Cruise Port 3 – Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

by Ed · Published April 25, 2023 · Updated October 8, 2023

Jambo!

Today, April 17th, 2023, we make our first official landing on the continent of Africa! Woo hoo!

As we approach the port we are “racing” this fishing boat. The colors are fun and the crew is busy getting ready for the fish market they are late to attend! There is lots of yelling that I can clearly hear but don’t have a chance to understand until I learn Swahili.

Trimaran dhows make their way out to sea. It is difficult to see but they have double outriggers, giving them three “hulls” to sail on, hence tri-maran. These are private boats and they are hunting for the day’s meals.

The morning sun shines on the tall buildings of Dar es Salaam as more dhows try to catch the wind and head out to sea!

We approach the crowded fish market as we close in on the harbor. The noise is loud and there is much laughter, so this is a fun event for many!

As we enter the harbor the noisy market slips behind us and all is relatively quiet again. This beautiful church comes in to view on the waterfront! This is the St. Joseph Cathedral of Dar es Salaam.

Then we are at our berth! Two dance troops are here with different dance moves, and the troop on the left also has two simians participating, one dressed as a gorilla and the other a large chimpanzee. The rhythms are fast and non-stop! This is a nice welcome!

We meet our private car out front for me, Joy, and Steve Selka. I help Arnold, the driver and tour guide, put Steve’s collapsing wheelchair in the back of the vehicle. We take a moment and discuss what we want to see and what he normally shows his clients. We agree on the plan and head out for a modified city highlights tour!

We finally make our first landing on the African Continent!

After an incredibly bumpy departure – the port has a lousy, potholed, unpaved path for the buses and cars to navigate in and out of the port! – we make it to the street. After a few turns Arnold points out the City Clock. It is at the center of Dar es Salaam and is the point from which all distances in town are measured! This reminds me of the central marker in Istanbul that distances to all building and sites are measured.

We pass by the Uhuru Torch Memorial. The original torch was supposedly lit at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, brought here for a ceremony, then returned to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. The torch represents hope, love and respect, and an Uhuru Torch Race is run every year!

Roundabouts have different art depicted in this metal form. Here we see a crocodile, rhino, and giraffes heading to an acacia tree. Elsewhere there were fish, marlin, and sailboats, and in the square of the National Museum we saw a tyrannosaurus rex!

Arnold brings us to this, the Azania Front Cathedral. It was built in the late 1800s by German missionaries, making it the oldest church here. It is undergoing renovation so we can’t go in.

We see the very first Post Office of Tanzania!

The original mailboxes still reside out front. The letters are divided into the foreign destinations, the inland destinations, and the letters that stay locally in Dar es Salaam (DSM).

This hotel, now the Four Seasons, was a German office building.

The Askari Monument depicts an Askari soldier with his bayonet pointed toward the bay. The Askari fought beside the British against the Germans in World War I. It is rumored the statue was originally facing the other direction when the Germans approached by land, but when they could come by sea in later wars it was turned around to face the bay.

I love the mural this bank painted on the side of its building!

This strangely-shaped building is another bank. This one says “Sasa, unaweza kupata huduma halai za kebenki nchi nzima” or “Now, you can access banking services nationwide”. Now you can speak a little Swahili!

We come upon these two gentlemen taking their coconut harvest to market. Arnold tells us these coconuts are young – not good for flesh but good for milk.

I realize this lady is carrying artichokes!

And this woman comes by with soursop fruit. She stopped at our car wanting to sell us some.

We arrive at the Tinga Tinga Art Co-Op. It comes highly recommended, and we see two tour buses from the ship are here, too! Tingatinga was an artist who became famous for his satirical figures and humorous animals with wide “dreamy” eyes! He began the Co-op to help others develop their skills and make a living. He has since passed, but the artists inside all have a version of his wide-eyed critters in their portfolios!

Joy decided she likes the paintings of a bunch of Masai warriors standing side by side with spear and long shields. We find one we both like and the haggling begins! Joy and the artist come to an agreement and while I’m paying, Joy is helping the man remove the staples to take the painting off the wood frame. He rolled it with newsprint and taped it up for us!

We begin winding back to the ship, and drive through Coco Beach! We tell Arnold we have our own Cocoa Beach, but it is spelled differently. The Coco Beach here is a popular site with the poor locals. They swim in the waters even though the beach is closed due to sewage runoff they haven’t corrected here yet. But there were dozens of kids in the water!

Finally we approach and cross the newest bridge in Dar es Salaam. This is the Nyerere Bridge, also known as the Tanzanite Bridge! It has a large tanzanite stone set at the top of the center tower to remind everyone where the gemstone comes from – Tanzania!

Back at port we marvel at the tall business buildings nearby. They weren’t nearly as interesting in this morning’s dreary light, but the sun is out now! The building closest to us looks like a theme park ride! It is the Port Authority’s office building.

We enjoyed our day with Arnold! He is very kind and knowledgeable, and treated Steve with great respect. He even had the police allow him to go through a barrier so he could get to a place where Steve’s wheelchair would work!

The tents are still up but there are no dancers for our departure.

As we head out the bay the fishing boats begin their journey to catch fish overnight for tomorrow morning’s fish market! We are still amazed at how many people they put on a boat!

The boats begin to file out of the bay, some racing to get out ahead of us!

On the outside of the bay another beach comes in to view that has a lot of smaller boats. Most of the boats on the beach are in various states of repair. But there are a lot of boats in the water! These may be the day-sail fishermen and they’re done for the day since they aren’t loading lots of people onto the boats.