On Saturday, I spent the day doing a walking tour through Dar! Unfortunately, Cristiano was felled by a terrible illness that required him to take a plethora of meds and stay in bed with a fever and flu-like symptoms – but he ever so kindly drew me a map of places to see in Dar and how to get downtown from his house.
I decided to take a dalla dalla – the Tanzanian version of the Ethiopian mini-bus. The dalla-dallas are much cleaner and more spacious and tend to more closely resemble a bus in Canada than the Ethiopian mini-bus (though still nowhere as big as the buses in Canada). I thought I was following the directions that Cristiano gave me, but I ended up walking too far off-course, so far in fact that I ended up smack-dab in the middle of a shanty town (basically a slum area) composed of huts, windy passages, and inquisitive stares from locals wondering what the heck this mzungu (foreigner in Swahili, but its literal translation is “white person” – they call all foreigners mzungu – even those that are not white) was doing in their ‘hood’. Luckily, from the throng of uncomfortable stares, emerged a young local who took pity on my plight and pointed me in the direction of the nearest main road where I could catch a taxi downtown. In order to get to the dalla-dalla stop I needed, I would have to turn back and walk quite some distance. Thankfully, I decided not to let my cheapness win out and followed him to the nearest main road to hail a cab to go downtown.
I got off at the Posta (post office) which is in the center of downtown Dar and decided to see some of the major sites including the Botanical Gardens and the Museum and House of Culture in Dar Es Salaam (i.e. The National Museum of Tanzania).
In perhaps one of the biggest cases of misleading advertising, there is absolutely nothing “botanical” about the Botanical Gardens – in fact, I was hard pressed to find a flower in bloom within these “gardens”. There was one tree, a series of bushes and a lot of unkempt grass. Upon arrival, I was almost positive that I was lost. As such, I asked a local about the location of the Botanical Gardens. He laughed and flashed a knowing smile telling me that I was already there – standing smack dab in the middle of the Botanical Gardens. After what can only be described as a 5-minute flying visit, I made my way across the street to the National Museum of Tanzania.
The National Museum of Tanzania/the Museum and House of Culture Dar Es Salaam was opened in 1940. It was established in memory of King George V for his long reign. This museum includes permanent collections the Evolution of Man, History of Tanzania, and Biology and Ethnography. The Hall of Man includes a number of “hominid findings”. The History Gallery includes objects, manuscripts, photographs, and illustrations on the history of Tanzania including a number of marble carvings as well as stuffed lion that was presented to the President as a gift. The Biology Hall includes a lot of information and exhibits on Tanzania’s biodiversity – including “diverse life forms in aquatic and terrestrial environments.” Finally, the Ethnographic Hall includes cultural artifacts such as jewelry, household items, traditional musical instruments, fashion, healing items etc. There is also a small collection of representative paintings, carvings and statutes representing the rich artistic traditions of Tanzania. Finally, I also saw a collection of historic cars in Tanzania including the Rolls Royce owned by the former President of Tanzania.
My first full day in Dar ended with another trip to the airport, this time to pick up our friend, Roanna arriving from Grahamstown, South Africa. Dar – what can I say? Dar is a completely different entity – much different than Addis – and the tour books in fact talk about how many people go out of their way to avoid the city – opting instead for the beach paradise in Zanzibar or the safari adventures of the Serengeti. Dar is not obviously magical or captivating, but it is a unique place. I cannot quite capture it in words, but if I were to try, I would have to say that the energy of the Dar is latent, percolating slightly below the surface, intermingled with the vivid smells of fruit, fish and frenzy, yet bubbling with a vibrancy and elusiveness that is both captivating and confounding all at the same time. Gobbledy gook I know – but you truly have to visit to understand.
