Dar Reality

It is possible to live in this country and never be confronted with the reality that it is one of the poorest nations in the world. A foreigner can spend his/her entire time on the "peninsula" with its expensive shops, restaurants and cafes  laid out on winding streets lined with flowering trees and mansions. Excursions downtown or to the airport in an airconditioned car might give one an inkling that another world exists, but since most of it is down tiny, dirt lanes off the major boulevards it is easy to pretend it is not there. 
One day last November (and again a few weeks ago) a few intrepid cyclists embarked on a tour of the Swahili neighbourhoods, led by Mejah,  who works for a small tour company specializing in "community benefiting tourism".  We delved into the areas between the boulevards which look like a sea of tin roofs, and which are mostly inaccessible by car. Apart from the fact that it was great to be on a bike again,  the day was wonderful in many other respects - we met friendly people, we found businesses and activities that we may revisit on our own, but mainly the tour demystified the area for us.

Here are a few of the places we visited:

Coffee sellers walk the streets, selling small cups of strong black coffee. The coffee is kept hot by coals in a pan under the pot. Here is where some of this coffee is made - first the beans are roasted over an open fire, then ground with a mortar and pestle. Then it is boiled over an open fire for a minute or two, and served with a peanut brittle type sweet. Absolutely delicious, and at 100Tsh ($0.08) for both, a bargain! It is a good example of the double economy which exists here - a cup of Espresso in a peninsula cafe would cost you at least 2000Tsh!

These children live in a house in which each of the 6  rooms in the main house and 2 in the shed in the back are inhabited by one family. Most of the living is done in this outdoor courtyard, although the charcoal cooking fires are in the hall inside. According to Mejah, this is a more "middle class" neighbourhood. 

This is the front verandah of the house. Like most Swahili houses, there is a business or two that operates from the verandah - in this case a shoe repair shop and a chapatti seller. 

Tiny fruit stalls abound in this neighbourhood - here is that wonderful jackfruit that Lars' curiousity demanded he buy - no one in our household at the time could imagine what its attraction  could be - it has a sticky consistency and a smell of bubble gum that didn't even seem to appeal to the crows  who scavenge on our balcony!

This low lying area, which floods frequently from this garbage choked stream, is in one of the poorest neighbourhoods. The little bridge (quite exciting to cross!) is maintained by Mejah's other affiliation - a small group dedicated to promoting cycling in the city. Their office is just across the bridge, and when we returned for a second time, the stream had been unchoked and considerably cleaned up by a community effort sparked by this group. It gives me hope for other areas in the city, where the scourge of plastic garbage (especially bags and water bottles) blocks drains and pollutes public areas. Blocked drains lead to floods, which when they involve the flooding of pit latrines and basic sewers, are a serious health issue (there have been several deaths in Dar due to cholera recently).

We dropped in on this traditional healer's house, and were shown her small garden (on the right) where she grows various  herbs known to cure common ailments.

A shop where traditional medicines are sold - ground up shells, herbs and many other concoctions whose ingredients were not divulged.

The "Old Traford" (sic) is one of many makeshift "movie theatres" where for 100Tsh, you can watch a video (usually Nigerian or one of the new Tanzanian productions). There didn't seem to be any women here, and unfortunately a lot of these theatres were extremely loud!

Street scene

This lady serves delicious ginger tea on her verandah

We stopped at the busy Tendale Market, where we learned about some of the mysterious ingredients that we see, but have not yet had the courage to try. This woman is pounding cassava leaves, which makes a paste good for stews etc and is apparently full of protein! And I always thought cassava was just a starch...

Almost any type of furniture you desire can be made locally - including coffins! (see centre of photo)
























When you don't own a lot, moving isn't such a big production! This person's possessions are being moved on a bicycle cart.

Not least of the wonders revealed on this tour was a whole street full of kange shops - an amazing selection of colours and designs. I was happy to find a non-touristy place to buy fabric.

Finally, as if we needed a another reminder of Dar's garbage problem, a few weeks ago, we went away for a couple of days and came home to this....After a big storm (blamed on El Nino), the sea gave up all the city's garbage that has made its way into it through the drains and other ways, and deposited it right on the beach outside our window! 

So there's a bit of Dar reality for you - the colour, the community, the garbage, the health issues, the vibrancy, the poverty, the human ingenuity in evidence at each turn....truly a city to inspire both love and despair. But lately I am choosing to have hope that things are getting better - witness  the 4 new classrooms at my school, all built since I was there in November!

Happy New Year!