Dar es Salaam is bright, colourful and laidback. It is the bustling fish market of Kivukoni Front and sandy islands with welcoming beaches. It is a city whose architecture is an amalgam of the African and Arab and Indian and German populations that have made their mark on the second busiest port on the continent.

Dar es Salaam has become a thriving striving metropolis of 4 million people. (Image: Stefano C. Manservisi, BY-NC-ND 2.0, via Flickr)

The old colonial buildings contrasted by the new metropolis. (Image: Babak Fakhamzadeh, BY NC-ND 2.0, via Flickr)

Dar is a busy colourful multicultural city of 4 million with the traffic to prove it. (Image: Stefan Magdalinski, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr)

Early morning and the city runs on the rhythms of the fishing village it once was. (Image: Rajesh Pamnani, BY NC 2.0, via Flickr)

The fish market in Dar es Salaam is sensory overload. (Image: Rod Waddington, BY-NC-ND 2.0, via Flickr)

Tazara Railway Station is the gateway to majestic Kilimanjaro or the Serengeti. (Image: David Brossard, BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr)

Kanga cloth on sale in Kariakoo Market in Dar es Salaam. (Image: Enrique Mendizabal, BY NC ND 2.0, via Flickr)

The Lutheran Church in Dar es Salaam is one of the city’s best known and most visited tourist attractions. (Image: Melanie Bateman, BY NC ND 2.0, via Flickr)

The interior of St Albans Anglican Church. (Image: Travelholic Path, BY 2.0, via Flickr)

Dar es Salaam at night with St Alban’s Anglican Church in the foreground. (Image: Travelholic Path, BY 2.0, via Flickr)

Africans from around the continent have made this coastal city their home and it reflects in the multicultural experiences you can enjoy in the city. (Image: Martijn.Munneke, BY 2.0, via Flickr)

The courtyard of the Slipway Hotel. (Image: Kevin Harber, BY-NC-ND 2.0, via Flickr)

Magical uninhabited Mbudya Island offers visitors a chance to unwind just a 20 minute boat ride from Dar. (Image: Travelholic Path, BY 2.0, via Flickr)

From this improvised slipway you can get a boat to Bongoyo or Mbudya Island. (Image: Babak Fakhamzadeh, BY-NC 2.0, via Flickr)