"Me, Dar and the Indian Ocean" Top 5 Page for this destination Dar es Salaam by Penelope4

Naa, that is just a silly slogan that came to my mind right now. You won't find tips on Nightlife on my page, sorry. Why? Well because I stayed in a nice hotel in Dar which has an excellent view of the Indian Ocean and I did not wish to go out at night just to have a drink. One has to go to the Mediterraneo Hotel and Restaurant, sit at the lounge, listen to the cool sound, and enjoy the fresh air and fantastic view while sipping a favourite drink. Well, they may not have all the drinks in the world but the service provided by the F&B attendants is excellent and you'll like the feeling.

Er...I got carried away there! I meant to write something about Dar in general... Sorry folks.

I was still in my PJ when I took this photo

I read and I was told that Dar es Salaam means "House of Peace" in Arabic. Perhaps sometime ago, those who bestowed the name found it appropriate to name the city so. Lo - even before I visited the city - I read a couple of warnings that crimes take place during broad daylight and it is not safe to roam around after dark! The population of the city in 2010 is 2.2 million (consists of tribal groups). The largest city of Tanzania, it is the major port, major industrial and transportation centre of the country.

If you go to the city for the first time, you will observe three things:

1) there's heavy traffic
2) The Tanzanians are in no hurry (especially the drivers)
3) it's practically the capital of Tanzania because the main government offices and diplomatic missions are here.

Fishermen on their way to do their job

Acquaintances told me "But there's nothing to see in Dar!". Well, I still went not to prove them wrong but because of two reasons:

1) there was no direct EK flight from Dubai to Arusha (I know - a too shallow a reason but I was in no hurry to go on safari).

2) no matter how terrible the place is, one can always find something new or interesting about that place. Somehow I knew that it couldn't be that bad in Dar.

And what did I learn?

1) interesting arrival at the airport
2) curious standards of living like in any other developing country
3) colourful clothings of the people (say much about their personalities)
4) a cuisine different from what I have tried before
5) friendliness of ordinary people
6) that it is still far from being a peaceful city.
7) Tanzanian music is soooooo nice!
8) Swahili is the local language. English is spoken. They have more than a hundred dialects in Tanzania!

• Pros:Kind people....
• Cons:Traffic in the city....Everything seems to move soooo slow.
• In a nutshell:I found my peace in Dar.