A week later, we got more volunteers from Croatia and Germany. These are the activities we did a week before I left for Zanzibar.
Visited Hotel Slipway
Hotel Slipway is located 7km from Dar es Saalam city, right by Ocean overlooking Msasani Bay. It was on the opposite side from where we were, which meant we had to take the ferry. My friends were not all excited with the prospect of using the ferry but I didn’t mind it at all. The ferry experience was a tad bit similar to the one back home in Diani, with the difference being that this was more organized and a payment was required regardless if you have a car or not, contrary to the one back home. There is the option of taking a taxi and using Nyerere bridge instead, if you don't fancy the ferry.
After taking the ferry, we hopped on a tuktuk to Hotel Slipway. One the way, I noticed a stark difference between the Masaki area and our residence in Kigamboni. This place was definitely one of the affluent neighborhoods in Dar es Saalam. It was super clean with really nice roads and posh buildings. There was a section of the road winding next to the ocean, you’d think you are in Cape Town.
Hotel slipway was the typical touristy location, filled with a lot of tourists. The first thing we came across was a huge curio shopping center before getting to the hotel. My friends were excited to check it out, but this wasn’t new to me because we have many curio shops in Kenya.
We picked a restaurant that was right next to the ocean and enjoyed fantastic views with good food and music. The vibes were immaculate. From there we set off to the beach in Kigamboni.
Visited a Buddhist Temple
Let me back-track to the first time I got to Dar es Saalam city. I took a one night lay-over at a hostel in Kinondoni. At the hostel, I met a Chinese guy who was traveling around Africa and had been in Dar es Saalam for a month or so. He happened to be volunteering at a Buddhist temple in Dar es Saalam as a translator, translating Chinese to English. The temple was ran by Chinese monks who didn’t speak English, so he assisted in translating. He invited me to visit the temple and since when did I say no to a new exciting experience? This would be my first time in a Buddhist temple and I had zero clue of what the Buddhist religion entailed, I was about to find out.
A Buddhist temple is the last thing I expected to find in Dar es Saalam, a city dominated by the Islamic religion. It happens to be the only Buddhist temple in Dar es Saalam, not surprising at all. It’s called Longquan Tanhua Monastery, ran by Chinese monks who adapted orphans from the city and are raising them in the Buddhist ways. The children are from 6-10 years old and are taught Chinese. They wake up at 5:30am to attend Buddhist prayer sessions. It is not very common to meet African kids speaking Chinese, let alone adults. My friend took me on a tour around the temple and I remember one of the monks giving me a little gift package. He handed me a little gift bag without uttering a single word beside a single bow, I'm assuming he took a vow of silence? The little gift bag contained a bracelet, some little sweets and a fruit. I found that bizarre but very kind of him.
The most exciting part of my visit was when I got to perform a Buddhist fortune telling ritual. I shook some sticks in a wooden jar until one fell off. The stick had a number on it that was translated into a fortune - My fortune said I would be successful in a farming business and that my first child will be a son, haha!
That day I learned that the Nazis stole the Swastika symbol from the Buddhist and turned it upside down to make it their symbol, outrageous!
There was another volunteer from Australia at the temple. He was volunteering there as he did his research about Buddhism for his master's thesis. I was surprised at how good he was in Speaking Swahili and it only took him 6 months to learn! Seeing other people travel the world and learn from their adventures gave me more motivation to explore and pursue endless possibilities.
My friend took me around the grounds of the temple and showed me the little farm where they were planting crops and I got to meet the workers and the kids as well. The temple was right next to the beach, so afterwards my friend and I went to relax by the beach then I went back to the children’s village. This day turned out to be the most adventurous day I had in Dar es Saalam and I am so glad I visited the temple.
Attended Tanzania’s Saba day
Every 7th day of July is a holiday in Tanzania called Saba Saba day. They organize a big expo where businesses of all sorts come to market themselves to the public. Talk about banks, mineral companies, tech companies, wine companies etc.! The public turns up in huge numbers, parents take their children to experience this, and it is like a fun fair. It reminded me of my childhood days when we used to attend an event called “Show” where businesses would market themselves and there were tons of fun things for kids to do. The chef at the children’s village is the one who invited me and the other volunteers. She was taking her kids to the event. The place was fully packed with people and businesses. It is quite stressful walking with a kid as they can easily get lost if you are not careful. One funny incident was when some guy next to a wine stand was telling everyone taking a sample of the wine to be ashamed of themselves. We were tasting the wine as he was screaming next to us. I remember asking a mineral company how much it cost to get Tanzanite stone, and that is how my plans of getting that as a souvenir went out the window. Apparently Tanzanite costs more than gold because it is rare.
Explored Dar es Saalam city.
On the day that I went to the Buddhist temple, I started off by running errands first. This day I went out alone because I was running personal errands. I was going to pay for my ferry ticket to Zanzibar because the online booking system wasn’t working. I remember getting a little excited when I was told East African citizens pay less than other tourists. Now that is the spirit of brotherhood, I payed $35 instead of $50- every coin counts for a budget traveler. From there I needed to access a bank ATM, and I was very happy the bank I use in Kenya had a branch in Dar es Saalam. That meant less charges on withdrawals, I was previously charged a hefty amount for withdrawing at a Tanzanian bank. All this time I was using google maps to navigate. Dar es Saalam city reminded me so much of Nairobi city, only cheaper. I’d be lying to say I didn’t have thoughts of moving here permanently, who wouldn’t want to live in a beautiful city next to the ocean? They are a fair amount of sky scrapers here and the city was cleaner than Nairobi. I enjoyed just walking around and looking at the various buildings.
Dar es Saalam was a beautiful city and the fact that it is right adjacent to Zanzibar makes it an incredible place to live, in my opinion. When you are tired of the bustling city life, you can take a quick trip to Zanzibar to unwind.
