First week impressions

Dar es Salaam, like any city, is a maze of streets packed with buildings and people.  It’s just that the packing is a little tighter than Canadian cities and there aren’t any parks to escape to. None of the roads have signs, and only the main roads have referable names.  Also, it’s only the major roads which are paved.  The rest of the dirt roads constantly kick dust up into the air making things…well…dusty.  Poorer quality side roads frequently instigate meetings between you and your vehicle’s ceiling. While particularly deep holes in the road are usually repaired with a couple bricks and some dirt, in desperate situations they are just filled with garbage...and sometimes a metal pipe is implanted across the chasm for support. Some side streets are peppered with chickens, others with cats and dogs, and still others with goats.  But every street, no matter how remote or at what time of day, will have people on it.  People walking to work or school, people carrying outrageously large amounts of materials on their head, people yelling about the football match, people playing checkers, people sweeping the front of their shop, people buying food, people selling food.  If you are stopped on Bogamoyo road, people will run up to your car and try to sell you a coat rack. Yes, an entire coat rack.  Or a skipping rope, or hangers, or sunglasses, or any one of a hundred other trinkets.  And if you are one of these pedestrians on the Dar streets, you better watch out - motors always, always have the right of way!  I’m not sure if all these people filling the streets have a permanent residence.  It doesn’t always seem that there are enough houses to fit everybody.  And yet, people are constantly stepping in and out of the small huts and shops.  These buildings are moderate and simple…built from cement…or sometimes from sticks, mud, and bricks…and topped off with a roof of sheet metal or clay tile, but I’ve also seen roofs made from palm branches.  I’m eager to explore some places further outside the city...and maybe spend some time on the coast.  I wonder what the islands are like! And where do I find some mountains?!