harar is one of the most fascinating places i have ever been. it is an ancient walled city in the far east of ethiopia with its own local language, and is said to be the fourth holiest site in islam. historically it was completely isolated from the outside world, and was infamously impenetrable by those from the west until someone sneaked in disguised as an arab merchant. the narrow cobble-stoned streets are filled with commerce and lounging men chewing qat.
the people of harar also have a remarkable symbiotic relationship with hyenas. rumor has it this began with townspeople leaving out porridge for the hyenas so they wouldn’t kill the livestock, and later tunnels were even built under the city walls so the hyenas could come in at night. two harari families have kept this tradition going by feeding the hyenas meat every night just outside the city. the location of this event is not well described, but i finally found it with the help of some local children who took me on a 15 minute walk out into the complete darkness. as the meat was brought out, we started hearing the howls of the encircling hyenas.
when they got close, they started eating the meat off sticks, and myself and two german anthropology students who were high on qat took turns feeding them. the next day, it was on to the city of jijiga, then to somaliland!
