Dar es Salaam City Guide

Description
Dar es Salaam is rapidly transforming from a once torpid city with potholed streets and few amenities into a vibrant commercial centre. The largest city in Tanzania and now the busiest Port in East Africa, Dar es Salaam is attracting investors, evident in the increase in restaurants and hotels as well as a growing tourist markets. The gateway to Zanzibar which is a 75 minute ferry ride away, as well as the southern safari circuit, Dar es Salaam has the potential to overtake Arusha as the main tourist destination in Tanzania.

Attractions
National Musuem, Bunge Road Opposite the State House
Nyumba ya sanaa, Upanga Road, before Sheraton Hotel.
Makonde carvers, Sam Nujama Road, Mwenge Area..
Village Museum ,New Bagamoyo Road, Makumbusho village Area
Askari Monument, St.Joseph's Metropolitan Cathedral, Ufukweni Road, Opposite Dar es Salaam

Dar es Salaam Beaches:
North Coast
Located about 25-30 km North of the city there are several good beaches to be found in the Kunduchi area. The beach hotels at Bahari Beach, Whitesands, Jangwani Sea Breeze, Kunduchi and Silversands all offer a variety of watersports along this attractive stretch of coast.
Shuttle buses to the beach hotels at Kunduchi leave from outside the New Africa Hotel at 9.00, 12.00, 14.00, and 17.00 on weekdays and every other hour between 9.00 and 17.00 at weekends. However this schedule often depends on how full the bus is. Return fare is about $10. It is also possible to arrange day trips to the islands of Bongoyo and Mbudya. Boats to Bongoyo and Mbudya can also be taken from Jangwani: Sea Breeze Hotel. Other Boats can be arranged from Whitesands Hotel and Bahari Beach Hotel or alternatively from The Slipway at Msasani Peninsula. There are scheduled boats at 9.30 a.m., 11.30 a.m., 1.30 p.m, and 3.30 p.m. In general the uninhabited beach at Bongoyo Island is less crowded in the weekdays than at the weekend.

City Centre
Coco Beach at Oyster Bay is popular and a good swimming beach. The Oyster Bay Hotel overlooks the beach. The Yacht Club at Msasani Peninsula has a private beach. Although the club is for members only it is possible to get temporary membership and it has a good family atmosphere.

South Coast
The unspoilt beaches of the south coast are reached by taking the Kivukoni ferry from the fish market to Kigamboni. At present the beaches are relatively undiscovered. The first beach is Mikadi beach, 2 km from the ferry, where there is a good campsite and bar. A new campsite has opened at Kipepeo 8 km from the ferry. Further along is Barracuda beach with a bar and further south there are several developments under construction with uncrowded beaches and good swimming. About 30km south is the Amani Beach Resort and 34km south of the city is the Ras Kutani Resort which has a fine beach with a lagoon and a variety of watersports on offer. Bookings for the resort, which has excellent thatched banda accommodation, can be arranged from Rickshaw Travels in the city centre Top

Accommodation
There are many hotels, hostels and few campsites. Among the popular ones are Royal Palm Hotel, New Africa Hotel, Sea Cliff Hotel, White Sands Hotel, Embassy Hotel, Jangwani Sea Breeze Lodge, Beach Comber Hotel, Protea Apartments, YMCA, Luther House, and many more.

Where to eat
There are several restaurants and cafes in the city where people can eat;

Cafes : Hard Rock Cafe at Mkwepu street,

Restaurants :
City centre restaurants: Jamaa fast food at Independence street, Foodworld at Maktaba street, Steers and Debonnaires at Independence street, Rendevous at Independence street, The Alcove at Independence street, Coffee House at Mkwepu street , Chick King at Jamhuri street, Swahili restaurant at Kariakoo, Burger Hut in City Centre, Sawasdee at New Africa Hotel, Cedars at Kisutu areas, Serengeti at Sheraton, Bandari Grill at Newafrica, Nandos and Chicken Inn on Independence Street

