How to Best Slow Travel Dar es Salaam!
Join us for magical 24 hours in the city with Islands, Injera and Craft Beer.
When you think about a holiday in Tanzania there are usually three things that spring to mind – Safari in the Serengeti, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and beach time in Zanzibar. Not necessarily in this order, but as a matter of fact, Dar es Salaam is not on the list!
But why? Maybe because it’s the biggest city in East Africa with 6 million people living in Dar es Salaam? Maybe it’s too intimidating to visit the economical centre of Tanzania? Or maybe visitors to the city simply don’t know what to do?
Most travellers to Tanzania will have to come through Dar es Salaam at least once to fly either in or out. To spend as much time as possible on the sunny beaches of Zanzibar or the savannas of the Serengeti, most tourists skip through Dar es Salaam, because they don’t want to waste time in the city. It just sounds too hectic and what is there to do in any case?!
Stop Stressing And Slow It Down
Dar es Salaam is actually well worth a visit! But the overwhelming feeling of what to do is all too familiar. It’s too hot and too busy. Do you really want to walk around to see churches, statues and museums?
This is the usual dilemma when travelling to a new city. It's the feeling of "I should have seen this while I was there". But honestly - who cares? It's your trip, so stop stressing and make a hard call on how you want to spend the little time you have.
Expect The Unexpected
When we travelled to Zanzibar in March 2021 we had planned to spend at least 4 days in Dar es Salaam. We wanted to get to know the city, spend some time, take it easy. And – to be completely honest – we booked the flights out of Dar es Salaam because we thought it would be easier and cheaper to get the necessary PCR test here instead of Zanzibar. If you have read Zanzibar – Blissful Getaway to the Island! But Can You Escape COVID-19? you will know that our plans didn’t quite work out. Instead of the planned 4 days, we had little more than 24 hours of fun time left in Dar es Salaam before we had to head to the airport. Such is life!
We did however end up having the best 24 hours of the entire trip in Dar es Salaam! If there is any way for you to add a couple of days into your itinerary for Dar es Salaam – do yourself a favour and go for it! We were lucky enough to meet up with friends of friends who helped us having the best day. I wish I could say our itinerary was planned all along, but that’s not true. Sometimes you just get lucky.
Let me share how we spend our time, where we stayed and what we got up to! If that sounds good to you, make sure to add this to your trip to Tanzania.
How to get to Dar es Salaam
Well, you most likely either fly into from abroad or you come by ferry from Zanzibar. If you fly into Dar es Salaam airport you can best get an Uber (just download the app) or a taxi into town. The taxi fare obviously depends on where you stay. We stayed in Masaki – about 20 km from the airport and the fare can range anywhere between 15 – 30 USD.
If you come from Zanzibar take one of the fast ferries between the island and the mainland. I feel extremely ignorant because in my head I saw us on some rusty old ferry that could sink any minute while you roast in the sun for two hours, arriving completely dishevelled on the other side! Shame on me! The ferries between Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam are modern fast boats, with inside seating and all comforts needed. For your 35 USD ticket, you even get a snack bar on board and they play a movie during the 1.5-hour traverse from Stone Town to Dar es Salaam.
We had the most relaxed travel experience possible with Azam Marine Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries! Big thumbs up!
I just wish they had chosen a different movie on the ferry than "Captain Philips"! It is a little disconcerting watching East African pirates forcefully taking over a ship and keeping everyone hostage, while you are travelling on a boat in East Africa. Call me sensitive!
Transport in Dar es Salaam
Arriving at the ferry port in Dar es Salaam is a bit hectic because of the masses of taxi and tuk-tuk drivers storming in on you, trying to get you into their vehicle. Just walk at least up to the road, by then you should have lost at least two-thirds of the initial crowd.
The most common mode of transport in Dar es Salaam is tuk-tuks, believe it or not! Even when you call an Uber, it will most likely be a tuk-tuk arriving to transport you from A to B! Personally, I love getting around in a tuk-tuk and it even had enough space for all of our luggage!
