The University of Dar es Salaam was founded in 1961 as a college of the short-lived University of East Africa and became Tanzania's flagship institution at independence. The campus sits on Observation Hill, west of the centre — a 1960s tropical-modernist design of low concrete pavilions on stilts, deep verandahs, and large open lawns under jacaranda trees. Julius Nyerere's office while he was Chancellor is preserved on the main quadrangle.
The university is open to casual visitors during daylight. Drive in past the gate, register at the porter's lodge, and walk the central paths. The main library is the architectural highlight; the Nkrumah Hall, where Nyerere gave several of his foundational speeches on African socialism, is the historical one. There is a decent canteen by the senior common room for a cheap lunch.