PAA PICKS: Events, products and more...

Chocolate Mamas

Chocolate Mamas has brought homemade bean-to-bar chocolate to Tanzania. Its products are made with 100 per cent cacao from local organic farmers with fillings that are also naturally sourced and they taste delicious. Check them out at the Chocolate Mamas store in Slipway, Dar es Salaam; House of Kokoa in Stone Town, Zanzibar and Village Supermarkets across the country.

Craving a cocktail?

Arts hub The Drum, in Dar es Salaam’s Oyster Bay neighbourhood, has a new café occupying its cute courtyard. The Eight Art Café channels the complex’s creative vibe with a range of carefully crafted meals and cocktails. Try its signature Eight cocktail with cayenne peppers adding some spice to this rum, lime and pineapple thirst quencher. Call +255 682 494 146

Check out the chicken

Kuku Kuku is the place so good they named it twice. Set up by the same team behind hit Dar franchise Samaki Samaki, this hip new combination of restaurant, lounge and nightclub in the city’s Milimani Tower is already bringing in the crowds for its spicy chicken dishes and musical entertainment driven by top DJ talent.

Melba Candles

Melba Candles’ eco-friendly, soy-scented, candles can bring an instant sense of relaxation to a room with their soft, flickering light and calming aromas. The company offers a range of scents from its store in the Slipway, among them best-seller Very Vanilla. Visit its Instagram page @melbacandles_

Listen to the latest star of singeli

The speedy yet sweet rapping skills of young Tanzanian artist Kidene Fighter have made him an emerging name on the singeli scene. His latest single, ‘Wale Wale’ (‘The Same’), is produced by DJ Baba Pana and brings some pop gloss to the usual gritty street sounds of the genre. Check it out now streaming on YouTube.

Moyo Designs

The skilled artisans at Moyo Designs make vibrant statement accessories,which draw on Swahili traditions, but also a modern, quirky sense of invention. We love their whimsical baobab sculptures. Find out more at moyodesignstz.com

See Binti on the big screen

As well as being selected for this July’s Zanzibar Film Festival, all-Tanzanian film Binti is going to be screened at cinemas across the country. The Dar-set drama tells the intertwining tales of four young women and is the first feature film release for production company Black Unicorn Studios run by sisters Angela and Alinda Ruhinda. Angela also wrote the emotion-packed script. “Bring your tissues,” she advises filmgoers. Visit @blackunicorn on Instagram for full details on screenings.