Tanzanian Property Bubble
January 6, 2012 § Leave a Comment
“He says it is $4,000 a month and one year up front”. Jesus, this wasn’t mentioned in the guidebook. It would appear that renting in Dar es Salaam – the capital of the country 155th in the Human Development Index – seems to be more expensive than Chelsea and Kensington. We’ve only been here two days and spent our first looking at what we couldn’t afford with ambassador and mineral worker neighbours, often in compounds with a view of cement rather than the sea, and then made another plan. We found a house up the coast in Mbezi beach which is next door to this place which should be good to pop into for pizza, tennis and borrowing their wifi. It’s a third of the price, is short of furniture and will mean a bit of a daily battle with the commuters heading in to town but it will be great to be able to see the sea and then just walk out of a small gate and go for a swim and settle. The kids should enjoy it too. Jimmy is happy digging and Edith swimming, or at least avoiding drowning. Getting a house is a big breakthrough, feels like we can begin to settle, get other bearings and think about making the most of being here for the next six months.
