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EXPERIENCE AFRICA
Voices and images from Africa, by Giorgio Trucco for AdventurAfrica.
Dar es Salaam fish market: a place for the five senses.
Even for those who haven’t fostered an appreciation for seafood, the Dar es Salaam fish market is definitely a place that should be experienced when traveling to Tanzania.
Built by the Japanese government as part of an aid program, it is composed of five open air buildings. One hosts the kitchens where food is prepared for the workers or the more curious tourists who visit the place. It provides an excellent opportunity to try the local food in a friendly environment. For 1000Tsh (roughly 70cents) you get a big bowl of sticky rice and smaller bowl of sauce made with beans, meat or fish. You can sit, eat the food (with your fingers!) and strike up interesting conversations with the many locals who regularly eat here. Another building is used to clean the fish bought off the stands of the adjacent third structure, where the fish is displayed. A fourth building is used for auctioning the fish, abiding by rules and codes which remain a deep mystery to the average tourist. On the other side of the street there is a fifth building where vats of fish are fried throughout the day in boiling oil.
If you can let go of the sinking feeling you get from seeing fish still alive or endangered species that are protected in other countries, and if you can put aside for a moment your quest for fishing regulation, the place will certainly provide plenty of excitement and will not fail to fully engage all five of your senses during the visit.
The first sense to be activated, of course, is your sense of smell. Even from a fair distance, whether approaching by foot or by vehicle, the distinct aromas of fresh, dried and cooked seafood permeate the air of the general location and is quite noticeable. If you do harbor a passion for consumption of things aquatic, this initial interaction with the market is like that of a bee to honey.
The next two senses to be stimulated, seeing and hearing, are done so, almost simultaneously, by a myriad of bright, vibrant, colorful textiles adorning the women, and the hustle and bustle of vendors, customers and sightseers coming and going as they peruse, examine, barter, buy and sell. As you make your way through the market, you realize just how fresh the seafood is by catching glimpses of fishermen carrying the catches of the day up to their stands. If you take a moment to look up and out towards the seaside, your eyes will experience a treat of contrast between the shade of the market, dotted with pinks, blues and silvers of the different fishes, and the bright, sun lit vista of creamy white sand, clear turquoise water, varying shades of green foliage and cyan sky interspersed with puffy white clouds drifting lazily by. When you bring your attention back to the market, it would be worth heading to the northerly end to tune into the handful of auctions occurring simultaneously. This job seem to be reserved for the women, who sit nicely dressed aroung huge tables where the fish is displayed and quickly auctioned. Most tourists, of course, will not understand the vocal transfer of information between vendors and their potential customers, as the auctions are performed in the local tongue – Swahili, but it’s certainly not a drawback for those desiring a more authentic experience.
There are other areas of the market where you can engage the last two of your senses, touch and taste, very satisfactorily, however, there is no other place where you can get a full experience of all the senses the way you can at the ‘cookery’. This is where your seafood purchased from the market can be cooked on the spot, and this is accessed by crossing the street. At first sight, it appears as though it’s a typical ‘tourist trap’, where seashell souvenirs and wood-carved trinkets abound. However, as you move past this short section and round the corner to the back side, you are struck by what you find.
Visually, there is mostly a darkness to the place, as soot from all the many, many fryings has thickly carpeted the skeleton structure of the enclosure, as well as the ground on which almost all of the workers walk around barefoot. Smoke and hot air waves emanating from the massive wok-like pans make for a somewhat surreal visage, while the crackling and sizzling sounds of copious amounts of fresh seafood being cooked, as well as the numerous requests from the different vendors to purchase from them keeps you on your toes and grounded in reality.
Some vendors will allow you to sample some of the aquatic treats, freshly ladled from the cookers, for free, hoping it will inspire a full purchase. Others will beckon you with a ‘free sample’, however, after consumption, will want to charge you for it. Either way, it’s certainly worth the tasting experience, even if you are not passionate about consuming seafood.
Most travelers who have booked a safari in Tanzania fly into one of two places – Arusha or Dar es Salaam. If your base is the latter, and you have the time, a visit to the local fish market at the beginning of your trip is a wonderful experiential introduction to your travels in Africa.
To see more pictures from Giorgio Trucco visit the AdventurAfrica website and Facebook page.
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