Museums in Tanzania

Many of the museums in Tanzania offer great insight into the traditions and cultures of the locals. Some use “living history” methods to revive the life that tribes such as the Maasai continue to lead.  National Museum of Dar es Salaam is the famous and largest museum in Tanzania.

 Let's check out some of the museums in Tanzania

1. National museum and culture House, Tanzania

Location : Shaabaan Robert Street, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Opening hours :9.30am -6.00pm

This was recently renamed and renovated originally known as the King George V Museum. It originally opened in 1940 and has since built an impressive collection of Tanzanian exhibits, particularly the earliest human fossils collected during the Leakey excavations. The National Museum and House of Culture are good places to visit if you are interested in the history of Tanzania. The exhibition focuses on the history of slavery in the country, as well as local traditions and events during the colonial days of Tanzania. New to the museum is a contemporary art gallery.

2. Village museum

Location: Makaburi Street Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Opening hours: daily – 09:30 am to 6.00 pm

The history of Tanzania comes to life at the Openair Village Museum, which is located about 10 km from the center of Dar es Salaam. The focus is on presenting traditional farming practices and authentic farms. Villagers demonstrate hand-weaving, carving, and other ancient crafts, while there are also dance performances in the evenings. The village museum offers a good overview of the type of architecture that can be found there. This open-air museum features a collection of 19 authentically reconstructed apartment buildings displaying the traditional ways of life of various ethnic groups in Tanzania.

3. Massai cultural museum

Location: Meserani Snake Park, Arusha, Tanzania

Opening hours: daily

Visitors can enjoy a  tour of this small museum in the company of a true Maasai warrior who explains the traditions and cultural practices of this well-known East African tribe. Proceeds from this attraction will be used to fund a free local medical clinic, which is also located on the grounds of  Meserani Snake Park. Expect many dioramas brought to life by background noise, chants, and chants.

4. Aruaha museum

Location: Boma Road, Arusha, Tanzania

Opening hours: daily

 The Arusha Museum of Natural History is housed in three buildings within the city’s former German fortress called “Boma”. In 1934 it became a  natural history museum. The main focus is on the evolution of early humanity, particularly the discovery of fossils found in the Olduvai Gorge. The object of the award on display is undoubtedly the trail of footprints discovered in 1978 known as the Laetoli Footprints. Also interesting are the various exhibits of plants and insects, as well as those that tell the colonial history of Tanzania and its struggle for independence.

5. Olduvai gorge

Location: Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania

Opening hours: daily

Founded by Mary Leakey in the late 1970s, the Olduvai Gorge Museum is now overseen by the Tanzania Department of Cultural Antiquities. The attraction was created to house fossils of early hominids, as well as tools and other paleontological artifacts found in the  Olduvai Gorge area. In the 1990s a new wing was restored and added with funds from the J. Paul Getty Museum.

6.Mwalimu Nyerere Museum

Location: Butiama, Tanzania

Opening hours: every day from 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

The Mwalimu Nyerere Museum Center opened its doors to visitors for the first time in 1999. The exhibition includes an interesting selection of objects related to the life of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, who was born in this village in 1922 and then became the first president of the country. These include personal items, but also items related to the Tanzanian independence struggle and some gifts from the president.

7. Sukuma Tribe

Location: Bujora Paris, Mwanza, Tanzania

Opening hours: every day

The Sukuma tribe is one of the largest in Tanzania. This place was created as a community initiative to preserve the traditional arts and culture of the tribe in the form of a “living history”. Founded by the late Father David Clement in the late 1960s, the museum receives around 2,000 visitors each year. Examples of traditional Sukuma buildings are found on the site, including a royal pavilion and a dance pavilion. Exhibits on display include drums, costumes, furniture, and weapons.

8. Arusha Declaration stadium

Location: Makongoro Road, Arusha, Tanzania

Opening hours: every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

 This attraction began as a social welfare center for residents of the Kaoleni area of ​​Arusha. Here, in 1967, the Arusha Declaration was adopted by the ruling  African National Union of Tanganyika. In 1977, the building was turned into a political museum. The permanent exhibits tell the history of Tanzania from pre-colonial times to the present day, including the struggle for independence. Temporary exhibitions are held regularly. There is also a small art gallery on-site with works by local artists.

9. Arusha Tanzanite Museum

Location: Blue Plaza Building, Arusha, Tanzania

Opening hours: daily

The Arusha Tanzanite Museum is dedicated to a blue-violet mineral discovered in the Mererani Hills of northern Tanzania in the late 1960s. It is now said that Tanzanite fetches higher prices than gold. This attraction is operated by the Arusha Tanzania Tanzanite Foundation and features an auditorium where visitors can watch video presentations of the precious mineral’s history and local geology. There are also rough and cut gemstones, as well as items made from tanzanite.

10. Sultan Palace

Location: Stone Town, Zanzibar, Tanzania.

Opening hours: daily

The Sultan’s Palace is one of the most important historical buildings in Stone Town, Zanzibar, Tanzania. It is a white-walled, 3-story Merlon-decorated building on Mizingani Road, right on the ocean, between the House of Wonders and the Old Dispensary.

This palace includes several large buildings along the waterfront and was the palace of Sultan Seyyid Said from 1828 until it was largely destroyed by  British bombardment in 1896. In particular, much of the royal paraphernalia – banquet tables, portraits, thrones, and baths – has been preserved to present the history of human interest today in this museum dedicated to the sultanate in the 19^th century.