Prehistory hall
Olduvai and Laetoli casts.
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Tanzania's main museum, founded in 1934 in central Dar es Salaam next to the Botanical Gardens, and the core of the national museums consortium that now runs several museums across the country. It tells Tanzania's story from the very beginning: a prehistory hall with casts of the Olduvai Gorge finds and the Laetoli footprints, and a hall on the old Swahili coastal towns such as Kilwa and Kaole and their trade with Arabia, India and China. Other sections cover German and then British colonial rule, the Maji Maji resistance, the road to independence in 1961 and the union with Zanzibar in 1964, with collections of traditional crafts and tools from Tanzania's peoples. The museum is calm and cool, good for the hottest hours in the city. The ticket is modest and paid at the door, and the old Botanical Gardens next door make a pleasant short walk.
Olduvai and Laetoli casts.
Kilwa and Kaole.
1961 and 1964.
Shaaban Robert Street, by the Botanical Gardens, central Dar es Salaam
Tanzania's history from prehistory and the Swahili coastal towns to colonial rule, independence and the union with Zanzibar.
