One of its charms of course is the sea. The Indian Ocean imposes itself on Dar in several ways. There's the sultry climate, which some can't tolerate. I can and do. Norwegians say there's no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes. The same applies to hot places. Wear black or white and you can sweat to your heart's content. Actually you sweat less if you know it doesn't matter - it's a state of mind.
The Ocean is never far away in Dar. The city has spread along the coast, more than inland. The verges of the roads are sandy, not muddy. Housing - even the poorest - is less dense than most African cities. This is surprising. Dar is one of the fastest growing cities in the world. One of the downsides is that for those with cars there are more miles to travel in the inevitable queues.
But here's something else I like about Dar - the traffic is less stressed. There are exceptions, but on the whole cars form orderly queues and just creep along. Where in Dar there are two lanes of traffic, in Kampala, Lagos or Nairobi you'd get three and a half with constant jockeying for position. In Dar you also don't get the cacophony of horns. And people actually give way to let vehicles in like they do in England.
Why are people like this in Dar? The climate probably has something to do with it. But Tanzania, with all its faults, has less contested political and social spaces than most others. This must be both a cause and consequence of a relatively strong urge by people to get along with each other. Naive - I hear some of you say. But I tend think positively about the places I go to, partly because you don't get change by always emphasising the negative. And it also makes for more enjoyable visits.
For the privileged there's Msasani. A suburb smugly occupying peninsular that juts out into the Ocean north of the city centre. You can always tell the prime locations from where most senior diplomats have their residences. That's Msasani. It's low density, mostly villas in nice gardens. In the evening you see the Wazungu out jogging along the sandy verges. There are rows of smart little shops where you can park outside - not the ghastly covered malls that dominate African cities elsewhere.
And there's Alexander's Hotel, where I stayed this time. Thank you TripAdvisor. It's a boutique hotel hidden away down a sandy track. Run by two Brits, a handful of multi-tasking staff, and three dogs that demand you attention. Maasai guards on the gates - very re-assuring. Gordon the owner is a mine of information. The food is excellent - fresh lobster, prawns on steroids. Most people eat in the rooftop bar which is a social space if you want it - or you sit in an alcove with your laptop and your Serengeti beer (one of the best in the world).Alexander's is a sublime place in a tranquil suburb in a tolerable city. But just to remind us that the world around carries a sting or two, there were a couple of "incidents" in the four days I was there, unfortunately not that uncommon (I know this because I'm evaluating a programme about disaster risk reduction). The first night Dar caught the tail of a tropical storm and our delightful rooftop bar was inundated.
Much more serious - on the second evening, a series of explosions shook the building. About 10 miles away, an army munitions store blew up, sending rockets flying across its neighbourhood. Around 30 people died and nearly 100 were seriously injured. Homes and a school were destroyed. The airport was closed and thousands of people evacuated. (In mitigation, the people camping in the national stadium seemed to be getting better food than they are used to.)
This was the second time this has happened in 15 months. The heavy munitions had been there since the Mozambiquan civil war where Tanzania supported the Maputo government against Renamo. No sign of any resignations.
Ah well - on to Nairobi.
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