Dar es Salaam meaning "Abode of Peace", formerly Mzizima, is the largest city in Tanzania. With a population estimated around 2,500,000, it is also the country's richest city and a regionally important economic centre. Though Dar es Salaam lost its official status as capital city to Dodoma in 1996, it remains the centre of the permanent central government bureaucracy and continues to serve as the capital for the surrounding Dar es Salaam Region.

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”, as it is affectionately called by aficionados of the city, is a fascinating rabbit warren of a tropical port, often surprising the unwary wanderer with scenes of breathtaking beauty. While Dodoma has been (somewhat absurdly) appointed as the new capital of Tanzania, Dar is the real capital, a hustling, bustling seaport that straddles some of the most important sea routes on earth.

Dar Es Salaam is reinventing itself. This coastal capital is emerging as a city that is cosmopolitan and even enjoyable to explore. It remains at heart a bustling Swahili market town, yet is a centre of trade and commerce attracting ambitious Africans from all of Tanzania and its neighbouring countries, and international communities who come to this port for all manner of business. Here is the hub of communication in Tanzania, a far cry from the lifestyle and experiences of the rural majority. Residents of the metropolis are known as mbongo -person with brains- brains being a requisite for survival amid the populous chaos at the heart of this town. But for city-lovers Dar has plenty of quirks, and a reasonably loping East African pace anywhere beyond its hectic centre. Its Indian Ocean loca- tion offers realms of respite: a wild coastline and sea breeze, easy excursions and seaside accommodation.

cargo ships as they skilfully 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. 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”.