You should only drink bottled water. A 1.5 litre bottle will cost you 1,000 shillings in a store or on the street, depending on the brand (and 2000 or more at restaurants), but you can also drink tap water if you've purified it with iodine tablets or boiled it (at least 3-5 minutes at a rolling boil). "Seepage" from the sewer pipes into the water pipes is quite common.
Kilimanjaro, Serengeti and Safari (the latter being a stronger beer, 5.5% alcohol) are local beers and popular with Tanzanians and foreigners. These are typically 1100-1400 shillings apiece for 500ml bottles in local spots, but can cost 3000 or more at some bars and restaurants.
Imported beer available in Dar include Tusker, Ndovu, Stella Artois, Castle Lager and Heineken. The African imports (Tusker, Ndovu) are not that much more expensive than local beers, but the European beers can be three to four times the price of domestics.
Konyagi is a popular local gin, and its variant Konyagi Ice is comparable to hard lemonade and other sweet drinks.
Krest, bottled locally by Coca Cola, offer Club Soda, Tonic Water and Bitter Lemon drinks. Stoney Tangawizi (ginger ale but stronger in taste) is one of the more popular soda drinks. Sodas come in glass bottles and you'll usually be asked to return the bottle or pay extra to take it, but they don't usually like that.
All of the large hotels have full bars with air conditioning. Many offer 2-for-1 happy hour specials in the late afternoon/early evening.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Dar es Salaam
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Dar es Salaam - updated Apr 2024
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Dar es Salaam Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
