Best Way to Spend 2 Days in Dar es Salaam on a Budget: Bus & Leisure Tips

Dar Es Salaam, although the former capital of Tanzania, still functions like a capital. It is generally used as a transit point or for replenishing supplies, where you can buy things and eat Chinese food. There is a very large and comprehensive Chinese supermarket here.

🏡 Accommodation: Kibodya Hotel 6
It is 900 meters from the Zanzibar ferry terminal. The room with breakfast, private bathroom, and fan costs 25k/¥68 but does not have a mosquito net. The 40k room has air conditioning and a mosquito net. Staying in the 25k room during the rainy season with a fan is not hot. This room type is only available for walk-in guests and cannot be booked online.

🚢 Inter-city Transportation:
1⃣️ Moshi-Dar es Salaam
Ticket: 42k/¥115, travel time 9 hours, departs at 8 am and arrives at 5 pm. The drop-off point is UBUNGO, and taking a tuk-tuk to the Zanzibar ferry terminal costs 7k/¥19.

2⃣️ Dar es Salaam-Zanzibar
There are three companies. The ferry times between Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar are 7, 9:30, 12, and 4 pm. The fare is $35 and can be paid by card. The journey takes 1 hour.

🚌 In-city Transportation:
For cheap travel, you can use Bolt to hail a motorcycle taxi/🛺 or take the BRT bus.

1⃣️ BRT:
👉🏻 From the Zanzibar ferry terminal to CR Vanguard Supermarket: Take BRT bus 03 to Morocco, which costs 750 shillings, then walk 1 km to arrive.
👉🏻 From the Zanzibar ferry terminal to Magafuli Bus Station: Take bus 01 to Kimara, the final stop, for 750 shillings/¥2, then switch to a minibus for 500 shillings to the main bus station.
👉🏻 From the Zanzibar ferry terminal to Ubungo Bus Station: Take bus 02 to BRT Shekilango Ubungo for 750 shillings/¥2.

2⃣️ Tuk-tuk:
👉🏻 From Ubungo to the Zanzibar ferry terminal, it costs 7k/¥21.
👉🏻 From Magafuli to the ferry terminal, it costs 20k/¥55.

🚶 Citywalk:
📍 St. Joseph Cathedral: A pretty church, with a BRT station nearby.
📍 Mzizima Fish Market: A fish market, but I didn’t go.
📍 Chinatown Supermarket: Has more comprehensive Chinese goods than CR Vanguard. In the small community, there are bakeries, Yunnan rice noodles, and Luosifen, making it convenient for dining and shopping.

📍 Sea Cliff Hotel/Coco Beach: This bay area has many luxury restaurants, and you can see the sea nearby, but it’s said that there are many people who snatch phones around here.

🍲 Food and Drink:
🥘 Wei Zhong Wei
Serves large portions at moderate prices. The spicy beef casserole I ordered was 15k/¥45 for a big bowl, enough for two people. It had a lot of side dishes, the beef was tender, and the flavor was strong, suiting my taste, though it made me thirsty. The mango black glutinous rice coconut juice slush was 10k/¥30, but I found it a bit too sweet, and the coconut milk was a bit heavy.

🥘 Shao Dian Dian
A newly opened Yunnan restaurant. The small pot rice noodles cost 18k/¥50. The rice noodles are soft, which I like, and the portion is generous. There are also many Yunnan specialty dishes, and the place has air conditioning, making it very comfortable.

🍞 Sister Li’s Bakery
I went to the branch in Chinatown, located inside the supermarket. They have a wide variety of cakes, toast, bread, and cookies, all made by Chinese bakers. Finally, I found soft and not overly sweet bread, which suits the Chinese palate. I bought coconut cream buns for 8k/¥24.