Dar Es Salaam: A Guilty Pleasure

My title for this entry came to mind sometime between puffing smoke rings through a pineapple flavored hookah and losing 15000 shillings at a black jack table. (Don't worry, it's not that much)

Though the casino might not treat your pocketbook kindly, I'm positive there are dozens of ways to strike it rich in this jewel by the sea. Here are a few:

Laundromat Franchise: It might be the dry season in Tanzania, but I'm soaking wet from dawn to dusk. Say goodbye to those Jane Fonda videos. Just keep breathing!

Recycling Center: Less trash melting = cooler climate!

Traffic Light Distributor: Sure, there are some faded white lines here and there that allegedly guide traffic, but in reality each intersection plunges traffic back into a Hobbesian state of war.

Dry Ice Street Vendor: need I say more?

Water Park: no others exist for thousands of miles....even Bill Gates will envy your monopolistic enterprise.

As you might have gathered, this city is HOT.

Dar Es Salaam (meaning 'Haven of Peace') is fascinatingly cosmopolitan- a confluence of African, Arab, and Indian cultures. I spent three days here en route to Nairobi. The city is known to be somewhat dangerous, though luckily I think bandits were distracted by the arrival of Princess Mathilde of Belgium (she must have known I was coming...)

On the train from Zambia, I met an Omani from Zanzibar named Qussay who showed me around the city, and even took me to the 'house of ill repute'- a beach bungalow owned by two very hip expats from South Africa and the UK. Definitely gave me some inspiration for retirement!