Jambo!

As most of you know (especially if you follow me on Insta), last week I returned from a 2-week break in Tanzania! It was my first time stepping into Africa let alone Tanzania, so I was more than ready to immerse myself in a completely new culture and experience the country as much as I could while I was there. I also created the hashtag #KavitaTakesTanzania on Instagram so do check that out if you're interested in seeing more pics from my trip!

I could go on about every little thing I did while I was in Tanzania but I thought I'd share just 10 key facts from my personal experience. I spent the majority of my time in Dar-es-salaam and a weekend in Zanzibar. Tanzania is a huge country with so much to offer outside of where I visited so I'm sure my experiences will differ to those that have visited elsewhere in Tanzania. Without further ado, here are my 10 wow facts on Tanzania!

1. "Africa is full of huts"

In quotation marks because that is a phrase I've heard one too many times! I can't speak for the whole continent but Dar is not full of huts! Tanzania is one of the fastest growing economies with their best sectors being tourism, banking and telecommunications. Yes, the country still has a fair way to go in comparison to other African countries and the Western World but instead of looking at TZ on a discrete scale of "rich" and "poor", we should acknowledge how far the country has come and take the time out to see Tanzania for what it really is.

It might also be useful to look up the history of Africa to see why it became such a poor continent in the first place. Poorer generations had to use easily accessible materials to build huts as homes for their families. Naturally, huts have become very ingrained in the African culture and are now popular choices of architecture at restaurants and hotels like the DoubleTree by Hilton as seen below.

2. Fresh fruit everywhere!

A large proportion of my camera roll is fruit, it was so hard to narrow down how many photos I uploaded to this post! I definitely got more than my 5 a day while I was in TZ and also tried so many fruits for the first time. The fruit in this country is insanely better than fruit I have tried in any other country I've been to so far. The pineapples and watermelons are so juicy and fresh, the passionfruit omg THE PASSIONFRUIT 😍 the mangoes, the grapefruits, the jackfruit (not usually a fan but TZ changed me), so many other fruits that I don't even know the names of but were just 👌🏽👌🏽👌🏽. Basically, you can't go wrong with trying any fruit while you are here.

The next best thing after eating fresh fruit in TZ? Drinking fresh fruit juices! Fresh fruit juices are available at almost all restaurants and malls. Do not go to TZ without having as much fruit as you can - I miss my fruit breakfasts already!

3. Everyone knows Gujarati

The most spoken language in Tanzania is Swahili and I think the second one should be Gujarati because literally, everyone in shops, restaurants & hotels could speak Gujarati. It doesn't matter what ethnicity they are - they can probably communicate to you in Gujarati better than in English. Another thing I realised was, many words I thought were Gujarati, were actually in fact Swahili! Towards the end of the trip, I really doubted my language skills as I didn't know what words belonged to which language (I also didn't have data to quickly Google Translate). At least I know more Swahili than just the Jambo Bwana song!

4. The "Sekelu" Trend

I don't have any photos for this one but Sekelu (Gujarati) basically means barbequed which seems to be this new food obsession in Dar. Everything is Sekelu. Everyday is a day for a Sekelu dinner. I even feel the need to type Sekelu with a capital S because it feels like that much of an official trend. Apparently, Dar wasn't this obsessed with Sekelu food a few years ago but expect to see bbq chicken and mutton everywhere you go. The famous Zanaki Street known for its grilled meats is always so busy because everyone is there for the Sekelu - even driving down the street with the windows up, you will catch a whiff of Sekelu. Unlike the majority, I didn't have Sekelu everyday - I prefer to go vegetarian for most days of the week, especially while abroad!

5. Palm trees look good at any time of day, in any angle

Being from the UK, the only trees I really see are apple trees or Christmas trees so I really do appreciate palm trees when I see them! It's a reminder that you're on holiday and that you're not too far from a fresh coconut water stand!

6. Safety needs some work

As mentioned earlier, Tanzania still has some developing to do and as it is developing, crime rates are also starting to increase in the city. When you can't even feel assured that your car parked in The Kilimanjaro parking area is safe, you kinda need to start worrying. Street robberies and 'Bag & Drag' are some of the things you need to be aware of before you head to Tanzania. Some of the new government policies are resulting in reduced welfare for lower-income families and so many are opting in criminal activities in order to make a living. So, some out-of-city areas probably aren't the safest to walk around in alone as tourists. When criminals see tourists, they only see dollar signs so you're better off with a local guide or driving!

7. Arabia Coffee

Arabic coffee is really popular here and one of the best souvenirs you can get from Tanzania is coffee! Africafe is one of the most popular coffee brands in Africa and as you can see, they stock a lot of it in local supermarkets! There were 3-4 more isles stocked full of different instant coffee and coffee bean brands. Unfortunately, I'm not a coffee-drinker so I couldn't appreciate it that much but I took a photo anyway!

8. Entrepreneurial Talent

Although Tanzania is primarily an agricultural country, there is so much more talent in the people of Tanzania that goes unrecognised! Dar City seems to be full of many accountants, bankers and businessmen but even those who do not have that education or background are hustling hard everyday. People really do take pride in the work that they do - from scratch! I saw people using fresh glue from trees to neatly seal and package bags of spices and nuts. I also met someone who was helping his deaf & dumb brother sell his amazing artwork to tourists. It's really refreshing to see the passion for hustle, hope and happiness many people have here even though they might not have the same standard of living we have in comparison.

9. You can shop anything without getting out of your car.

Basically, any shop can be turned into a drive through (as long as you know Swahili or Gujarati)! Whether you stop outside a convenience store for a bottle of water, some sekelu, fruit, peanuts, spices - you can call them over to your car. The deal is done and dusted without you even getting outside of your car. It just makes convenience stores seem so much less convenient! Side note: driving through the city is safest with your windows up as people do walk by selling you stuff (socks, windscreen wipers, mogo chips, plastic toys, water bottles etc etc) and there have been incidents in the past of having phones snatched! So, no drive-throughs at traffic lights, only outside shops. 👍

10. Ocean views for days

Oyster Bay is the spot for some chill time by the sea or even if you want to grab dinner/drinks with some views! I don't live by the sea so again this is something I definitely appreciate when I'm travelling. Everywhere you turn is another Instagram post waiting to happen which I can't say the same for in the UK! The only thing I dislike is the way the salty water attacks my curly hair. Humidity is one thing but combined with salty water is just something that turned my hair into an angry lioness' mane.

The final photo is a view of Tanzania from the plane window. It was amazing to fly over and see the size of Tanzania and the rest of Africa in the distance - especially because for the longest time, Africa was made out to be much smaller on the map than it really is.

Thank you for making it to the end of my 10 wow facts of my trip to Tanzania! This is just the first post of my #KavitaTakesTanzania series on my blog so stay tuned to see some more posts in the next couple weeks!

Kavita K xo

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