Restaurants out of the city cente:

Around Oysterbay area: Kalambezi Restaurant at Sea Cliff Hotel, Mashua Restaurant at Slipway, Rickshaw , Cassanova and Dolce Vitta.
Around Namanga : Best Bite at Bagamoyo Road, Saverios Place Old Bagamoyo Road, The Tilt and Steak, Ale at Arcade Old Bagamoyo Road, and Kimicho club, Budapest

Restaurant.
Around Msasani: Jan Pizzaria at Kawawa road, Barbeque Village, Ciao Italia at Bagamoyo road, Smokies Tavern, The Slipway and Indian Raj.
Around Mikocheni: Chinese restaurant, Talk of the Town restaurant, Euro Pub and Avant Garde at Regent Estate area.
Upanga area: Palm Beach hotel at Upanga Sea View.

How to get there
By air
The airport is only 15 km from the city centre. Transport to the city is available; there are shuttle buses and taxis, Also there are Car rental offices at the Airport so you can just pop in there and arrange for transport. The car rental offices are such as Avis rent a car, Europcar. Tanzania car rental, Evergreen car rental, Jeka Tour operators and the other local Taxis which are in white colour.

By road:
There are different buses which travel from Dar es Salaam toother places such as Tawfiq which pases Tanga, Moshi, Arusha, Mombasa, Nairobi and Kampala.Fresh ya Shamba, Air Msae, Dar Express, Metro Coach, which travel from Dar es Salaam to Arusha and buses like Scandinavia Coach travel to the Southern regions of Tanzania( Iringa, Mbeya and Rukwa).
6 hours to Tanga
8 hours to Moshi
10 hours to Arusha
12 hours to Mombasa
12 hours to Namanga border
8 hours to Iringa

By rail
All Tanzania's rail lines converge in Dar es Salaam. The two main services are TAZARA and CENTRAL LINE. The Central railway station is located off Sokoine Drive at the corner of Railway St, and Gerezani St. The line offers two route services the first is from Dar es salaam to Kigoma via Dodoma, Singida, Tabora, Mpanda, Kigoma, Shinyanga and Mwanza For TAZARA line the routes are from Dar es Salaam to Zambia via Morogoro, Iringa and Mbeya.The trains follow this timetable in a week:
Monday: Zambia ( 11:00 am ),
Tuesday: Zambia ( 5:34 pm ), Mwanza ( 5:00 pm ), Kigoma ( 5:00 pm ),
Wednesday: Mwanza ( 5:00 pm ),
Thursday: Zambia ( 1:00 am ), Kigoma ( 5:00 pm ),
Friday : Zambia ( 5:34 pm ), Mwanza ( 5:00 pm ), Kigoma ( 5:00 pm ).
Saturday: Zambia ( 11:00 am ),
Sunday: Mwanza ( 5:00 pm ), Kigoma (5:00 pm) .
There are occasional special steam engine excursions to the Pugu Hills outside Dar es Salaam which leaves from the TAZARA train station - check the local press for details. This steam engine also travels to the Selous.

Travel within
Taxis can be found at all major hotels and at most road juctions in the City Center.
Commuter buses, locally known as "Daladalas", are well distributed throughout the town and are the most popular and cheapest means of transport in town. Most of them start their routes from City Centre commonly named Posta ie. New and Old Posta and others are from Kariakoo.

