A week later, we got other volunteers from Croatia and Germany. These were the activities we did for the following week before I left for Zanzibar.
Visited Hotel Slipway
Hotel Slipway is located 7km from Dar es Saalam city in posh Msasani peninsula, right on the Indian Ocean overlooking Msasani Bay. It was on the opposite side of the city from where we were, so that meant we had to take the ferry. My friends were not the biggest fan of using the ferry but I didn’t mind it at all. I have used the ferry in Diani and it is quite similar, only difference is that here it seems more organized and you have to pay for it even if you are not using a car. There is an option of using a bridge if you don’t wish to use the ferry. The bridge is called Nyerere Bridge and it’s a fairy new modern bridge that connects the two sides of the city.
After crossing the ferry, we took a tuktuk to Hotel Slipway. One the way, I could notice a stark difference between the Masaki area and where we were staying in Kigamboni. This place was definitely one of the affluent neighborhoods in Dar es Saalam. The place was super clean with really nice roads and posh buildings. There was a part of the road that was passing right 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 went to one of the restaurants at the place that was right next to the ocean. The views were fantastic, and the food and drinks were great. It was a fun place to explore. From there we went to the beach in Kigamboni.
Visited a Buddhist Temple
Let me back-track to the first time I got to Dar es Saalam. I had a one night lay-over at a place called Kinondoni in city, it was at a hostel. At the hostel, I met a guy from China who was traveling around Africa and had been in Dar es Saalam for almost a month or so. He happened to be volunteering at a Buddhist temple in Dar es Saalam as a translator, he was translating Chinese to English. The place was ran by Chinese monks who didn’t speak English, so he assisted in translating. He invited me to visit the Buddhist temple and since when did I ever say no to a new experience like this? This would be my first time in a Buddhist temple. I had zero clue of what the Buddhist religion entailed, and I was about to find
A Buddhist temple is the last thing I expected to find in Dar es Saalam, this place is dominated by Islam religion. It actually happens to be the only Buddhist temple in Dar es Saalam. It’s called Longquan Tanhua Monastery. It is ran by Chinese monks, who adapted orphans from the city and are raising them up in the Buddhist culture. The little kids are from 6-10 years old and know how to speak in Chinese. They wake up at 5:30am to attend Buddhist prayer sessions. It is not very common to meet little African kids speaking in 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 did not utter a word, he handed me a ribbon bag with little goodies, a bracelet, made a small bow and left. Quite fascinating. I even performed a little Buddhist fortune telling ritual where I shook some sticks in a wooden jar until one fell off. Each stick has a number on it that is translated into a fortune - My fortune said that I would be successful in farming business and that my first child will be a son, haha! I also learned that the Nazis stole the Swastika symbol from the Buddhist and turned the symbol upside down to make it their symbol.
There was also another volunteer from Australia at the temple. He was doing some research about Buddhism as he volunteered there. I was surprised at how good he was in Speaking Swahili, only took him 6 months tol learn. Seeing other people travel the world and volunteer gave me even more motivation to continue doing what I am doing.
The temple was just next to the beach, actually a beach front, so my friend and I took a little relation time on the beach then I went back to the children’s village. That was probably the most adventurous day I had in Dar es Saalam, and I completely loved it!
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.
