Walled city of Harar, Camel market and Hyenas

Rock formations at the Valley of Marvels

A Somali woman lining up her cattle

Most travelers with limited time in Ethiopia prefer to stick to the northern part of the country because there’s a lot to see and do for at least a couple weeks. In addition to Bahir Dar, Gonder, and the Simien mountains, most choose to visit the ancient city of Axum bordering Eritrea before heading downward to visit cliff top churches in Tigray and ending with the reputedly astonishing church city of Lalibela further south before returning back to Addis Ababa.

A Somali man with the macawis and walking stick

A Somali woman with typical shawl

My final leg was going to be in the Danakil region and to get there I had to pass through the north. So, rather than stick there till my final leg, I decided to mix it up a little and visit eastern Ethiopia which has a predominantly Muslim population and a distinctly different culture to the central and northern highlands which has a Orthodox Christians way of life. This meant I had to pass up on Axum and Lalibela. The latter I wish I could have crammed into my schedule but cram in things is not really a good way of experiencing a country either.

Camel market of Babille

The walled city of Harar was my destination and to get there I had to take a short flight to the town of Dire Dawa and then take a minibus taxi for about an hour to the city.

There seems to be some debate as to the origins of this city which was probably founded between the 7th and the 11th century with the general credit for its founding given to religious leaders from Arabia. From my research, it seemed like Harar was the poor and less popular cousin of Timbuktu except that it lay in the Horn of Africa. Like Timbuktu, Harar was a center of Islamic culture and learning and reached its zenith in the 16th century as a very important trading center between the Ethiopian highlands to the west and Arabia and India to the east with coffee, hides, and slaves being the chief exports.

One-on-One with a camel there...

Too hot perhaps?

The minibus dropped me right outside one of the five gates to this city and I got accommodation for a couple nights at a guesthouse which was run by an elderly Harari woman and is a very well preserved example of an Adare house which are the traditional houses of the Adare inhabitants of the city. The Adare houses are unique in their architectural style with two of three raised platforms for seating and beautifully woven baskets and other ornaments adorning the walls.

Somali man with orange tinted beard

Tea is a Somali shack

The next morning, Rewda, the house owner and keeper made some awesome breakfast which was similar to a lightly fried chapatti (Indian flat bread) and served with honey and coffee. After breakfast, Tassi (my day guide) and I took a minibus heading towards Jijiga which is the frontier town before the border with Somaliland. About midway to Jijiga we dropped down at the town of Babille and went hiking in the valley of Marvels and among its amazing rock formations. We even spotted some Vervet monkeys and rock hyraxes.

Notice the sharp features of the Somali woman



A Oromo girl with her cattle



After the hike we returned to Babille to visit its camel market. I was lucky to be there on the market day and it was quite a feeling walking among hundreds of camels herded by the Somali people. The mountains in the background provided a prefect backdrop for the sight.

Adare woman in Harar

Oromo girl in Harar

Perhaps the best moment of the day was when I entered one of the several temporary tea shacks put up around the market. These shacks provide the traders shade and an opportunity to relax and recharge while sipping some Somali tea. The shack I entered was crowded with Somali men and women who where there either to buy or sell camel and through Tassi, I was able to converse with several of them. My guess is that very few travelers venture to this town and most of them who come from the nearby rural areas have very little interaction with foreigners. They were curious to interact with me, asking me to take their pictures and by and large exceptionally hospitable and kind.

Walking through the narrowest alley in Harar

 

Soon it was time to leave Babille and head back to Harar. After a short rest at the guesthouse it was time to explore the numerous alleyways and shrines of the city. The city is surprisingly well preserved and even though a bit dirty with plastic and garbage in spots, the best thing about is that it is a living, breathing museum where the Oromo people still come to sell fresh produce from the country side, where the Somali people still come to purchase meat and other produce and where the Harari people still move through the narrow alleyways as they did centuries ago.

Passage for hyena entrance



Talking about the people in and around Harar, it seems as though there are several different cultures co-existing and even though they all practice Islam as their religion, they have they own diverse way of life. After only a day in Harar I could easily differentiate between the three prominent cultures.

Adare House (where i stayed)

Another example of an Adare house



The Harari (or Adare): These people are the direct descendants of original inhabitants of Harar since its foundation and their dressing has more Arabic influences with majority of them sporting uni-colored Hijab and slacks underneath their traditional costumes. The complexion is also slightly more lighter than the other two and they are only found in the city of Harar.

Veg Samosa

Tomb of the city's founder

The Oromo: Their features are more African and the dressing is also noticeably ornate and even though some of them cover their head, it’s usually very colorful. Relative to the Harari, most are less economically endowed and come mostly from region surrounding Harar and are usually seen selling fresh produce especially on market days.

A Harari girl

One of the 82 mosques dotted within this 1sq. km city

The Somali: They seem to have elongated faces with sharp facial features. Men mostly wear “macawis” which is a sarong like garment worn around the waist and usually have a walking stick with them. More men also seem to have an orange tint to their facial hair possibly as a result of henna application. The women usually have a colorful shawl draped around them and though they too cover their heads, it’s different to the Harari or the Oromo women. Most of the camel herders are Somali and their region starts around the town of Babille and stretches all the way to Somalia.

Quite fascinatingly, Harar seems to be a place where all these cultures come together.

One of the 5 gates to the walled city

Picture of a gate from more
than a century ago 

As night fell, it was time to experience one last feature of this unique city. Hyena feeding! This tradition started in the late 1950’s has evolved from an earlier symbiotic relation between spotted hyena’s and humans. When the walls of the city were constructed, there were small passages that were constructed in the walls for the hyenas to enter the city at night and clean the leftover, essentially acting as cleanup crew. Over a period of time, this has evolved into active feeding. I believe this to be more a case of tradition than tourism though opinions can vary. What I do know is that although these hyenas are hand fed and seemingly timid in comparison to what we see on TV, they cannot be termed as tame or domestic either. The animals roam freely in the large arid lands of eastern Ethiopia during the day only to return at night.

Feeding the hyenas...those jaws are awesome from close up! 

In either case, the high of actually feeling and seeing a bunch of Hyena’s pulling scraps of camel off cuts a few inches from your mouth is enough of an adenine rush to make this a remarkably experience and a good way to end the stay in this unique city.