Biographies . Photos A,, Photos B.
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A
Couple of Days in Dar es Salaam Planning
a trip to Tanzania for September, my travel agent
seemed alarmed that I'd be "stuck" in Dar es Salaam
for two days. She suggested a day trip to Mafia
Island to solve the problem. Since small planes
make me nervous, this idea was a non-starter. So I
resigned myself to Dar, a city mainly depicted to
me as a place to go through rather than to. As it
turned out, a couple of days in Dar proved not long
enough. Here are some of the things that happily
filled my days. KARIOKOO
MARKET When
the thrill of lolling around a pool with your
fellow tourists sipping passion fruit juice wears
thin, KARIOKOO MARKET is the place to go, to mingle
with the wananchi ("citizens")and lose yourself
among the myriad stalls. You may not be tempted to
buy a sack of rice or a dried fish or an old pair
of jeans, but you can sharpen your wits and get
some good dialogue going, particularly if you
muster a little Swahili. THE
NATIONAL MUSEUM For
a complete contrast, the NATIONAL MUSEUM downtown
breathes an air of genteel neglect. You may be the
sole visitor. The fossil discoveries from Olduvai
Gorge 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. A poignant
sculpture tribute to the twelve Tanzanians who died
in the attack on the US Embassy is in the
garden. NYERERE
CULTURAL CENTRE Next
to the Royal Palm Hotel is the NYUMBA YA SANAA or
Nyerere Cultural Centre. In this tranquil setting
built around an open-air pond you can browse
undisturbed among samples of local arts and crafts
- handmade paper, batik, paintings, jewelry, even
shoes - all for sale, or just sit over a soda or
lunch. I passed up a fishskin suit for the
beautifully blue-dyed skin of a three-foot Nile
Perch ($5) that as a bookbinder I intend to use in
my work. MWENGE
VILLAGE From
the main post office for 15 cents you can catch a
small bus (or dalla-dalla) all the way out to
MWENGE VILLAGE, almost to the University. Or, for
$5, you can take a cab. I must confess to the cab,
mainly because the buses filled up so fast I could
never get a seat. Mwenge Village is the site of a
score or more stalls selling carvings, jewelry,
exotic cloth and trinkets of all kinds at bargain
(as long as you do!) prices. This is where dealers
from Nairobi come to buy. In the very end stall I
found a striking Nyakusa wall-hanging of tightly
woven raffia in a geometric pattern of contrasting
browns, the smell of wood smoke still clinging to
it, ($15). In the shade of some trees sat a line of
wood carvers, chipping, gouging, filing and
sanding. The man I squatted down next to was of the
Makonde tribe from Mozambique, he told me. The
intricate design he was sculpting from a block of
ebony would take him about two months to finish, he
calculated, demonstrating the various
stages. VILLAGE
MUSEUM Also
in the Mwenge direction, right off the busy New
Bagamoyo Road, is the VILLAGE MUSEUM. The cab
driver who dropped me off agreed to come back in an
hour. I wish I'd made it two. I had to tear myself
away from some very energetic tribal dancing that
takes place here most afternoons and of which I was
the sole spectator. 'Museum' is a bit misleading.
People came from all parts of the country to build
houses typical of their tribe in this park setting.
With a flashlight (bring your own, theirs are very
weak) and the help of explanatory labels I wandered
in and out of some ten dwellings (there were many
more) noting the details of daily life and the
intricacies of construction. There was a garden
planted with indigenous crops and, in one corner,
artists painting in the colorful tinga-tinga style
had set up shop. They tutored me in the laid-back
Swahili greeting, "Mambo?" (things), to which the
response is, "Poa!" (cool) This goes over very
well. I also came across a noted potter, Petro
Mayige, in his studio, and couldn't resist a set of
the clay figurines he sculpts using traditional
know-how: an old man trouncing a youth at a game of
bao, $15. COCO
BEACH The
evening of my last day in Dar I sat on the terrace
of a humble restaurant on COCO BEACH with two
Tanzanian friends I'd made. The beach, on Oyster
Bay, had been closed for a couple of years - they
explained - following the depradations of a killer
shark. Now the shark had been caught and the beach
was open and with plates of changu (a tasty local
fish) and chips (French fries) and bottles of
Kilimanjaro and Safari beer we watched the moon
rise over the Indian Ocean. It was very peaceful.
We were the only diners. KIGAMBONI Had
I stayed another day I'd have followed my friends'
advice and taken the five minute ferry-ride from
Kivukoni Front (near the new Japanese-built fish
market) across to the southern peninsula of
Kigamboni and explored the beaches there, so close
to Dar yet apparently so unspoiled, with a couple
of small guest houses and bars to choose
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