Harar, Ethiopia - Do gooders, heinous hyenas, and videotape...

My NGO. Actually, Anthony's NGO. Naughty kid ran away and smoked his inventory of cigarettes. So, I had to convert him into a shoeshine boy. Seriously, I hope he smartens up and makes enough money to go to school. (Btw, Anthony bought him the clothes he's wearing).

I bought him the supplies. The neatest thing was the AK 47 ammo box he was going to use to carry the shoe polish, etc. I wish I bought one for myself... I'd look kind of weird declaring that to customs at YYC.

This is Solomon, man with a big heart. He's the NGO's mentor. He and his family have been kind enough to offer the NGO a place to stay in their house. His payback? The kid runs off with the goods... Good luck, Solomon...

Interesting day. I think I performed a good deed. I'm not sure. I visited Anthony's NGO child today. Apparently, the contact worked at the hotel restaurant. I dropped the name and soon I found myself being led into the slum area under the hotel to visit Solomon, the child's supervisor.

I met Solomon, who seemed to be a real nice guy, in a courtyard, surrounded a group of shacks, home to his extended family. I got the lowdown on Jambirr, the NGO kid. According to Solomon, Jambirr had run away from his adopted home a couple of times since becoming a NGO project. Jambirr apparently fabricated a story that bigger kids had confiscated the materials he was suppose to sell (kleenex, chewing gum, cigarettes, etc...). The money he made was meant to better his life of course. In actual fact, he was spotted hanging around, smoking the very cigarettes he was selling. He only returned to Solomon's house when he was starving for another meal. Next disappearance is supposed to be strike 3. If I were Solomon and his family, I would kick him out now and back to his former life (begging and sleeping under a roadside plastic lean-to) for a while and thing bring him back to the good life. Then ask him which life he prefers.

You have to give Solomon and his family credit. They realized that this kid was a long term project (i.e. you can take the kid off the streets, but you can't take the streets out of the kid - well, they were willing to try again at least). With that support behind him I decided to up the ante and restart the NGO program. We talked a while and agreed that things had to change. Instead of selling nick nacks, we decided to change his career. We turned him into a shoeshine boy. We went back to the local market and, for 70 birr, bought him the necessary supplies. Suffice to say, he won't be eating or smoking shoe polish...

I truly hope it works this time because this may well be the kid's last chance at farangi goodwill. Once I and Anthony are gone the well will run dry unless another do gooder comes long. (highly unlikely).

I'm leaving for Addis tomorrow @ 0500.

I gotta pack and shoot some hyenas tonite before bedtime...

My granny, what big teeth, bad breath, and funny laugh you have...

it's 0046 and I'm still awake. It's really going to suck on the bus today. The hyenas were about a weird, bizarre, surreal experience as it gets.



This is my lame attempt at taping some of the action. First, it was really dark out. I didn't have the luxury of car lights shining on the critters. So, I had to resort to the nightshot feature on my camera. Not good, but it did give the hyenas an extra evil look about them. Second, once the clip underwent the youtube treatment, some detail was lost. For instance, the middle segment featured the eyeshine of the hyenas. There must have been 6 to 8 in the group. Very creepy with that many eyes peering at us. You can still see a couple of pairs, but they're faint. I like the hyenas laughing at us though. As for the third segment, I'm the goof playing the role of hyena paparrazi.

Good night.

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, May 1/07
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Harar, Ethiopia - That's, that's all folks?

The primary attraction of Harar is the old city. Historical records show Harar has been around since the 7th C. AD. The 5m wall that surrounds the 60 hectare town was constructed in the 1560's. Access is gained through 5 original gates (2 were added in the early 1900's). The above is Showa Gate.

There's a mini-market surrounding Showa Gate. I found this young lady selling baguettes. She wanted a copy of some photos I took of her. So, she gave me her email address and, in addition, she gave me a glossy pic of herself. See below.

Pretty nice photo, eh...?

This is a "street" scene just inside Showa Gate. There's only one true, auto-accessible road that leads into town.

The population of the old city is about 22,000 people. Just wandering the alley ways gives you a close look at day to day life. Plus, the folks aren't adverse to having their pix taken. In fact, they'll ask you to take their pic more often than not...

Unofficial guide...

Egg-cellent photo. I'm not sure about the significants of the eggs. The kids were really proud of them though...

You won't believe this but there are a lot of kids in Ethiopia... (refer to the inverted demographic pyramid chart you learned about in social studies class)

The sun's pretty hot even before noon. Must. Have. A. Mirinda. Now...

The level of dilapidation in Harar's not bad. Not bad for a 1300 year old city...

Woke up early and started my exploration of Harar. The Old City was a perfect size for walking about in. Walked through the main Harar gate, down the traffic thoroughfare, and straight out into the country side. Interesting cemetery... Traced my footsteps back into town, finding myself meandering slowly through a labyrinth of cobbled alleys infusing the whitewashed adobe type architecture of shopping and living quarters. Just trying to soak in the everyday life of the people of Harrar.

Except for the lively market, human traffic was relatively sparse. Excellent opportunities for people watching and photography. Everyone seemed quite friendly. I even met a couple of Ethiopian-Canadians who had made the trip home for an extended stay. Surprisingly, the much anticipated onslaught of touts did not materialize.

