Night Life in Dar es Salaam

Dar es Salaam arguably has the best night life in East Africa. More now than ever because a lot of the neighboring countries are still on lockdown or have city curfews. Tourists from around the world are flocking to experience life in Tanzania adding to its very active night scene. 

My family currently resides in the Kinondoni District of Dar es Salaam so, my night life experience is solely based on this area of town. Night life starts very late. A typical night begins around midnight. We start off at a local bar for pregame drinks, nyama choma + chips mayai. Some of the spots I like to hit up are Olive, Tips , or Eddy’s. This is the meeting spot & it sets the tone for the evening. Tanzanians have it down to a science, load up on carbs and protein to allow for a night full of drinking & dancing!

Dancing is huge here. If you don’t like to dance you will by the end of the night—your head will move uncontrollably because there is a force when it comes upon you that you can’t fight. The music we play is mainly hits and classics from The Continent and America’s hottest Hip Hop songs. That’s it… Black Excellence through and through, through music! You see, the real party begins at 2AM and, the city makes the shift to the night clubs like Elements on Fridays & Maison on Saturday’s and The Outside on Thursday’s. Sunday’s are reserved for beach day and night parties at places like Kidimbwi or Upepo Beach Garden .

At these events we dance, laugh & smile until the sun comes up. We order bottles and just enjoy the company of new and familiar faces. There is generally no bad energy when you are in Dar. We are all work hard & just want to enjoy, nataka tu enjoy!

It’s definitely not uncommon to hit all these spots in one weekend or more. A few times a month there are concerts and pop-up events which you do not want to miss as they are a guaranteed great time. My only tip is to splurge a little on a VIP ticket, it’s worth it! And once all the partying is done, go find yourself some Supu ya Ulimi  (cow tongue soup), Supu ya Utumbo (cow stomach soup) or Mtori (banana soup) before you hit the sheets!

What can I say, It’s the Tanzanian way!