The Best Area to Stay in Dar es Salaam
We stayed in the Masaki area, the little peninsula situated North of downtown Dar. Most ex-pats call this area home, most embassies are located here and it’s a nice and affluent area with some beautiful beaches on your doorstep! You’ll find plenty of great restaurants and hotels in the area. We could not have asked for a better location to stay!
The Best Place to Stay
We stayed at The Slow Leopard hostel in Masaki! What an amazing place! You can barely see the entrance from the road, but once you step in, it’s such a beautiful place with a funky modern feel. The bar area is located in the stunning garden in the back of the building. Not only is it a cool hostel bar and restaurant, but it is also one of the most popular ex-pat hangouts in the area. You have therefore not just travellers but also locals filling the bar for after-work drinks and dinner. I felt immediately at home! We had a simple private room with a terrace and a shared bathroom. Perfect for the little time we had. Their coffee and breakfast options are truly delicious and come highly recommended. Even if you travel on a higher budget, it’s a great place to spend a few nights just for the atmosphere!
The Best Dinner
We arrived at The Slow Leopard in the early afternoon, had a little lunch and some time to relax in the tranquil garden area of the hostel. For dinner, we decided on a treat-yourself-moment and went for dinner at Addis in Dar, a beautiful Ethiopian Restaurant.
No matter what your stance on Ethiopian food is, you will definitely find something to your liking on the menu. The food consists of curries with some typical flavours of Ethiopia, either vegetarian or with meat. If the injera, the traditional Ethiopian spongy flatbread, is not for you, there are plenty of other options! Try the Ethiopian coffee, sample some of the delectable deserts – no doubt you will find your culinary heaven.
The most amazing part about the restaurant is the setting though. Arriving at Addis in Cape, the restaurant looks like a private mansion. Walking in you will be greeted by beautiful traditional Ethiopian decor. The highlight is the wooden deck with lovingly set tables, overlooking a huge garden with palm- and fruit trees. While we settled into our seats with some wine, the sun was setting and we started to see a few bats fly by. With every minute though the stream of bats was increasing and it didn’t stop for at least one hour. We had no idea that we were dining in the daily flight path of the local bats on their way to the coast to catch insects. Next to the delicious food, the unreal setting, the bat encounter was definitely the highlight.
Talk about dinner and a show!
Some Crafty After-Dinner Drinks
After a good meal, a few drinks in a relaxed atmosphere are in order! Luckily we found a great place right next door to The Slow Leopard! The Crafty Dee’s Brewpub and Beergarden is a cool little microbrewery, the first of its kind in Dar es Salaam. They offer Pilsner, Lager, Pale Ale, IPA, Dark beers… you name it! All brewed in the vats visible in the cool, modern beer garden area. It’s a great place with a vibey atmosphere, inviting you to have more beers than initially planned.
I have to say that I am usually not a big craft beer fan, but I thoroughly enjoyed their Pilsner and we had a fabulous evening here.
If you are a craft beer fan, Crafty Dee’s is a must-visit when in Dar es Salaam. And if you are a fan of a couple of beers in a great atmosphere – Crafty Dee’s is the right address for you!
The Best Day Trip to Bongoyo Island
Even though we had an epic dinner and a few more beers at Crafty Dee’s, we didn’t get too carried away and had an early night. We had to be fit for our adventure the next day.
We were lucky enough to meet up with some local ex-pats – friends of friends – who had agreed to take us on a day out to Bongoyo Island. As it turned out the ferry to Bongoyo was leaving from the Slipway area, an easy 5-minute walking distance from our hostel! Talk about meant to be!
The Slipway area is a great little tourist spot with the Hotel Slipway at its centre, a little shopping area and bazaar around it as well as restaurants and cafes. All right by the water! It sounds grand, but it is quite small, cosy and not too confusing! The ticket counter for the ferry is easy to find by the water and this is where we met our new friends to take the first ferry at 9.30 am.
