East Africa's Indian Ocean capital — where nyama choma charcoal grill, urojo soup, and the Kariakoo market define a city that every safari traveller passes through and almost none stop to explore
Dar es Salaam — 'Haven of Peace' in Arabic — is Tanzania's largest city and commercial capital, a sprawling Indian Ocean port that most travellers use as a transit point for Zanzibar or the northern safari circuit, but which rewards the ones who linger. The city's food is a genuine fusion of Swahili, Arab, Indian, and East African traditions: nyama choma (charcoal-grilled goat and beef, served with kachumbari tomato salsa and ugali), urojo soup (a complex Zanzibar-influenced curry-coconut broth with bhajia fritters, boiled eggs, and green mango), mishkaki (skewered street meat), and fresh sea…
The site of Dar es Salaam was a small fishing village when Sultan Seyyid Majid of Zanzibar began developing it as a mainland port in 1862. German East Africa established it as the colonial capital from 1891; the British took control after World War I under the League of Nations mandate, calling the territory Tanganyika. Tanzania was created in 1964 by the union of independent Tanganyika and Zanzibar, with Dar es Salaam as the capital. The city's Indian Ocean position made it the endpoint of the slave trade routes from the interior — the German Boma (fort) still stands near the harbour as a re…