Photo taken on July 11, 2022, shows a historical building in downtown Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. (Photo by Herman Emmanuel/Xinhua)
Twenty-seven-year-old Bernard Laulian Ntahondi is becoming more famous in Tanzania's commercial capital Dar es Salaam as the curator-cum-vlogger is creating an entertainment niche by recording the city's history, architecture and cultural heritage through vlogging.
DAR ES SALAAM, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Twenty-seven-year-old Bernard Laulian Ntahondi is becoming more famous in Tanzania's commercial capital Dar es Salaam as the curator-cum-vlogger is creating an entertainment niche by recording the city's history, architecture and cultural heritage through vlogging.
Bernard Laulian Ntahondi demonstrates local history in the Old Boma building in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, July 11, 2022. (Photo by Herman Emmanuel/Xinhua)
"I am a historian and tour guide in Dar es Salaam, with more than five years of experience with vast knowledge of the commercial city and the country as well," Ntahondi told Xinhua in an interview at his office in the Old Boma building on the junction of Morogoro and Sokoine roads.
The Old Boma is the commercial capital's oldest stone building built in 1866 by Sultan Majid bin Said of Zanzibar close to what was his palace, now demolished.
Distinctive features of the building that are noticeable to this date are the Zanzibari-style carved wooden doors, the coral stone walls and the shape of its roof.
Ntahondi explains local history in Old Boma of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on July 11, 2022. (Photo by Herman Emmanuel/Xinhua)
Ntahondi said he is raising awareness about why people should take part in conserving the historical structures in the commercial capital through vlogging.
"My mission is to make people participate in conservation of the city by introducing them to architectural tourism," says the vlogger, who since 2017 had started guiding city tours on the city's history and architectural designs, telling people about the evolution of street names and how these names came into existence.
He said he wants to let people learn about their city, diverging from the usual way of tourism like visits to national parks and game reserves.
Dar es Salaam is among the fastest-growing cities in the world, he said, explaining that in every developing city, there is always the struggle between historical value and development value.
Ntahondi said in Dar es Salaam there is a list of protected buildings that are mostly preserved by the government.
From around the eighth century, Dar es Salaam was a small village known as Mzizima, meaning a healthy village, and it continued that way until the 1860s when the Sultan of Zanzibar moved to the mainland.
"So the Sultan came to this village of Mzizima and he renamed it Dar es Salaam which means the haven of peace. That is when the evolution of the city started. That is when more and more people started to come," he said.
He said his vlogging targets citizens, tourists, professionals and students of all levels with an interest in cultural and historical aspects of the commercial capital, home to the country's largest port.
"My work contributes significantly to raising awareness of the importance of history, architecture and cultural heritage of the commercial capital," said the former employee of the National Museum of Tanzania, the Isimila Museum in Iringa region and the Old Boma Museum in Dar es Salaam.
He said while walking around the commercial capital, one will get a chance to visit and learn about the history of the earliest buildings in Dar es Salaam from the 1860s to the present and the arrangement of living zones as depicted in the first master plan designed by Germans.
"I also visit the exact locations where historical buildings once stood and learn about their history, learn about the evolution of street names and their history from the Sultan period to date," said the vlogger, adding that visitors to these places get answers in all they need to know about the Swahili culture, clothing, traditional jewelry and much more.
