Dear Steemians, I'm cautiously stepping back into the Steemy waters after the challenges of the last few weeks. I promise to get back to the African infrastructure series shortly, but until my Kiligirl Spidey-sense tells me that all's well in Steemit world, I'll stick with nostalgia for the moment.

Thanks to @mother2chicks, @wachera and a few others reacting to my South Sudan post of late last week, I've been reminiscing in a mostly random way about some of the places I've had the privilege of visiting, and actually getting a chance to photograph as well. The visit list is long; the photo list is short!

Today's memory is of a short stay in Dar es Salaam, the largest city and former capital of Tanzania. While I've been to Tanzania and Zanzibar a few times for work now (and saying I've been to Zanzibar sounds really exotic - in reality our work took us far away from the beaten tourist track to the smaller island of Pemba to the north, rather than the better known Unguja, which a lot of people call Zanzibar), I haven't done the tourist thing in Dar other than going out to eat with colleagues...which may I say is a treat, because of the fresh fish and utterly amazing fruit. There are also some delicious local dishes inspired by Tanzania's exotic Arabian-linked past, but unfortunately I don't remember the names.

A simple church overlooking the harbour

So today's story is about a simple church which happened to be below my hotel window. I awoken my first morning at the hotel before sunrise by the sound of singing. A lot of people singing hymns. Beautifully. I can't remember clearly now, but I think it may have been a Wednesday morning.

I got up and took a not great photo out of the hotel window, which I couldn't open so you can see a few smears of window in the image.

It was getting light, but it was still before sunrise. I was astonished to see cars pouring into the parking lot and people spilling out of the church already. Many were sitting on the lit veranda. The music wasn't too loud, but it was unexpected and charming to listen to.

What's it called?

Looking it up on the net was an easy task as it's so recognisable. It was quite easy to identify by its distinctive architecture, which it turns out is Bavarian, with the red-tiled roof and white walls. It's the Azania Front Lutheran Church. That short Wikipedia link says it was built in 1898 by German missionaries, and it serves as a cathedral for the local diocese. Spoiler alert: the link doesn't say much else.

As it got lighter, I could see people starting to leave. Watching it for one brief part of one morning couldn't tell me much about the ways and means of the church, but it gave me the impression that the parishioners went there to start their day right, sing a bit together and start with some collective worship, much as many of us would go to the gym to get going properly.

Daylight gradually dawned, the lights went off and the singing died down.

That clock in the tower was right twice a day!

I listened for about half an hour, then it was time to meet my colleagues for breakfast and hit the day myself.

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