Dar Es Salaam is the largest city, although no longer the capital, of Tanzania. Dar Es Salaam is on the coast of the Indian Ocean. What can you tell about Dar Es Salaam just by the name of the city? Tanzania is in southern Africa, but Dar Es Salaam sounds like an Arabic name. That tells us that this was an important city in maritime trading, particularly with the Arabian Peninsula far to the north.
The following scenes begin in the central part of the city. The first four images of central Dar Es Salaam are from Google Street View.
There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >;. After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.
https://www.google.com/maps/@-6.8222766,39.2733866,3a,75y,316.5h,92.93t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMelltbpaI-BhGOiieMYlPUQB0BkNiPXRXqDARC!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMelltbpaI-BhGOiieMYlPUQB0BkNiPXRXqDARC%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9338646-ya316.5-ro-0-fo100!7i5660!8i2830
This is further north, in the Oyster Bay area of Dar Es Salaam. The first three images of Oyster Bay are from Google Street View.
https://www.google.com/maps/@-6.7633427,39.277492,3a,75y,337.5h,113t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNeppoK-5p6moo7oTHwZTe3JIppOs3TNZFIG3ko!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNeppoK-5p6moo7oTHwZTe3JIppOs3TNZFIG3ko%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-23-ya343.5-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352
In 1964 Tanganyika, which was what is now the mainland part of Tanzania, merged with island Zanzibar to form Tanzania. You can see that the name of "Tanzania" is formed by a combination of the two names. Zanzibar was a former Islamic sultanate. After the sultanate was overthrown Zanzibar was briefly a Communist country, "The People's Republic Of Zanzibar", before being merged with Tanganyika, on mainland Africa, to form Tanzania.
The following scenes are of Zanzibar. The first five images of Zanzibar, and the old fort there, are from Google Street View.
https://www.google.com/maps/@-6.1613488,39.1873245,3a,75y,259.5h,93t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNz3mMMWAEQ_g9l7IGotaih-S-FzUrLkfzCFDJO!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNz3mMMWAEQ_g9l7IGotaih-S-FzUrLkfzCFDJO%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9999962-ya303.50003-ro-0-fo100!7i10716!8i5358
Here is some more of Zanzibar. The first two images are from Google Street View.
https://www.google.com/maps/@-6.1612519,39.1996969,3a,75y,349.5h,92.93t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipP8QSRWfILYJNddcBlMhRjtyqyQMlOspDtQJ0fu!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipP8QSRWfILYJNddcBlMhRjtyqyQMlOspDtQJ0fu%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9338646-ya101.5-ro-0-fo100!7i10240!8i5120
No symbol of Africa is more important than Mount Kilimanjaro, which is in Tanzania. The first two images are from Google Street View.
https://www.google.com/maps/@-3.0780364,37.3625814,3a,75y,13.14h,89.13t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOhVEY1kuccV3hwBt93XQCp3lo9lVSYAROa6MHw!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOhVEY1kuccV3hwBt93XQCp3lo9lVSYAROa6MHw%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya40.44331-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352
Mombasa is on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya, built around a good natural harbor. Unlike Nairobi, which is Kenya's capital and largest city, Mombasa
a is a very old city. Many people have migrated to Mombasa over the centuries, and it was visited by the legendary traveler Ibn Battuta. Probably the most popular sight in Mombasa is Fort Jesus, built in the shape of a human. It is not as old as the city itself, but was built in the late 16th Century. The following scenes are of the area around Fort Jesus. The first two images are from Google Street View.
https://www.google.com/maps/@-4.0625631,39.6800422,3a,75y,102.9h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipN3AcIsqh_1zvCIhubVQLTFih-HwKyMVJz2JbQ3!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipN3AcIsqh_1zvCIhubVQLTFih-HwKyMVJz2JbQ3%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya37.93017-ro-0-fo100!7i2508!8i1254
Here is the central part of Mombasa. The main road in this part of the city is Moi Avenue, named for Kenya's long-time president Daniel Arap Moi, who followed the founder of the country Jomo Kenyatta. The first four images are from Google Street View.
