Downtown Moshi

Market Street downtown.

By Keith

We live about 3 miles north of downtown Moshi in an area called Shantytown which only has a few small food/beverage shops, some restaurants and fruit stands. About every couple of days we head into downtown Moshi which locals call “Moshi Center.” It takes us just over an hour to walk there or about 10 minutes by car and it’s slightly downhill all the way from our house.

Most roads downtown are nicely paved and one lane each way with a shoulder on the side for pedestrians.  In some areas there are sidewalks as well, but you have to keep an eye out since there often are missing walking grates over drainage channels so you can fall into one of these.  When crossing the street, pedestrians are the lowest on the priority list so we often find ourselves following Tanzanians and still find that we’re looking the wrong way since Tanzanian’s drive on the opposite side as the US.

Regional bus terminal and taxis with lots of opportunies to buy food

The area surrounding Moshi has a population between 140,000 and 200,000, but the downtown area is relatively compact and is comprised of mostly 1 to 3 story buildings with a few 8 to 10 story buildings.  Pretty much all local and regional transportation choices come to the center so there are lots of large buses, crammed minivans, called Dala Dalas, taxis, and motorcycles with one or two passengers on the back, called Boda Bodas.  I’m fascinated by the number of people that can be crammed into a Dala Dala and the decorations across the front window, so look for a future write up on these.

Sewing on the sidewalk

The sidewalks and streets are very busy and alive including lots of women bringing fresh vegetables and fruits from the countryside, men selling a variety of things on blankets on the ground like sandals or watches, and clothing shops running their sewing machines on the sidewalk in front of their shop.  Tanzanians don’t like to be cooped up inside.   

Oranges for sale downtown

There are two main shopping areas with a slight separation between the two which is filled in by the bus,  Dala Dalas, and taxi stations.  Motorcycle drivers hang out in packs at many corners as well.  We tend to shop in both shopping areas depending on what we need.  We purchase bread from a local bakery.  Beer is from “Hole in the Wall” which is a small dark shop run by a man of Indian decent. Many of the shop owners are from India and are third or fourth generation Tanzanians.  We also frequent a few supermarkets which include one right on the main downtown road which is small and crammed to the ceiling with just about everything or a large supermarket that caters to middle class Tanzanians and expats.

For many items purchased on the street bartering is the norm which can take some getting used to.  We usually ask “Bei Gani” (how much is this), they may start with 7,000 Tanzanian Shillings (tzs) for a pair of sandals and we’ll all be happy when we finally get to about 5,000 tzs ($2.50 US dollars).  And then we come back home and find out from our housekeeper, Mary, that we shouldn’t have paid more than 4,000 tzh, but we’re learning and there’s definitely an expectation that people like us should pay a bit more which is fine.

Typical scene downtown