Day 33

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

November 11, 2022

Our second day in Tanzania began when our guide, Erik, picked us up. We had booked this tour months ago on trip advisor. This was a private tour with driver and guide.

First we were off to the fish market. This is the same market that I saw when we cruised into to port yesterday. Wow. What an assault on the senses. The smell was overwhelming. There were different stations for different types of activity. Station 1 for auctioning. Station 2 for cleaning of fish. Station 3 for cooking. Smells, flies, ice, butchering. I saw a man eating raw octopus off of a wood plank.

We spent about 30 minutes in the market. People were hard at work and very friendly. Mambo means “what’s happening” in Swahili. The response is Pua. Lot’s of Mambo here.

Our next stop is as museum. It was nice to learn some of the history here. The city was founded by Majid Bin Said in 1865 who was the first Sultan of Zanzibar. The Arabic name means Peaceful Home. This was the main administrative center of German East Africa. After The Great War, the British took over and it became British Tanganyika Territory. In 1961, Tanganyika gained independence from Britain and merged with Zanzibar to become Tanzania.

Next stop was the woodcarvers market. Unbelievable craftsmanship.

Our next stop was lunch to experience traditional Tanzanian food. We stopped at an open air restaurant and sat inside. We picked our food from about 4 choices. It was all steaming hot so we felt confident that we would not get ill. Flies were everywhere in the restaurant. A young lady came around and gave us a squirt of soap and poured hot water over our hands so we could wash them. The customers in the restaurant didn’t seem to mind the flies. They drove me bananas. The food was great. Eat fast and the flies go somewhere else.

After lunch we stopped at a bar to try some local gin.

After our drink, we went to an area that had homes from different tribes in Africa. These tribes still maintain connection with their people. Different tribes constructed homes in different ways.

We finished the tour with a trip to the War Memorial Cemetery. Stones were erected to remember those who gave their lives in the Great War.

Erik brought us back to the port and we were just in time for dinner.

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