Ethiopia (April-May 2012): Harar and around (2/3)
Street maze, traditional
Harari house, defensive wall, and hyenas
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Return to main Ethiopia 2012 webpage | Return
to Harar 2012 page
Street maze:
Most of Harar′s streets are less colorful and quieter than
its market streets. But wandering and getting lost in the maze formed by these
small, sometimes very narrow, streets and alleys is another one of the pleasures
of visiting Harar.
Dense house packing in
the old city: there is no apparent structure or main street.
Views from rooftops
inside the city.
Some
of the streets.
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Traditional Harari house:
The walls bordering small
streets hide unsuspectedly gorgeous residences, the traditional Harari houses.
Most such houses are preceded by a tiny, unassuming courtyard.
Entrance door of one
of these residences seen from its courtyard and the main room inside.
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Colorful and highly
decorated interior of the main room. (I spent several nights in this house. The
other rooms that I have seen are much more sober. The main room is often used
in the afternoon by women to drink coffee and chat among friends.)
Close-ups of wall
decorations.
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Defensive wall:
This 3.4km-long wall
fully encloses Jugal (the old city of Harar) and defines the actual extent of Harar
until the 20th century. It was built in the mid-16th century to defend the city
against the threats of Christian forces from the Ethiopian highlands and
increasing migration of the Oromo people. Although it may have been repaired
many times, its shape and style have remained mostly intact. One of the main
changes has been the addition of a new gate under the reign of Haile Selassie,
the Harar gate, large enough to allow cars to enter
the old city. Fortunately, still today, very few parts of the old city are
accessible by cars.
Sections of the wall.
Left: Sanga gate.
Right: Fallana gate (only partially visible on the
right of the photo.).
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Left: Buda gate.
Right: Opening at the base of the wall to let hyenas enter the city at night so
that they clean garbage. (I recall leaving Harar by a
3am bus to Addis Ababa. On the way from my homestay to the bus I saw several
hyenas roaming the streets. A bit scary, but the local people seemed to appreciate
this free partial garbage removal.)
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Tomb of Emir Nur ibn Mujahid, the Harar′s ruler who was responsible for the construction
of the wall. (The tomb is located near the center of the old city.)
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Meeting the hyenas:
Every evening after
dusk, a local man, dubbed the ″hyena man″ meets with hyenas in a
quiet area slightly outside the walls. No hyenas are there when he arrives, he
calls them, and after a few minutes they start coming. Of course, he brings
food with him as an incentive. The scene attracts both local people and
visitors. The local man invites whoever wishes to feed the hyenas to join and
makes a living out of that. It was probably not a very wise decision to get so
close to the hyenas and feed them, but it was hard to resist the call.
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To see a short video of
the feeding of hyenas, click on the icon below.
Return to main Ethiopia 2012 webpage | Return
to Harar 2012 page