Dar Es Salaam

Just got into the 2nd half of my trip. I've been in Dar Es Salaam for three days now and will be using it as my home base as I travel to Mombasa and Zanzibar.
So Matt, what is Dar Es Salaam like?
Well, Dar Es Salaam is the largest city in Tanzania with a population of 2.5 million (metro area).
I'm going to talk about Dar Es Salaam proper i.e. the city center. Specifically, I'll ignore the posh suburbs like Msasani Peninsula where you'll see a husky American wearing a Jim Beam shirt in the middle of Ramadan and a "Masai Warrior" opens the front door of your resort hotel.
A few days ago, my friend described Dar Es Salaam as a "dirty, broken, hell hole filled with scarred and deformed thieves". Granted, she was coming off a long day.
The city is seedy, humid and mad, but also vibrant and diverse.
First off, the coast of this part of Africa (the Swahili coast) is like no place else on Earth. The culture has been heavily influenced by Arab traders for more than 12 centuries. This went so far that in the early 1800s the Sultan of Oman (it's near Saudi Arabia) moved his capital to Zanzibar (an island off the coast). The architecture feels more Arabic than African and the language of Swahili is Arabic influenced.
A large population of the coast is Muslim and finding a meal can be hard during Ramadan (but I've still managed to eat some of the best Indian food in my life).

The first night in Dar Es Salaam I wondered into a cafeteria of sorts with the two women I traveled with on the train. There wasn't much to eat as the restaurant didn't buy much during Ramadan.
As we tried to figure out what to eat, an older man came to our assistance and explained the food in front of us.
He sort of looked like a middle eastern Robin Williams and was in a good mood after breaking his fast for Ramadan. He told us his grandfather used to own the building until it was nationalized after Tanzania gain independence (1960s). "Before that," he said, "Dar Es Salaam was a little piece of heaven." But he's lost his love for it. Walking around I can understand what he means: the buildings are beautiful but decaying.   
Once we finished our meal he happily paid for it and wished us a good journey. Hopefully I'll see him again so I can return the favor.