Top 3 places to check out in Dar Es Salaam

Waiting for our big bag at the Julius Nyerere International Airport

We only stayed there for a night, but Dar Es Salaam proved to us that we didn't need more than twelve hours to explore a city. It's a very safe place by African standards, except for the pesky insects. A sausage fly bit my right index finger and caused it to swell into a big purple (yup) sausage. But I'm fine. I lived to see what Dar had to offer. And I loved it.

www.holidayinn.com

1. Holiday Inn Dar Es Salaam. This is the perfect starting point of your rendezvous with Dar. Bang in the center of the city. We  checked in, headed out, and wandered semi-aimlessly, with the sea as our preferred destination. We reached the sea, looked at the waters in deep thought for a very, very brief moment, and went to the nearest pub, right around the corner.

2. New Africa Casino. The capital of Tanzania is the fastest growing city in the world, LBT read somewhere. And while high-rise buildings have not blocked the clouds yet, a few high-end, freshly painted (or renovated) structures suggest that its economy is gradually moving forward. New Africa Casino is one of them. We happily busted through the doors and the sight of slot machines and gambling tables and African men in suits excited us. All the waitresses were cacao-skinned voluptuous beauties, except for a tiny Chinese lady who emerged out of nowhere to take our order. (I knew China must have some form of presence in the world's fastest growing city!) We were sternly asked not to take pictures just as we were preparing to take a few snaps. And as we headed out, we were chased by the waitresses and were falsely accused of not paying for our drinks. Pretty intense....ly awesome!

3. Break Point. We stumbled upon a low-key sports bar as we sauntered and giggled away from New Africa Casino. We had our second round of drinks, and decided we didn't have much time. We needed to keep exploring and make our presence known as far as our tired but restless feet could take us. We continued our stroll and in seconds our ears were filled with the sweet sound that could only come from an authentic African live band. We followed the tune.We turned left onto a narrow street, and a light was shining a few hundred meters away. The booming bass that electrified the ground teased our feet as if to say, "You can't dance until you find us!" And find them, we did. Who's them? The patrons and performers of Break Point, a cool outdoor nightclub that had everything LBT and I needed to cap our awesome night. The six-piece African band played a few love songs and a bunch of dance hits, all in Swahili. Their tunes had a reggae-slash-tribal vibe to it, which we loved! Upon ordering his second (or eighth, who's counting?) bottle of Kilimanjaro, LBT felt the urge to let the whole place know that "I wanna live in Tanzania!" Thank God the music got progressively louder at this point, so no one really heard him. Whew. We called it a night in the middle of a Swahili dance intermission.

We are obviously not photographers.

Today, sitting at my office table 2,500 miles away, our Dar adventure seems so distant and surreal, as if it never happened. But one look at my healing, peeling sausage finger reminded me that it did. Oh yeah it did.

Dar traffic sucks though.