DAR ES SALAAM:
To most travellers, Dar es Salaam is just a convenient port of call on the way to more exotic destinations of Zanzibar, the game parks, Pemba or Mafia Islands. This is a great pity, because “Dar”, is a city full of surprises, where traditional African culture and colonial roots combine with international taste and sophistication. It is a place where "Karibu" (Welcome) is on everyone's lips.

Life in Dar es Salaam revolves around the huge harbour, with the business district fanning out from here in a series of fascinating side and main streets. There is something irresistible about whiling away a few hours sitting at the water’s edge, watching dhows, as traditionally rigged as they have been for centuries, slipping under the bows of huge cruise liners and cargo ships as they skillfully navigate the waters of the port. On the northern arm of the harbour is Kivukoni Front, with its bustling fish market, where every morning at dawn the dhows sail in to offload the night’s catch, and yelling fishwives compete with each other for the best of the catch.

The city itself is an eclectic mix of Swahili, German, Asian and British architecture, reflecting its colonial past and more recent history, giving a special atmosphere to its surroundings, streets and life. It is a relatively new city – Sultan Majid bin Said, then the sultan of Zanzibar, saw the potential of Dar as a deepwater port because of its strategic position at the centre of the East African coast. In 1866, he began work on his palace, built of coral blocks hewn on Changuu Island off Zanzibar. But he died before its completion and the palace fell into ruin – but not before he gave the tiny port its name – “Haven of Peace”.

Eleven years later, the German colonialists revived the plan and seized Dar from its Arab rulers, fighting off an uprising by the Bushiri local tribe. The Teutonic order they imposed on the chaotic little port is reflected today in the neatly laid out grid patterns of streets fanning out around the port, and in several grand edifices scattered around the waterfront, most notably the German Hospital, the Lutheran Church and St Joseph’s Cathedral. Other places worth a visit in the city centre include the botanical gardens, and the adjacent National Museum.

The Museum is a hidden treasure with exhibits of cultural, ecological and historical significance, where archaeology buffs can see the skull of “Nutcracker Man” and other fossil discoveries from Olduvai Gorge which are impressively displayed downstairs. Upstairs, the years of colonialism and the anti-colonial struggle are presented through a historically fascinating mishmash of objects, photos and yellowing documents along with antique tribal artefacts and some fascinating World War One memorabilia. The building itself is remarkable, containing unique sculptures, colourful tiles and intricate carvings, and is surrounded by a peaceful garden that occasionally hosts concerts and plays.

Venture toward the tight streets and colourful buildings of Karaikoo to get a good sense of the daily goings-on for thousands of Tanzanians. An enormous structure houses the largest covered market in Africa and the hive-like activity continues uninterrupted from dawn to dusk as Karaikoo is also a crossroads, a major bus terminus, and a shopper's paradise. For those visitors interested in markets and art work a trip to the Mwenge Craft Market is a must. Mwenge Village is the site of a score or more stalls selling carvings, jewellery, exotic cloth and trinkets of all kinds at bargain prices.

Makonde carving is probably the best known art work produced in Tanzania. This art is produced by the Makonde people of southern Tanzania, and their material of choice is African blackwood. Their work is both traditional and contemporary, reflecting a tribal past as well as modern response to urban life. Modern Makonde carvings fall into three main categories: representing men and women carrying out traditional roles within the community; intertwined figures participating in ceremonial rituals or showing several generations derived from a common ancestor, known as "people trees"; and depictions of ancestors and spirits from mythology in human form, often with an enlarged ear.

On the west side of Masasani Peninsula is the city's best option for ocean-side recreation. The Slipway is a collection of shops, boutiques, beauty salons, ice cream parlours, restaurants, apartments, pubs and a weekly crafts bazaar every Saturday and Sunday. Boats depart from here for daytrips to nearby Bongoyo island. The open-air Village Museum is located on New Bagamoyo road and features 18 traditional houses from different ethnic groups throughout Tanzania. In addition to this are traditional dance performances on most afternoons, displays of a variety of agricultural techniques and artisans at work.