Entertainment :
Many different types of entertainment are available including:
Cinemas and Movies: Avalon Cinema at the City Centre and New Chox at Nkrumah Street and Movies are shown at Slipway from 7:30pm. every Tuesday, Sugar Rays at Palm Beach Hotel every Monday and Tuesday from 7:30pm. and Mambo Club at Karibu Hotel every Saturday from 7:00 pm.The American Marines residence shows movies on a big screen on Thursdays (passport ID needed for entry).
Bars: The Q Bar at Oysterbay area, Kibo Bar at Sheraton, Blue Palms bar at Mikocheni area, Bahama Mama at Kimara areas, Sugar Rays at Palm Beach Hotel, Bar Es Salaam at Namanga, Ryans Irish Pub above Las Vegas Casino and Smokies Tavern in Msasani.
Casinos: Newafrica Casino and Monte Carlo Casino located at the City Center, Las Vegas Casino at Upanga sea view. The Seacliff hotel has recently opened a casino.
Night clubs: Among them are California Dreamers nightclub at Upanga Sea View area, ZS Billiards Club and Mambo Club both in Oysterbay area, The Slipway at Msasani area, Club Bilicanas nightclub at the City Centre Mkwepu street, Cassanova Disco in Sea Cliff Hotel and The Tilt Club at Old Bagamoyo road, Silent Inn Club located along Bagamoyo Road.
Sports and Games: Wet "n" Wild Waterpark, at Kunduchi, PO BOx 361 Dar Es Saalam, E-mail: wetnwild@raha.com; Tel: +255 22 2650326/8 360/413; Fax: 2650332. for Water sports, Tennis Courts , Squash Courts, Gymnasium, Pool table. This is promoted as the largest waterpark in East Africa.
Waterworld near the Beachcomber Hotel is another waterslide park.
Cosmic bowling at the Seacliff Hotel. Not so cosmic bowling at ZS Billiards.
Live music: Try Blue Palms in Mikocheni on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, Smokies Tavern on Thursday, Q Bar on Friday and Ryans Pub on Friday and Saturday. The New Africa Hotel often has a resident live band.

Car rental
There are various car rental companies in town. A valid international driver's license is mandatory and the driver must be between 25-70 years of age and have held a license for a minimum of two years. Among the Car rentals companies are such as Avis, Inter rental, Hertz, Tanzania Rental Cars, Europ Car, Jeka and many other Registered Tour Operators .

Airline offices
International and local companies offices are within the town centre.

Post office and Telecommunications
The Post Offices in Dar es Salaam are at the City Centre Maktaba Street and Kariakoo, though there are small Post Offices branches in big population communities such as at The University of Dar es Salaam, Kijitonyama Area, Temeke Area also Magomeni and Ilala. Post Office business hours are between 8 am to 5 pm .
There are International telephone and trunk calls services at Extelecoms in the City Centre and several telephone and fax exchanges along Morogoro road. Also there are a lot of Card and Coin telephone boxes around the town, the major ones being ACG, TTCL and Jupiter.

Internet Cafes.
There are several internet cafes located along Morogoro Road, Jamhuri Street and Samora Machel Avenue in the city centresuch as Cyberia, Kool Surfing, Millenium and a host of others.
Aquarius Secretarial Bureau: Tel: 255 22 2700814; Fax: 255 22 2700814; Mobile: 0812 602252; E-mail: aquarius@raha.com. (located at Shoppers Plaza)
Printout is located at The Slipway P.O.Box 70187; Tel: 255 22 602603; E-mail: mwinyia@yahoo.com.

Banks and Forex Bureaux
Most bureau de change are located along Samora Machel Avenue.There are a few bureau de change in the tourist class hotels which are open throughout the week, business hours vary from one hotel to another. Bank business hours are between 8am to 5pm and most are closed on Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays.

Hospitals
Among the biggest hospitals are Muhimbili Medical Centre located at Upanga area, The Aga Khan Hospital located at Sea View area opposite the Gymkhana Club, Shree Hindu Mandal hospital located at the City Center, TMJ Hospital located at Mikocheni area along Old Bagamoyo Rd., Oysterbay Hospital located at Oyster Bay area, St. Mary's Hospital and Mikocheni Hospital located at Victoria.

Police Station
The police posts are almost every where around the town but the biggest Police stations are The Central Police Station at the City Centre, Oysterbay Police Station, Salender Bridge Hospital, Buguruni Police Station and Chang'ombe Police Station