The Boat to Bongoyo
The boat tickets from the ferry terminal to Bongoyo Island cost 35,000 TZS or 20 USD per person. The ride takes about 30 minutes to get to the island and there is a minimum of 4 guests needed to get going. If you are travelling by yourself you might have to wait for a few more people.
Now, when there is talk about a ‘ferry’ and a ‘ferry terminal’, I feel I should clarify to avoid confusion and possible disappointment!
Once you purchased your tickets, you wait until one of the boat crew takes you down the pier. From here you hop on a tiny boat, not much bigger than a rowing boat to get to a bigger fishing boat. This is the boat that will take you over to Bongoyo Island! It is quite rustic, but 100% sufficient for the 30-minute boat ride! Bring a hat and some sunscreen, because there are only limited seats in the shade.
Once you are on the island you just check with the boat crew when you want to get back. They go back and forth every so often, supposedly every two hours, but it is all pretty informal. We made the most of our day and stayed until the last boat left at about 5 pm.
Bongoyo Island - A Little Piece Paradise
Arriving at Bongoyo was another mindboggling experience! Since we took the first ferry there was no one else on the island. Just pure white sand, turquoise water and mangrove forest as a backdrop. Looking back to the mainland you see parts of the city, while here you are on a small little island paradise! No noise, no people, no worries!
Once you arrive you pick a so-called banda, which is one of the wooden beach umbrellas that comes with a couple of beach beds. The price per banda is about 5,000 TZS (about 3 USD ) each. Make yourself comfortable in the shade while one of the friendly servers comes seemingly out of nowhere with a menu. Heaven! You choose your drinks and you get a rundown of what the fresh catch of the day is. Once you choose your meal, you let them know what time you would like to eat. That’s it! Your next mission is to relax on the beach and go swimming in the crystal clear waters of the island! You can have a walk around the beach, go snorkelling or just immerse yourself in the warm water! Maybe even with a cold beer!
The Food
Once your chosen lunchtime has arrived, one of the friendly waiting staff will come to fetch you to the rustic little restaurant hidden amongst the shady trees. What’s on the menu solely depends on what the catch of the day was. We were lucky since we could choose between fish, lobster and squid. For a mere 16 USD, you could get lobster, so we opted for fish and lobster to share. It was a delicious meal in such a nice rustic beachy atmosphere, it was lovely. To round it up we had a fresh fruit platter afterwards before resorting back to our banda and some more swimming.
Was it the Best Possible 24 Hours in Dar es Salaam?
Hell, yes! We could have not asked for a better day in Dar es Salaam. True, we haven’t seen much of the city and went on an island instead, but why rush around to see some churches and a couple of museums?
Bongoyo Island is a beautiful alternative, especially if you like to take it slow. Bring a good book along and just enjoy a relaxed day on a near-deserted island. We were lucky enough that we had the island pretty much to ourselves for the first 2 hours and even while more people were coming later, it was far from being crowded. It might be different on other days of course.
Always keep in mind that this is a more rustic experience, which adds to the Robinson Crusoe feel. If you come with the right mindset and a flexible attitude, you will have the best time!
I am so glad we took it slow, stayed in our neighbourhood and let go of ambitious plans to see as much as possible. Not having to travel all around town made a big difference. Obviously, an island paradise, great food and beautiful little watering holes made it all the more exciting. This all makes me want to come back to Dar es Salaam to explore more of the city. It surely deserves it!
A big Thank You to Gen, Chris and Laila, who spend the day with us and showed us the ropes. It was the perfect ending to our East Africa adventure.
Hopefully, you enjoyed this little excursion to Dar es Salaam and Bongoyo Island! This was the last for now on our East Africa explorations. Follow us next time to learn more about the best new trend in Cape Town!
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Thanks again and until next time!