Wandering the streets of Dar is nowhere more rewarding than in the Asian business district, along India Street and the intersecting Indira Ghandi Street. Here the flavours and smells are of a little Bombay, and if there’s anything you need to buy for your holiday, this is where you’ll find it. In this concentrated section of the city, you’ll find some of the best restaurants in East Africa, notably on Jamhuri, Mkunguni, Zanaki and Kisutu Streets. Further afield, take a taxi or walk up Ohio Street to where it becomes Upanga Road near the Gymkhana Club and look out for the distinctive Makuti-palm roofed building that houses Nyumba ya Saana, the House of Art. Begun in 1972 by an American nun, the co-operative supports nearly 200 young artists, with work ranging from batiks through carvings, oil paintings, pottery, weaving and clothing.

BAGAMOYO:
The town of Bagamoyo is the oldest town in Tanzania, founded by the end of the 18th century. It was the original capital of German East Africa and one of the most important trading ports along the East African coast. Today the town has 30,000 inhabitants and is the capital of the District of Bagamoyo, recently designated as a world heritage site. Bagamoyo lies 75 kilometers north of Dar es Salaam.

Bagamoyo's history has been influenced by Indian and Arab traders, by the German colonial government and by Christian missionaries. About 5 km south of Bagamoyo, the Kaole Ruins with remnants of two mosques and a couple of tombs can be dated back to the 13th century and show the importance of Islam in those early Bagamoyo times. All of the structures were built with coral stones. Until the middle of the 18th century, Bagamoyo was a small and insignificant trading center where most of the population were fishermen and farmers. Main trading goods were fish, salt and gum among some other things. Today the College of Arts (Chuo cha Sanaa), the only major college in Tanzania, is situated along the Kaole road close to the Kaole ruins and teaches various fields of dance, music, drama and painting. Over weekends the students give free performances allowing visitors to acquaint themselves with traditional dances.

In the late 18th century Muslim families settled in Bagamoyo, all of which were relatives of Shamvi la Magimba in Oman. They made their living by enforcing taxes on the native population and by trading in salt, gathered from the Nunge coast north of Bagamoyo. In the first half of the 19th century, Bagamoyo became a trading port for ivory and slave trade, with traders coming from the African interior, from places as far as Morogoro, Lake Tanganyika and Usambara on their way to Zanzibar. This explains the meaning of the word Bagamoyo ("Bwaga-Moyo") which means "Lay down your Heart" in Swahili, a despair expressed by people who were captured as slaves knowing that they face a long uncertain future.

Slave trade officially ended in the year 1873, but well to the end of the 19th century slaves were sold and traded in Bagamoyo.

In 1868, Bagamoyo's Muslim presented the Catholic "Fathers of the Holy Ghost" with land for a mission north of the town, the first mission in East Africa. This caused resistance by the native Zaramo people which after an intervention by the French consul if Zanzibar was put down by Sultan Majid and after 1870 by Sultan Barghash. Originally the mission was intended to house children who were rescued from slavery, but it soon expanded to a church, a school, and some workshops and farming projects. Here you will also find a cemetery, where the early missionaries were buried, and a small shrine which was built by freed slaves in 1876.

But Bagamoyo was not only a trade center for slaves, ivory and copra, it was also a starting point for some renowned European explorers. From Bagamoyo they moved out to find the source of the River Nile and explored the African inner lakes. Some of these were David Livingstone, Richard Francis Burton, John Hanning Speke, Henry Morton Stanley and James Augustus Grant. The Bagamoyo museum is a small museum which displays Bagamoyo history in relation to its contact with foreigners, here visitors can view old photographs, documents and relics from the slave trade. On the same compound there is a small chapel known as the Anglican Church of the Holy Cross. The church is famous for being a place where the remains of David Livingston were laid before taken to Zanzibar en route to Westminster Abbey for burial.

Bagamoyo was the German headquarters of German East Africa in 1891. In the first year of World War I, a British air attack and naval bombardment was launched on Bagamoyo, the Germans overrun and the German garrison taken. Bomani, the German Colonial administration headquarters, is now a memorial site for the first German East African Capital.

When Seyyid Said, Sultan of Oman, decided to move his capital from Muscat to Zanzibar in 1940, Bagamoyo's importance began to decline.

Today, Bagamoyo is a centre for dhow sailboat building. The Department of Antiquities in Tanzania is working to maintain the ruins of the colonial era in and around Bagamoyo and to revitalize the town. The Bagamoyo College of Arts (“Chuo cha Sanaa”) is an internationally famous arts college in Tanzania, teaching traditional Tanzanian painting, sculpture, drama, dancing and drumming.