Attractions in Dar-es-Salaam
1) The National Museum
2) Nyerere Cultural Centre
3) Mwenge
Village
4) Village Museum
5) Botanical Gardens
6) Askari Monument
7) Old Boma
8) Azania Front Lutheran Church
9) The State House
THE NATIONAL MUSEUM
The National Museum of Tanzania is a body corporate established by Act of Parliament.
It is a scientific educational and cultural institution charged with the duties
of collecting, conserving, displaying, and researching on all materials relating
to Tanzanian’s cultural and natural heritage. The history of the National Museum
of Tanzania dates back to the year 1934 when the Governor of Tanganyika Territory
Sir Harold Mac Michael conceived the idea of Museum for Dar es Salaam. After the
death of King George V his Memorial Museum was built and open to the public in 1940.
The building is still in use today and consists of two exhibition halls.
Currently, the National Museum of Tanzania incorporates the Dar es Salaam Museum
along Shaaban Robert Street, the Village Museum along Ali Hassan Mwinyi
Road in Dar es Salaam, the Natural History Museum along Boma Road in Arusha, the
Arusha Declaration Museum situated along Kaloleni road in Arusha and the Mwl. J.K.
Nyerere Museum in Butiama, Musoma.
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NYERERE CULTURAL CENTRE
Next to the Royal Palm Hotel is the NYUMBA YA SANAA or Nyerere Cultural Centre.
In this tranquil setting built around an open-air pond you can browse undisturbed
among samples of local arts and crafts - handmade paper, batik, paintings, jewelry,
even shoes - all for sale, or just sit over a soda or lunch.
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MWENGE VILLAGE
Mwenge Village is the site of a score or more stalls selling carvings, jewelry,
exotic cloth and trinkets of all kinds at bargain (as long as you do!) prices. This
is where dealers from Nairobi come to buy.
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VILLAGE MUSEUM
Also in the Mwenge direction, right off the busy New Bagamoyo Road, is the VILLAGE
MUSEUM. Makumbusho Village features traditional homes found in different parts of
Tanzania, representing 18 ethnic tribes. Visitors can walk through the homes and
watch examples of traditional painting, weaving and carving by artists and craftsmen.
The dwellings include furnished huts, cattle pens, and meeting places.
The Makumbusho Village Museum holds Ngoma, traditional dances each Thursday and
Sunday as well as other cultural activities. The performances include recruits from
all over Tanzania. A guide can explain the origin of the dances, which often end
with acrobatics.
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BOTANICAL GARDENS
The first Director of Agriculture, Professor Stuhlmann, originally laid out the
Botanical Gardens in Dar es Salaam in 1893. The newly restored building that houses
the Department of Agriculture was built in 1903, by which time the Botanical Gardens
were well established.
The oasis of indigenous plants has an enchanting mix of flowers and plants including
one of the few places in the world to see the coco-de-mer palm tree that is native
to Seychelles.
The Botanical Gardens also became the home of Dar es Salaam Horticultural Society,
which still has a building on site that has undergone some restoration with most
of the exhibits now labeled.
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ASKARI MONUMENT
The Askari Monument stands on the location of statue to Major Herman Von Wissmann,
a German explorer and soldier, who became Governor of German East Africa in 1895.
The first statue of Von Wissmann was erected in 1911 to celebrate the German victory
in 1888, and then demolished in 1916 when the British occupied Dar es Salaam.
The current statue, Askari Monument, is cast in bronze and depicts an askari (soldier)
in a World War I uniform, the bayonet of his rifle pointing towards the nearby harbor.
The monument commemorates the African troops who fought and died during the 1914-18
conflict. Rudyard Kipling, the famous British writer and poet wrote the inscription
that appears in English and Swahili.
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OLD BOMA
Old Boma is Dar es Salaam's oldest surviving building; constructed in 1867. Old
Boma was built to accommodate the guests of Sultan Seyyid Majid who had a palace
located next door. Items to note within Old Boma include a door from Zanzibar and
coral walls. Three years after the building was completed, the Sultan Majid died,
and the city he had constructed fell into disrepair.
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AZANIA FRONT LUTHERAN CHURCH
German missionaries built Azania Front Lutheran Church in 1898. The red-tile belfry
rises above the surrounding rooftops and the whitewashed building is still a recognizable
landmark in Dar es Salaam. The tiled canopies over the windows provide shade and
the gardens are a welcome retreat for weary tourists. The front entrance faces the
harbor. At one time Azania was the center of the original 19th C German mission;
it is now the cathedral for the diocese.
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THE STATE HOUSE
The State House was the original residence of the German Governor; built in the
late 1890s by Germany. At one time, the State House had tall Islamic-style arches
on the ground floor and a veranda with railing on the upper level. Cast-iron columns
also supported the roof.
In 1914, the British nearly destroyed the building during World War I. In 1922 the
State House was rebuilt with similar arches on the ground floor but scalloped arches
on the upper level and a tower with a crenellated railing. The style is more in
tune with East African architecture. The State House is now the home of the current
president and not open to the public.
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