COLORS OF DAR ES SALAAM

At its best, travel should challenge our preconceptions and most cherished views. ~Arthur Frommer

Dar Es Salaam, A coastal city in Tanzania that holds a special place in my heart. It has been my go to place when things get rough and I am happy I got a chance to visit again in January. We took a bus from Nairobi, which is a long journey but the scenery makes up for it.

GETTING THERE

ROAD TRIP! My friend and I took a Dar lux bus from Nairobi- Dar Es Salaam which cost us KSh.3, 500.00 (Tsh.75, 250.00) each. The bus leaves Nairobi very early so I did not see much on the road but I remember catching the sunrise somewhere in Kitengela.

CURRENCY EXCHANGE

We changed our money through a guy who came into the bus just before we got to Namanga. He gave us a rate of 21.5 (Ksh.1=Tsh.21.5).

While on the other side we changed currency through my bank which luckily for me has branches in Tanzania.

IMMIGRATION

If you do not have a Kenyan passport, you need to fill for your temporary pass on ecitizen, take note of all the required documents and present them to the immigration officer at the border. That will cost you Ksh. 350.00. The pass is valid for 1 year and can be used to access any East African country and South Sudan.

You will also need to have your yellow fever card with you. If you don’t, you can get the vaccination at the health facility at the border. The card is valid for 10 years.

Here are a few places you can get vaccinated. (please note the cost varies depending on the facility).

Port health clinics (all Kenya border entry points) Seaports and airports Nairobi city hall Private hospitals (Nairobi hospital, Aga khan, Mater hospital, MP shah among others)

The immigration process was really smooth unlike my experience in 2015. The two governments have since implemented (OSBP) one stop border post where there is a Kenyan immigration officer and their Tanzanian counterparts in the same place to make the process more efficient.

THE REAL JOURNEY BEGINS

We had a chance to purchase local simcards at Namanga but declined. Turns out we should have because roaming charges are ridiculous! For 450 Kenya shillings you get 50 mbs on Airtel! Let us not even talk about safaricom.

I described the scenery on my post road trip. The drive was more beautiful than I remember but sadly I didn’t get to see Mt. Kilimanjaro because of the cloud cover. We stopped briefly in Moshi and again in Korogwe.

Mt. Meru

Korogwe stop over

BEACHES AND MORE BEACHES

Mbezi beach

We spent half the first day resting in the house and the other half chilling in Mbezi beach, a public beach in Kinondoni district. We just sat there and enjoyed the sunset although it was on the opposite side of the ocean. It was not so crowded but there were the occasional beach boys intruding.

Views from Mbezi Beach

Girls just want to have fun

Coco beach

This is a public beach in the Oyster Bay area. It is not the cleanest or safest of beaches but we had such a good time here we went twice. It is a perfect spot to chill while looking at the ocean front sipping some cold pepsi or whatever and speaking maritime. From the beach you can see a queue of ships waiting to be allowed entry into the Tanzanian port. It is even more pretty at night when the lights are on.

I didn’t take any photo here

Mbudya Island

From the moment I decided to take this trip to Dar, I knew that even if I didn’t do anything else, I would have to go to Mbudya Island. This marked the second day of our trip and the highlight of my trip.

We had a few logistics issues that morning but we made it to Mbezi beach by midday. Since there was only two of us we paid Tsh. 30,000.00 (Ksh.1, 935.00) for a return trip on a boat from the beach to the island. The charges vary depending on the size of the group. I have a phobia for open waters so I sat in my corner holding on for dear life the entire boat ride while young bestie was having the time of her life.

Here is a breakdown of all the costs for the island based on our experience.

Boat ride to and from the island Tsh. 10,000.00 (Ksh. 470.00) per person Park entrance fee (it is a marine park) Tsh. 27,400 (Ksh.1, 275.00) per person for East Africans Shed/sitting area: Tsh. 15,000 (Ksh. 700.00) Lunch cost us Tsh. 25,000 (Ksh.1, 165.00). We had fries and fish. Ps you can bring your own food and drinks.

We spent our day chilling in and out of the ocean. Other activities at the island include forest walk, snorkeling and water sports.

Watching the sunset in Mbundya island was pure magic and a dream come true.

The island is beautiful and well taken care of. The photos below will give you an idea of what to expect.

SHOPPING

Kariakor market comes highly recommended but the reviews on trip advisor were not very encouraging…leave your valuables at home they say, if you are a foreigner the price doubles or triples and the thing about Tanzania is you can’t hide the fact that you are a foreigner. Your Swahili betrays you so you will be asked a lot if you are Kenyan or Ugandan.

We settled for mwenge market opposite Mlimani city mall which was close to where we were staying. It is quite pricy but I got some really cool stuff to remind me of Tanzania. My friend Ru taught me the easiest item to buy that will remind you of a place /country is a fridge magnet and so I have a little piece of Tanzania on my fridge.

HOW TO GET AROUND

Dar Es Salaam is a vibrant city. There is both Uber and Bolt to get you around. In most cases we settled for bolt bajaj (tuk tuk). The cab drivers in this city are quite something though…one left us in the middle of a street and we were not sure where we were supposed to go. He didn’t give us a chance to locate our exact destination which turns out wasn’t very far. Another one tried to steal from us by saying the cost was Tsh. 4,000 instead of Tsh.3, 000 because he knew we didn’t have internet to check the app. Another one started the trip before he got to the pickup point. Tanzanians can smell out foreigners just from the way you speak and sadly some few bad ones will try to take advantage of this…be alert.

Another option for getting around is public transport (dala dala), Matatu in Kenyan context. We never used this because we most probably would have gotten lost and had to start a now life somewhere in Tanzania! Next time we will ask though.

The drive to Mbezi Beach

My parting shot… Some Tanzanians are either very Conservative or entitled people depending on how you look at it. If you are a black woman, watch out how you dress. I understand Dar is a hot city but you dont want to be caught up in an uncomfortable situation. In 2015, I was almost attacked at the Ubungo area because my dress was apparently too short (just slightly above the knees). Caucasian get a free pass but young black women will be called names and probably physically attacked.

The rules don’t apply at the beach though.

Have you been to Dar Es Salaam? What was your experience?

As always, thank you for reading & sharing.

Love & love. Mukuhi