Day 22 - Dar es Salaam

As I suspected, my internet access while in Dar es Salaam (the largest city in Tanzania, but not its capital) is limited. I'll have to keep my posts short!

On Saturday, we had a fairly long drive from Arusha (in northern TZ) to Dar (in southeast TZ). It was about 8 or 9 hours. The scenery was spectacular, though. We drove through the mountains of the Rift Valley and then open plains. The other significant highlight of the trip was being stopped since Tanzania's President Kikwete's motorcade was pulling into his private estate. Once we were able to turn around to see it in the distance, it was enormous. Otherwise, it was great to drive through towns along the way and see more of the beautiful Tanzanian countryside. At night we went to a very nice Lebanese restaurant near our hotel.

Sunday, we toured Bagamoyo, which is one of the oldest towns in Africa. It has an incredible amount of history - almost too much to describe in one post. It was the central port (and later slave trading hub) of eastern Africa until Dar grew in size and surpassed it. Evidence shows humans occupying the area for the past 2000 years! After we returned, we took a teksi (taxi) to an Italian restaurant near the American Embassy.

Today we first went to the Museum of Villages (roughly translated). It was fairly interesting - they had numerous houses built which are typical of many of Tanzania's 200 ethnic groups. Following the museum we went to the Carvers Market, where there were an incredible array of small stores with hand-carved items and jewelry. We then went to the National Museum. It was informative, but it was also interesting to note that the Smithsonian Museum in D.C. has more African-related artifacts than the entire museum. Then tonight for dinner, we went to "Addis in Dar," an Ethiopian restaurant. It was my first Ethiopian restaurant and was incredible. Needless to say I ate to much, but it was definitely worth it.

Tomorrow (in a matter of hours), we are boarding a boat for the famous island of Zanzibar! We will spend about four days on the island. I will be sure to post updates when I can!