructing roads, administrative offices, and many of the public buildings that remain in use today. The Treaty of Versailles granted Great Britain control of the region in 1916, but that country added comparatively little to the city's infrastructure during its 45-year rule.

Tanzania gained its independence in 1961. During the years that followed, President Julius Nyerere, who focused on issues such as education and health care, allowed the capital city to fall into a decline that lasted into the 1980s. When Benjamin William Mkapa took office in 1985, his market-oriented reforms helped to revitalize the city. The city continues to evolve—those who visited only a few years ago will be startled by the changes.

Dar es Salaam itself continues to grow and prosper with new hotels and restaurants mushrooming almost overnight and is now luring visitors that once might have scurried past on their way to the Serengeti. It doesn't hurt that the city has a bustling waterfront, interesting neighborhoods, and sights like the National Museum, which contains the famous fossil discoveries by Richard and Mary Leakey including the 1.7 million-year-old hominid skull discovered by Mary Leakey in the Olduvai Gorge in 1959.

If You have Time

Travel 70 km (43 mi) north to the historically fascinating town of Bagamoyo where old buildings such as the Catholic Museum in the grounds of the Holy Ghost Mission, and the Old Fort are well worth visiting. At the Old Fort, once an Arab trader's slave prison, you can see the underground tunnel along which slaves were herded to waiting dhows. The damp walls bore witness to the most terrible human suffering. It was in Bagamoyo that Henry Morton Stanley arrived after his three-year journey across Africa.

Getting Here & Around

To find your way around Central Dar es Salaam, use the Askari Monument, at the intersection of Samora Avenue and Azikiwe Street as a compass. Most sights are within walking distance. Four blocks northeast on Samora Avenue you'll find the National Museum and Botanical Gardens; about seven blocks southwest stands the Clock Tower, another a good landmark. One block southeast is Sokoine Drive, which empties into Kivukoni Front as it follows the harbor. Farther along Kivukoni Front becomes Ocean Road.

Along Samora Avenue and Sokoine Drive you'll find banks, pharmacies, grocery stores, and shops selling everything from clothing to curios. Northwest of Samora Avenue, around India Street, Jamhuri Street, and Libya Street, is the busy Swahili neighborhood where merchants sell all kinds of items, including Tanzania's best kangas. Farther west you'll find the large Kariakoo Market.