Like I've written before Harar is the 4th holiest Islamic centre (mentioned in the same breath as Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem) in the world. The influence of Islam on the people was unquestionable, but the influence on the architecture was more subtle. I was expecting mosques of monumental size, but many of Old Harar's densely packed 90 or so mosques are small and private, blending in with the rest of Harar.

I spent the afternoon back at the Hotel since the temperature just soared once the sun reached its apex in the sky.

Restaurant Review.
I thought I'd give the guidebook glorified Hirut Restaurant another try. Failure to satisfy once again on a massive scale. There must have been a change in management. I ordered the mixed grill plate but got a meaty sludge served on injera. Not really good, especially considering the premium price.

The joint itself is really nicely decorated but really needs to work on its cookery.

As for service, it rivaled the non-stellar nature of menu. Very slow and indifferent. I was watching the BBC on their TV (a real treat when I can get it). I guess the bartender was bored and he shut off the TV in the middle of the news and proceeded to crank up the awful Ethiopian pop music. Noooooo..!!

I noticed alot of this inconsiderate behaviour in Africa (eg. turning off/blocking the view of TVs, trampling on each other while boarding buses, talking really loud in the hotel at all hours of the night while I'm trying to catch some zzzz's, and the list goes on). There really is no concept of consideration let alone customer service.

Brings me back to a comment or advice given to me at the Sudanese Embassy in Addis. I had been waiting a long time to see the visa guy when an Ethiopian woman sitting beside me encouraged me to crash the que ahead of me. She said that in Africa you've got to fight for everything you want or you'll find yourself outside looking in, regardless of whether its a bus seat, a train ticket, or even a turn at the toilet.

Dog eat dog my friends...

Think I'm visiting Harar beer factory tomorrow. Hopefully they're giving free T-shirts or hats to tourists...

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, Apr 30/07
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Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - Heading for Harrar's Hyenas

A vulture-like bird staring into my hotel room... Foreshadowing of things to come....?

After weeks of hemming and hawing and yesterday's debacle of sleeping in, I'm here in Harrar, the self proclaimed medieval capital of "the horn of Africa" and 4th holiest city in the Islamic world. That's of course after a excruciatingly painful 10 hour (0600 to 1600), 525km bus ride east of Addis. It wasn't particularly lengthy on paper but really slow. Plus, it was really hot in the cabin.

The most interesting scenery was the drive through Awash National Park. Cinder cones to craters to volcanoes right next to the highway.

At least I'm in Harrar now. I've checked into the Tewodros Hotel with a room facing the famous hyena field of dreams. No first observations so far other than there are a helluva lot of flies and homeless people here.

I borrowed a can of insecticide spray from the manager. The instructions the can didn't list any dangerous side effects so I nuked the room and shut the door. I got the hell out of there of course.

As for the homeless, I'll try to help them out tomorrow.


View Larger Map

The above map indicates the location of the Tewodros Hotel. Just north of the Hotel is a large soccer field/garbage dump... the Old city is to the right...

Later that day:

It was something like 2145. The football field/garbage dump just behind the hotel turned into a hyena fest/convention. I could hardly see them in the dark but I could clearly see the ones walking along the lit street. Even more eerie was that the fact that I heard them wading through the garbage and their whimpering cries.


Long exposure of the football field/dump taken from a balcony at the Tewodros Hotel...

The scene was freakish. People were milling about, seemingly oblivious to the presence of hyenas. Some idiots were even taunting them, drawing muted or non-responses from some of the most ferocious predators in Africa. I was even more surprised that they didn't go after one of the neighbourhood dogs.

Clearly, this phenomenon or behaviour stemmed from the presence of the garbage dump. Poor waste management.

This may sound ridiculous, but I was tempted to go out and shoot some pix. For chrissakes some of them were huge. Easily take down a human being, eh.

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, Apr 29/07
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top ten things overheard in an ethiopian conversation...

granny...my what big spots you have...

10. "you"
9. "fasil, look at that japanese farangi. if he lost anymore weight, he'd be an honourary habeshi (ethiopian).
8. "a farangi is a star trek character. NOT. haha."
7. "if there is a "special" jacked up price for farangi, i've got some extra arid land in the danikil depression you might be interested in buying. haha."
6. "bob marley has left shashemane..."
5. "learn how to play a Wurlitzer and you'll have the world by the tail, my friend."
4. "that girl is flatter than injera..."
3. "are you carrying a kalashnikov or are you just happy to see me?"
2. "would you like some injera to go along with your injera?" (ed. note: i'm not kidding.)
1. "two"

ed. notes:

1. i ate an entire 13 in. deep dish pizza tonite hoping to disguise the emaciated look. ok, it was deep dish as it gets in ethiopia. pretty thin on the ham, cheese, and sauce. crust was thick though.

2. spent the "weekend" in harrar (N9 18.793 E42 7.849) dodging obnoxious guides. old town was interesting. and, what about them hyaenas (see above), eh. 15 cm from my big mouth. there seems to be a recurring theme in this trip abroad. first, charging elephants. second, getting really friendly with gorillas. now, it's snacking hyaenas.

3. just got my sudanese visa. now only if i can find some transport out of addis. suffice to say, i'll be switching countries soon.