Harar - FOOTPRINT Ethiopia Tours & Travel

Harar Tours is mainly focuses on the old walled town, a fascinating place that begs to exploration. The thick, 5m high walls around town, which stand to this day, is locally known as Jugol were erected in the 16th century by Emir, with in the walls the city is a maze of narrow, twisting alleys and lanes, replete with historic buildings, including 82 small mosques, and numerous shrines and tombs. Harar is considered to be the fourth holy city of Islam with Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. In Ethiopia as Axum was the window for Christianity, Harar is the same for Islam.
Beside the wall, the dominant features of Harar are the traditional Harari house; the childhood home of late Emperor Haile Selassie; the exciting open market that presents medley of people and culture; the Rimbaud House named after the French poet who lived there in 1880 and houses a museum dedicated to the poet, with a series of illustrated panels (mainly in French) about his life and the colourful Christian & Muslim Markets.
End Harar Tours at the evening what has come to be known as the Hyena Man. The Hyena Man starts calling the hyenas by name and after about ten minutes the animals appear, coming down from the surrounding hills. The hyenas then eat the meat that they are fed even going so far as to take the meat directly from the mouth of the Hyena Man. Although this may sound like an odd thing to do, it is actually extremely interesting even though no one seems to have a clear picture of the origins of this rather bizarre practice.
Harar is also famous for its distinctive, natural processed COFFEES which bear the same name.
Tours in Harar can be extended as a half day excursion to Babile Valley of Marvels, situated about 30km from Harar, which is noted for amazing rock formations.
Harar Town is one of Ethiopian World Heritage Site located in east Ethiopia on a hilltop, in the eastern extension of the Ethiopian highlands five hundred kilometres from Addis Ababa with an elevation of 1885 meters.