Dar es Salaam City Tour

Dar es Salaam: the harbour city

Dar es Salaam, the haven of peace in Arabic, began as a small harbour village founded by the Sultan of Zanzibar in the 1860s, became the capital of German East Africa in 1891 and grew under British rule into the commercial capital of Tanzania. Today it is a city of several million people around a deep natural harbour, with a skyline of new towers rising behind a compact old centre of colonial offices, churches and shaded avenues. Most visitors pass through on the way to Zanzibar or the southern parks, and this Dar es Salaam city tour shows what they miss.

The tour starts at 08:00, before the traffic builds, and covers the centre and the Oyster Bay peninsula in a comfortable air-conditioned vehicle with an English-speaking guide. What to do in Dar es Salaam in one day is a common question, and six hours is enough for the museum, the historic centre, the waterfront and the art cooperative, with a stop for shopping.

National Museum and House of Culture

The National Museum, opened in 1940 near the botanical gardens, is the country's main museum and the place to understand Tanzania before you see the parks and the coast. Its best-known exhibits are the hominid fossils and stone tools from Olduvai Gorge and Laetoli in the north, among the oldest evidence of early humans anywhere. Other galleries cover the Swahili coast and its trade with Arabia, Persia and India, the slave and ivory caravans, the German and British colonial periods and the road to independence in 1961.

Allow about an hour and a quarter with your guide, who picks out the key pieces so that the visit never drags. The museum is open daily and the entry ticket is included. Is the National Museum of Dar es Salaam worth visiting? Yes, if you want context: the ethnographic rooms on Tanzania's many peoples, traditional crafts and musical instruments make the rest of your trip easier to read.

Askari Monument and the colonial centre

At the junction of Samora Avenue and Azikiwe Street stands the Askari Monument, a bronze statue of an African soldier unveiled in 1927 to honour the African troops and carriers who died in the First World War in East Africa. It marks the centre of the old colonial town, and from here a short drive takes you past the German-era Lutheran church on the waterfront, built in 1898, the Catholic cathedral of 1902, the old Boma and the former State House, the harbour front with its dhows and container ships, and the busy Kivukoni fish market where the morning catch is auctioned.

Nearby is the ferry terminal for the fast boats to Zanzibar, useful to know if the islands are next on your route. The guide explains how the city grew from this small stretch of shore, and there is time for photographs of the harbour. The streets are lively, so keep valuables in the vehicle and follow the guide's lead.

Tingatinga Arts Cooperative

Tingatinga is the bright, cartoon-like painting style that began in Dar es Salaam in the late 1960s, when a self-taught painter started selling pictures of animals and village life on square boards using bicycle enamel paint. After his death his students formed a cooperative in the Oyster Bay area, where dozens of artists still paint side by side in an open workshop. You watch them work, learn how the style has evolved and can buy directly from the painter, which is the best way to bring back something genuinely Tanzanian.

The entry ticket is included, and the visit takes about forty-five minutes. The cooperative is also a good place for small, light souvenirs. From here the guide can suggest a shopping stop for kanga and kitenge fabrics, Makonde wood carvings or spices, depending on your interests and the time left, before dropping you back at your hotel at about 14:00.