Muzungus at the Market

Dar Fish Market

Soon after we moved to Tanzania, a friend sent me to the Magomeni Fish Market in Dar next to the busy port. The visit inspired me to write an article to help newcomers navigate the place, especially since I was intimidated to the point of being scared on a first visit.

As soon as I parked my car, I was besieged by peddlers yelling Mzungu, Mzungu at me while shoving fish in my face and holding the gills open to demonstrate how fresh they were. After I designated someone to be my “guide,” other hawkers left me alone and I could wander from one vendor to the next admiring the huge variety of fish.

Fresh fish at the market

It was important to have an idea about prices before visiting the market. I knew that paying $10 for a red snapper (if it was on the medium side, or about 5 pounds) or $15 for a large one was a bargain. Tuna cost a little more while grouper was cheaper. You could also find kingfish, sole, pilot fish, barracuda, and snake fish along with sardines, lobster, prawns, calamari and crab. My guide found someone to clean the fish I purchased and shell prawns for me, paying the cleaner when he was finished. I tipped the guide enough to cover his expenses.

It was also important to maintain a sense of humor through the haggling and jostling that went on at the market. I struck up conversations with a couple of vendors and heard hair-raising stories about fishing in the night, a common practice in Tanzania.

I was also essential to quash my sensitivities since some of the practices at the Fish Market were appalling. When someone ordered a basket of crabs, I was horrified to watch a cleaner tear the crabs apart limb by limb while still alive. I didn't buy one of the lobsters with vivid blue and yellow patterns on its shell since I couldn’t bear the thought of immersing it in boiling water.

Some expats and locals preferred to order fish and prawns from the comfort of their homes. A fishmonger would deliver tuna or red snapper by bike to the door, and he’d clean and filet fish in the client’s kitchen sink. But for a colorful urban experience and sensory jolt, no place offered such vivid scenes and tactile impressions as the Magomeni fish market in Dar.