East Africa
Dar es Salaam
Tanzania
Tanzania's harbour city, where Swahili culture runs deepest.
The culture
Why we bridge here
Dar es Salaam means 'haven of peace', and for centuries it has been exactly that: a Swahili trading port that grew into the biggest city in Tanzania. It is unhurried, warm and wonderfully un-touristed.
Swahili is spoken here as a first language, not a second. The city's art scene — Tingatinga painting chief among it — is a genuinely local form that came out of the 1960s, and the fish market at dawn is the social heart of the harbour.
Experience
What you'll do
- Kariakoo market
- Kivukoni fish market at dawn
- Tingatinga arts centre
- Bongoyo Island day trip
After dark
Nightlife
- Live bongo flava on the Msasani peninsula
- Beach bars along Kigamboni
The bridge
Teaching sessions with your hosts
- Swahili conversation with your host
- Tingatinga painting workshop
- Tanzanian history from the coast to independence