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Archive 2014 · The Hyena Men of Harar

  
 
thebiker
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · The Hyena Men of Harar


Three weeks ago I was in Harar.
Harar?
Where is that ?, you ask.

Harar is an ancient walled city 500 km east of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. Ethiopia is in Africa. Some say its the 4th holiest city for Islam after Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem, but that is arguable. It was a center for Muslim trade and learning a few hundred years ago, but today it is just an old city with dozens of old mosques with some dating back hundreds of years. Harar's streets are so narrow that in places, only one person can pass through at a time. And the people of Harar are very friendly, so its a great place for street photography.

Here are a few photos of the inside of the walled city of Harar. Its only about 1 sq km in total size, but 82 mosques, three of which date back to the 10th century, 102 shrines, 382 narrow streets, and the tiny homes of nearly 40,000 people are crammed inside the walls. As there were no good hotels, we stayed in a homestay owned by a Muslim lady called Khatija. It was very basic and we had to share one bathroom and one toilet. Water was available intermittently, and electricity was also intermittent. People of Harar tend to sit around just chatting with each other, and chewing Chat, a kind of plant that has mild stimulant effects.



The next photo is a view of people busy with their morning chores in Harar.



More than 80 percent of the people in Harar are Muslims, with the rest being orthodox Christians.



Lots of young people sell food on the narrow pavements of Harar:



This Muslim man had a beard dyed orange with hanna.



But I came to Harar to see holy men feeding wild and vicious Hyenas. Not just feeding them with pieces of meat, but actually feeding them mouth to mouth. Pieces of meat are put on a stick held between the Hyena man's own teeth. The Hyenas come up to his face to pluck the meat



Hyenas are believed to be able to chase Djinns or evil spirits, and people believe Hyenas can even foretell if its going to be a good or bad year for crops. The Hyena men of Harar call out to the wild Hyenas living in the bushland around the city, and they are fed with meat and offal every night. Once a year, on Ashura (the tenth of the month of Muharram in the Islamic calendar), one of the sheikhs of four rotating shrines would call out to the hyenas and feed them a bowl of wheat porridge to divine the city’s future in the coming year. If the hyena ate deeply, it would be a year of plenty. If not, then not. The feeding of Hyenas probably began initially as a practice to placate Hyenas from attacking livestock and people, but it eventually developed into a regular ritual related to spirits and prophecies



Sometimes the meat is simply given by hand to the Hyenas ... which is not really advisable, because hyenas have teeth and jaws which are very powerful, which can easily crush bones. Some years ago, while camping out in the Serengeti in Tanzania, I heard a lot of noise outside my tent. Peeking out through my tent flap, I saw hyenas rummaging through our camping cooking stuff. I knew it was perfectly safe, as long as I stayed inside the tent and not go out, because the tent is perceived as a solid object and animals couldn't comprehend that there were edible morsels inside. Anyway, next morning, upon checking our mess tins and empty food cans, we saw some puncture marks made by the hyenas teeth .... so you really dont want to mess around with hyenas.



It seems strange to be standing just a few paces from a pack of vicious wild Hyenas, and yet feeling quite safe that these wild hyenas are not attacking us. In fact at the invitation of the Hyena Man, one of the participants of my PhotoSafari to Ethiopia was brave enough to go and sit by his side during the feeding. Sally appeared a little apprehensive but the Hyena man assured her that the beasts will not harm her. Here's a photo of Sally with the Hyena Man of Harar.as he was feeding them.



In fact, one of the Hyenas even stood on Sally's shoulder to get q piece of meat from the Hyena man. Brave girl.



The next photo should give you an impression of how huge these Hyenas are. The Hyena's neck is easily the size of a man's chest. If they should decide to wrap those powerful jaws around a human head, they could easily crush our puny skulls. Now you can see why I was scared to fool around with these wild animals. So Sally is very brave.



Ethiopia is fascinating. I was there last year, and the year before that. And I came again this year because there is so much more to see in Ethiopia. I intend to return to Harar and to Ethiopia again sometime in January of 2015, for another photosafari with about 6 amateur photographer friends. If anybody from this forum wants to join me in this non-profit, shared cost photosafari to Ethiopia in January of 2015, please send me a message. I can probably accommodate upto 4 more people. Check out my past photosafaris to exotic places at
MY PHOTOSAFARI WEBSITE



May 25, 2014 at 09:34 AM
Steady Hand
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · The Hyena Men of Harar


Yusuf,

This is another interesting post of photos!

I enjoyed the photos and the captions.

Well photographed and well written.

Your friend Sally was certainly brave.



May 25, 2014 at 10:03 AM
thebiker
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · The Hyena Men of Harar


Thanks Steady Hand (strange to call you that). Glad you enjoyed the post. I was in Ethiopia for more than three weeks, climbing active volcanos with gurgling liquid lava lakes in their craters, visiting the remote villages of Naked Suri Tribesmen armed with AK-47, etc. etc. .

Ethiopia is fascinating. I came home with more than 400 gigs of RAW images from Ethiopia, and I will share as much as I can here. However, I'm saving my best images for my upcoming privately published book, Yusuf Hashim-African Journey, Part 2.

Here's the tentative cover:






May 25, 2014 at 10:13 AM
bbourizk
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · The Hyena Men of Harar


WOW


May 25, 2014 at 10:21 AM
Steady Hand
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · The Hyena Men of Harar


Yusuf,

What a great journey! The map shows it, the photos show it too.

Should be a great book too!

Did you do any of the journey on motorbike?




May 25, 2014 at 10:42 AM
thebiker
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · The Hyena Men of Harar


Yup. Did Malaysia thru Thailand, and Laos to China, and also Acheh to Jakarta to Bali to Makassar in Indonesia by bike. I ride a Kawasaki ZZR Ninja 1100. The rest by an all terrain Toyota Landcruiser.

Pic below shot in the Makgadikgadi Pan of Botswana in Africa.during a 3 month expedition from Cape Town to Cairo.
My truck is the one on the left next to the tent.





May 25, 2014 at 10:50 AM
Steady Hand
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · The Hyena Men of Harar


I hope to take a similar trip someday!

Thanks for posting the photos, as I am truly enjoying seeing these.




May 25, 2014 at 11:23 AM
tonyfield
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · The Hyena Men of Harar


An extremely fine documentary series ... it tells a complete story that I can read and re-read. Fine indeed. !!!


May 25, 2014 at 12:00 PM
Medowlark
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · The Hyena Men of Harar


Thanks again Yussef.. I enjoyed this series. Well done indeed.


May 25, 2014 at 12:42 PM
Jonathan Huynh
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · The Hyena Men of Harar


I truly enjoy seeing this images,
great story and thank for sharing.



May 25, 2014 at 05:21 PM
Jay_Be
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · The Hyena Men of Harar


The Hyena feeding images are fascinating.



May 25, 2014 at 05:42 PM
ViewFinder35
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · The Hyena Men of Harar


Those are amazing images! Thank you!


May 25, 2014 at 05:46 PM
thebiker
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · The Hyena Men of Harar


Thank You Tony Field, Al Rogers, Jonathan, Jay_Be and ViewFinder35. Glad you like my images. Will try and post more.

Yusuf



May 25, 2014 at 11:42 PM
clipping path
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · The Hyena Men of Harar


This images are awesome. specially the Hyena's activities. I like it very much.clipping mask


May 26, 2014 at 01:10 AM
roguedog
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · The Hyena Men of Harar


I'm having great fun following these!


Jun 07, 2014 at 12:09 AM





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