Dar Es Salaam markets

The Kisutu Market is one of Dar Es Salaam’s smallest markets, a cramped melee of stalls and spices piling into the street. There were plenty of vegetables and lots of roots; cassava and mantioc but also carrots, which was a bit surprising.

Of the fruits mangoes, coconuts and papaya were definitely the most popular, but we also found a small ‘atis’ (Mum's favorite fruit) section! 

Further back, the meat section was basically rows of wooden cages stuffed with live chickens looking very miserable – bit grim.
 

The Kivukoni Fish Market lines the harbor and is much bigger and more chaotic than Kisutu. The floor is thick with slops and fish guts, and the air saturated with that salty fish smell – it’s not as bad as it sounds!

By the time we arrived most of the big fish had gone, and though there were a few tunas, it was mostly heaps of sardines, some already crushed in plastic bags. 



A couple of long tables served as auction areas, where fish and shrimp were being sold to what looked like a panel of stern but beautifully dressed women.

Wooden fishing boats and dhows docked right next to the market in what seemed like a fairly chaotic mess.

Behind the market, the fish was being fried in huge vats of bubbling oil, fed by wood-fires. 

Cooks ladle the fish into these massive iron pots – a bit like woks – fry the fish to a crisp and sold at the stalls nearby. 

That’s a tough job. The fish looked tasty, but health food, it ain’t. 

Beyond, a dried mud field served as drying platform for thousands of small fish.