Dar es Salaam — from the Arabic for “abode of peace” — is Tanzania’s largest city and its commercial centre. It was founded in the 1860s by the Sultan of Zanzibar, became the capital of German East Africa after Bagamoyo, and remains the country’s main port even though the political capital moved to Dodoma.
For most travellers it functions as a transit point: Julius Nyerere International Airport handles the southern circuit connections, the Zanzibar ferry leaves from the harbour, and the road south to Mikumi and Selous starts here.
It repays a day if you have one. The National Museum holds the Olduvai hominin material including casts of the Laetoli footprints; the Village Museum presents traditional architecture from across the country; Kariakoo market is the largest in East Africa; and the seafood at Kivukoni fish market is excellent early in the morning.