Exploring Dar es Salaam
About a month ago, I visited Tanzania on business. It was
the first time that I had been to Dar es Salaam and only once I got there did I
realise that Tanzanian restaurants hardly accepted credit cards and when they
did, network issues prevented the payments from going through most of the time.
I was torn between using my own money that I was saving for my mini Zanzibar break and wanting to enjoy what Dar had to offer. Luckily when money became too
much of an issue, I could eat at the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel. Still, I
managed to squeeze in bits of Dar. After all, I’d rather have stories to tell
than save my money for life’s bare necessities.
I was so lucky to be staying in a hotel that was right next
to Slipway. It’s called Slipway because it used to be a boat yard and you can
still book sailing trips that leave from here to the nearby islands or just
around the bay. Given that I didn’t have a car and I needed to save money that
would have been spent on a taxi, I spent quite a few nights here. There’s a
bunch of restaurants right next to Msanani Bay but my favourite was The
Waterfront. If you get there early enough you can sit right at the edge of the
bay and watch the waters gentle caress against the deck. The sunset is amazing
when the skies turn all shades of orange. I didn’t enjoy the hotel food very
much but I simply loved all the dishes I tried here. The portion sizes though
are huge!
There’s a big market at Slipway and the prices are
ridiculous. Maybe I just keep comparing the prices from my Thailand shopping
spree to everywhere else I go to but most items (even fridge magnets) were not
less than R75. I could only afford to buy some bracelets, coffee beans and
fridge magnets. Apart from the pricing though, I felt that most items weren’t
uniquely Tanzanian or African; I saw quite a bit of Thai products – handbags,
placemats, etc. with a huge price mark up. But then again, in the luxurious
Msanani Peninsula (kinda like Tanzania’s Camps Bay equivalent), I shouldn’t be too
surprised that everything would be expensive.
There’s a travel agent at Slipway called Costal Airlines. I
used them to book my Zanzibar trip. So if you want to do some travelling in and
around Tanzania, try them; they are very friendly and super organised.
I worked in Mlimali City so I frequented the Mlimali City
mall for lunch every day. It is one of Dar’s biggest malls and it has a lot of
South Africa’s favourite store brands like Mr Price and Game. The mall itself
is busy but there are tons of restaurants which aren’t crowded if you want to
grab a quiet lunch. But this is Africa and sometimes ordering a hot chocolate
involves DIY.
I also had time to catch a pub quiz at Trinity Bar and
Lounge. It’s in Msanani so it’s mostly frequented by expats and Tanzanian upper
class during the week. Most of Dar es Salaam is not as well developed as
Johannesburg and I do feel like a snob for saying that the Msanani area feels
more like home. Trinity has a relaxing
open air beach bar vibe. They also have very difficult quiz nights if you’re
into that sort of thing. I like to just relax in the ambience...
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