My recent post asking for tips on what to read on Tanzania and Dar es Salaam yielded some great emails. I've compiled the recommendations and am sharing them back here: Books:
- James Brennan, Taifa: Making Nation and Race in Urban Tanzania
- Brennan, Burton, and Lawi, Dar es Salaam: Histories from an Emerging African Metropolis
- Maddox and Giblin, In Search of a Nation: Histories of Authority & Dissidence in Tanzania
- Work by Joe Lugalla
- North of South
- Empires of the Monsoon
- Novels by Aniceti Kitereza
- An Ice Cream War
Papers:
- Bjerk, Paul K. "Sovereignty and socialism in Tanzania: the historiography of an African state." (PDF)
- Lal, Priya. "Self-Reliance and the State: The Multiple Meanings of Development in Early Post-Colonial Tanzania."
News:
- The East African got a lot of recommendations.
- Also, Pambazuka, Mwananchi/The Citizen, and Nipashe/The Guardian.
Blogs:
No recommendations so far, alas. Anyone?
Food:
- quick local bite: Chef's Pride on Morogoro Road
- Lukas Bar on Chole Road
- Al Basha (good Lebanese food)
- Al-Qayam
- Badminton Club and Retreat (Indian)
Travel and sights:
- In Dar: The National Museum (on Sokoine Street). I actually visited this already and found it quite interesting, especially the exhibits on history and rock art.
- "Zanzibar and Pemba are affordable and gorgeous and filled with history"
- "Mikumi is a less expensive game park if that is your thing"
- Arusha and Kilimanjaro
- Kariakoo market (with good Swahili or a guide)
- Udzungwa Mountains National Park (with camping gear)
Map:
- "The coolest map remains the really simple photocopied black-and-white line one of the city center that every hotel gives out for free."
Swahili:
- Get a dictionary and go "to one of the many school supply shops to buy some elementary school Swahili books. These are books designed to teach Swahili to students in the interior who are only generally only hearing Swahili at school (sometimes church), and they'll definitely get you up to speed."
- Live Lingua has the Peace Corps' Swahili resources.