From a moribund settlement of three thousand people a little over a century ago, DAR ES SALAAM ("Dar" for short) has grown to become East Africa's largest city. Its present population, pushing four million, has an annual growth rate of almost ten percent, thanks to massive immigration from rural areas, and over seventy percent of its inhabitants live in non-planned housing, often little more than slums lacking electricity, water and sanitation. Their nickname for the city is Bongo, meaning "smart" or "clever", suggesting the skills that are needed to survive in an urban expanse this size.

In spite of having lost its capital status to Dodoma in 1974, Dar es Salaam remains Tanzania's industrial and commercial heart. Much of its wealth is based on a lively import trade conducted through the city's port, which also handles transit goods bound for Central Africa. This commercial ethos expresses itself best in the city's colourful shops and markets, especially in Kariakoo, in the heart of the city's African district, where you're likely to find anything from trussed-up chickens and counterfeit electronics to magical charms and concoctions sold by traditional healers.

Barely a century old, the city remains true to the old cliché of being a "melting pot", a vibrant blend of traditional tribal cultures and immigrant communities from Europe and Asia. In the European-planned streets of the centre, hawkers, smart businessmen, and women dressed in shrouding black buibuis jostle for elbow room under balconied Indian façades, whilst the wealthy – or corrupt – drive by in air-conditioned 4WDs. In the predominantly Asian area west of the centre, Indian traders lord it over colourful reams of cloth, spices, sweets and tourist trinkets; in the African areas further west, sprouting high-rises dwarf the few surviving mud-walled structures; whilst in the harbour you can still see wooden dhows whose design hasn't changed for a thousand years bobbing alongside freighters and oil tankers. For all its incongruities, everything seems to fit: Dar es Salaam is a cosmopolitan city.

For the traveller, the city boasts all the modern amenities you can think of. It's also home to a modest collection of museums and cultural attractions, as well as being a mecca for lovers of East African music, eclipsing even Nairobi in the number and quality of live acts on offer. Kariakoo Market, at the heart of the African area, is one of the continent's busiest and brashest, providing a welcome assault on the senses. For many though, Dar's northern beaches are the main draw – and if the prospect of fully fledged holiday resorts puts you off, there's an almost undeveloped stretch of coast to the south. Other attractions around Dar include Pugu Forest, a remnant of tropical rainforest; the atmospheric medieval ruins of the trading town of Kunduchi; and the village of Gezaulole, whose excellent community-based tourism programme blends history, culture, dhows and beaches.