Here is the central part of Mombasa. The main road in this part of the city is Moi Avenue, named for Kenya's long-time president Daniel Arap Moi, who followed the founder of the country Jomo Kenyatta. The first four images are from Google Street View.
https://www.google.com/maps/@-4.0605636,39.668663,3a,75y,34.5h,92.93t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMaNTKP4yjEYkO5fuC3Pks-eE5IQ4M1J9fhXW6U!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMaNTKP4yjEYkO5fuC3Pks-eE5IQ4M1J9fhXW6U%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9338646-ya34.500004-ro-0-fo100!7i5660!8i2830
Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, is further north if we continue on from the Swahili Coast. It was a great medieval city and the destination of much trade by sea. What is now Mogadishu used to be an ancient city called Sarapion. Ibn Battuta visited here, and it was the site of the first known contact between Africa and China. It was visited by Admiral Zheng He.
During medieval times, Somali traders traveled all over the Indian Ocean by ship. We saw the Phoenicians in our visit to "Beirut", and we can consider the Somalis as the "Phoenicians of East Africa". There was regular trade with India and China and many other distant lands. The people in Mediterranean Europe thought that Somalia itself was the source of all kinds of valuable spices and other products. In fact, Somalis were importing these products, to be resold at a tidy profit, from all over Asia.
Seafaring is not all that was pioneered by Somalis, it is believed by many that Somalia was where camels were first domesticated.
We saw in our visit to neighboring Ethiopia how it is a land of many legends. Somalia has a great legend also. The ancient Egyptians used to send ships to trade with a land called Punt. The land became very special to them and a lot of people in Egypt came to believe that Punt was their ancestral homeland. Today, it is not known for sure where Punt was actually located. Some believe that it could have been Ethiopia, a few believe it to have been on the Arab side of the Red Sea, others believe that it was further south on the coast of Africa.
But a part of Somalia has been named Puntland for it, even though it cannot be certain that this is where it was.
The following scenes are of Somalia's capital city of Mogadishu. The first four images are from Google Street View.
https://www.google.com/maps/@2.0360198,45.3334264,3a,75y,100h,100t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOwH57ACh6ChBeMPtS_7F-dziveqqVvMnOCaqVf!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOwH57ACh6ChBeMPtS_7F-dziveqqVvMnOCaqVf%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-10-ya100-ro-0-fo100!7i4608!8i2304
This is further north, along the coast of the Indian Ocean, in Mogadishu. The first image is from Google Street View.
https://www.google.com/maps/@2.0423628,45.3050991,3a,75y,340h,100t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNOTPV2-7uaGGM1SExlohquH_qe8xx78YJ4jQr1!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNOTPV2-7uaGGM1SExlohquH_qe8xx78YJ4jQr1%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-10-ya73-ro-0-fo100!7i8192!8i4096
This is the town of Eyl in Somalia. This town is another ancient port on the Indian Ocean, far to the north of Mogadishu. In the very early Twentieth Century, Eyl was a stronghold of what was known as the Dervish State. The Dervish became renowned as warriors across the world as they did battle with the British, Italians and, Ethiopians. The stone castle was a Dervish fortress. The first image of the fortress is from Google Street View.
https://www.google.com/maps/@7.978601,49.8169946,3a,75y,115.19h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPdiyhHTWfdhuif937SPkq88eiMuEugN1cud1fg!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPdiyhHTWfdhuif937SPkq88eiMuEugN1cud1fg%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya1.140799-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352
Do Buffalo, New York area readers know that the former president of Somalia, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, graduated from the University of Buffalo, used to teach at Erie County Community College, and worked at the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority and the New York State Department of Transportation, in Buffalo? He resigned as prime minister of Somalia, went back to Buffalo, but then returned to Somalia upon being elected as president. The then-future president used to live on Grand Island, NY.
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