Dar es Salaam

About Dar es Salaam

Its name means haven of peace, but Dar es Salaam is Tanzania's busiest, fastest-growing city, a port metropolis of several million people on the Indian Ocean. Founded in the 1860s by the Sultan of Zanzibar, it became the capital of German East Africa and later of independent Tanzania, and although the government has moved to Dodoma, Dar remains the country's commercial heart.

The old center by the harbor mixes German-era churches and government buildings with Indian-style shophouses and modern towers. Kariakoo Market overflows with goods from across East Africa, fishermen auction the morning catch at Kivukoni, and the National Museum and the open-air Village Museum tell the story of Tanzania's peoples. Tingatinga painters and Makonde woodcarvers sell art in workshops and markets around town.

North of the center, the Msasani Peninsula has Coco Beach, seafront restaurants and boats to the coral islands of Bongoyo and Mbudya. Many travelers pass through on the way to safari parks or Zanzibar, which is about two hours away by fast ferry, but the city rewards a few days of its own.