DAR-ES-SALAAM

In 2012 I went to Mali to visit friends, Bonkana and David and children. Since the family moved back to Eugene, and David took a two year contract in TANZANIA, which was ending in May. So a three week trip was planned for April 2016. Tanzania is the "shot-gun" marriage of the island of Zanzibar and the mainland country of Tanganyika, which is pronounced in Swahili pronunciation as "tahn-zahn-EE-ah". A pretty different pronunciation than English's" tan-zuh-NEE-ah".

I like to think the blue is the ocean around Zanzibar and the green is the spreading green cover of forests and fields of Tanganyika, and that the yellow and black stripes indicate the divided which still exists between them. This is not so; check Wikipedia for more accepted meanings.

The land area is about California doubled, with 51 million people, of which 1.3 live on Zanzibar. California has 39 million, so there is more elbow room in Tanzania. The trip started in Dar es Salaam, then over to Zanzibar, back through Dar to David's home in Morogoro, a four hour drive west. A trip to Iringa (5 hours), and on to Ruaha National Park (2 more hours west) was taken while there. The route was retraced back through Iringa to Monogoro, and finally back to Dar.

Dar (4.3 million) is not quite as orderly as Dubai....but is similar in planning and construction to many developing metropolises.

The airport is graced with the name of the popular first president, Julius Nyerere (1922-1999), as well as with the wonderful "umbrella" concrete columns. In hot humid climates, a roof for shade and rain protection is needed, but solid or glazed walls are not.

Airport arrivals are not like Dubai's either! When presented a passport with a visa already in it, the men with yellow were both surprised, and happy to show the way through the throng filling out visa applications, to a fairly short line at immigration.

Nothing like starting at the State House, which, even though the capital moved to the interior city of Dodoma in 1996, still plays an important role in governmental affairs. To wit, it, not Dodoma, is where Obama visited in 2014. The motto, "Uhuru na Umoja" is Swahili for Freedom and Unity".

It would appear Obama was a great hit, the road in front was re-named in his honor. Even though too late to see the Presidential procession, Raphael anyway tips his hat as he gazes at the street. Not only does the Emperor have no cloths, he isn't even there! The historic State House (built by the Germans in 1890's) is not open for tourists to get near, (indeed even hanging out front taking pictures of the gate will provoke an armed response from solders in a fast moving jeep!).

Zanzibar's Second Vice President's Office is housed in a historic building with coral rubble base, and open grill windows and three levels of shading roofs...traditional building elements in this climate.

The National Health Insurance Ocean Road Hospital, also German built in the 1890's, also evidences traditional tropical climate architecture. Exterior galleries with arched openings which shade interior spaces, and provide plenty of openings for ventilation, whose circulation is enhanced by high small windows.

The Bonge Primary School's (1939), courtyard has a diorama has many of the animals of Tanzania and Mt. Kilimanjaro as well.

The building's solid lower section resist the tropical downpours, the perforated upper sections provides air flow to the rooms, and the over-hang protects the grilles from sun and rain, and students walking along it.

The lower walls also are permanent text-book" pages": a map highlighting the various districts....

...or illustrations of food with charbohydates and vitamins.

Another 1890's German structure is this Lutheran Church...a bit more Bavarian than tropical Africa in design.

And to now really get away from designing with the climate, the the 1960's International Style must rely on a lot of air conditioning to compensate from the solar gain through all that glass. A saving grace, the windows to open! And another are the water elements providing some evaporative cooling...

...and found on the inside as well.

Walking along the waterfront a long line of "bajaji's" portend something....

...a river ferry terminal!

Of course the moto's, being smaller, get as close to the potential fares as possible...

...while the rukus of getting a passenger, and then getting out of the traffic jam, goes on behind them.

One last passenger goes for the moto. while bajaji drivers who did not snare one, wait for the next boat to arrive.

Further down the river is the fishing port. Boats get left high and dry at low tide.

Time for maintenance and laundry and hanging out.

Up on shore the day's catch is laid out for sale.

Further inland are other shopping venues. Britian was the last colonial master, leaving a legacy of English signage and mandatory instruction in primary as well as secondary schools.

So us English speakers can read in on the store's management issues....

Out on the edge of town, in the district of Makumbasho is the Mwenge Handicraft Village. A slow time of year for tourists and sales, there was plenty of space at the parking area and ...

......in the shops, and plenty of attention was paid to potential buyers.

The Kindai Art Centre, on the right, ...

... tho packed to the ceiling, was neat and tidy, and ....

...the propriator, Mrs. Caroline Kessy, was charming, welcoming and informative.

Around a muddy football pitch in back were craft-people at work, drawing textile patterns, or ...

...finishing off wood utensils. Caroline explained the rough cutting and shaping is done in rural villages then finished and sold in Dar.

The man in red in back, who claimed to be a painter of large pictures, was actually a tout...once it was clear large pictures were not of interest, he went from shop to shop seeking to make a sale. He would get a commission for his success. The man with the spoons was glad to hold them for a photo to be sent off for approval before a purchase was made.