Ethiopia: The Hyena Men of Harar
A city that takes visitors back to medieval times
Legendary places like Timbuktu, Esfahan, Medina, or Harar make a traveler's heart beat faster. Ever since I first saw pictures of the medieval old city of Harar in Ethiopia, I've been haunted by an almost daily urge to travel there.
My roommate Marco and I arrive by bus from Addis Ababa. As is common in many African cities, we head to the bus station as early as 3am. However, the chaos is manageable, and the departure is shortly after 5 am. The approximately ten-hour drive to Harar is characterized by incredible scenery and many shortstops on the road - people and animals often pass the roadway carelessly.
Just stop on one side of the street for lunch.
Harar is located in the east of Ethiopia and is divided into two districts: New Harar, where we arrive by bus, and Old Harar, surrounded by a fortress wall and declared a Unesco World Heritage Site. We stroll through the city gate into Old Harar and try to find a traditional Harari house where we can spend the night. Unfortunately, according to the guidebook, only a few families offer extra rooms in their homes as places to sleep, and only a few are described with exact locations.
A teenager offers to take us to one of the Harari houses. We wanted to find the way on our own, but we agreed since it was already late and the drive tiring. Hiob, as the boy is called, tells us about the town. He makes a relaxed, friendly impression. Then, over a pastel green Harari house, he says goodbye for the time being.
The gateway to Old Harar
While preparing for the trip, Marco and I heard about hyenas that live around Harar and supposedly occasionally roam the streets at night. A legend that we want to get to the bottom of.
We meet Hiob again late in the evening and tell him about the men who feed hyenas outside the city gates. This is to keep the hyenas from getting further into the city. He points in a direction with twinkling eyes, and off we go.
The legend of the Hyena Men
Several decades ago, hyenas began to invade Harar and attack anything that ran in front of their mouths. According to the legend, an old man mustered all his courage and started feeding the hyenas specifically in front of the city walls. Years passed, the attacks became an exception, and some travelers spread the legend of the brave hyena men who trudged outside the city gates every evening with a basket of meat to appease the beasts.
Filled to the fingertips with adrenaline, we walk to a small square in front of the city wall. A parked tuk-tuk shines its headlights, and we immediately spot a majestic, colossal hyena. Again, we feel fear and excitement.
A hungry hyena
Due to the great interest of the tourists, a pretty profitable business has developed for the hyena men. For 50 birr, the equivalent of about two euros, you can sit next to the hyena men and feed the hyenas with a skewer on which meat hangs.
A daring venture
A monstrous hyena dominates the action with its bright green eyes and impressive gait. I kneel down next to the hyena man, trembling as I did when I took my school-leaving exams, and get a thin skewer pressed into my hand. I try to keep the hyena in sight at all times. It creeps around me, and the first time it comes within a meter of me, I have to remind myself to breathe in and out.
I hold up the spit, and the hyena snaps. We do this a few times, and the excitement continues to build. Finally, the hyena man holds out another skewer to me and says, "Put it between your teeth." Did I just hear him, right? I'm supposed to put the skewer between my teeth? I have to remind myself to breathe again.
The insatiable hyena keeps her head down low and prowls around. She comes closer. I clamp the skewer with meat on the end between my teeth and focus on the hyena. It gets very close to me and snaps. I can hardly move with excitement. Adrenaline shoots through my body, and I realize that I have just fed Africa's second-largest predator mouth-to-mouth.
Marco is next. He kneels next to the hyena man and experiences the same adrenaline rush as I do. My own negligence of the situation is blinded by this surge, and I am glad of the amicable outcome when I regain my senses.
Sacred Harar
Early in the morning, we are awakened by the calls to prayer. Our room at Harari House is on the second floor with a small terrace. It is elementary but pleasant. The first rays of sunshine and the view over the misty, medieval-looking Harar motivate us to immediately explore the area.
Sunrise in Harar
A walk through Old Harar is an attraction. The many colorful paths, walls, and houses create an immensely colorful, relaxed, and inviting atmosphere. The Hararis are friendly, and their children are brightly smiling. Not only once do a few excited children follow us through the winding alleys.
While exploring Harar, one notices an immense density of mosques and churches. There are a little more than 80 mosques here. Harar is the fourth holiest city globally for Ethiopian Muslims, after Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem. While strolling through the market, we come across a beautiful, small but colorful mosque. Emblematic of the colorful nature of the Hararis.
Colorful mosque in Old Harar
The sun is sinking, the first shadows are cast in the alleys, and the atmosphere becomes cooler. As soon as it is dark, we head back outside the city gates. This time a little further out.
A short ride on a tuk-tuk later, we are in a field. Two companions shine into the depths of the night. Sporadically we spot green dots, then several. If each pair of green eyes is a hyena, we are now surrounded by more than ten hyenas. So quickly, the youthful exuberance has changed into a fearful trembling. Again.
My mates
We take a seat next to the hyena man, and before I can look around, I am pushed forward, and a hyena stands with its front paws on my back. The hyena man holds the spit in front of me, and the hungry beast snaps past my head. I sit there as if paralyzed. Marco feels the claws in his back, and we experience some adrenaline-charged minutes surrounded by more than ten hyenas.
Afterward, we are told that the men know these hyenas very well due to years of feeding. They are used to humans and do not take any harm from feeding or contact with humans.
How many hyenas can you spot?
Oh Harar
After these hectic days in Harar, it is time to travel and discover more of Ethiopia. But this place with its loving inhabitants and fearsome animal neighbors is one of those places that will live on forever as a legend in one's mind. Was it all really like that, or was I just dreaming? (2017)
