Mini mosque shares space inside a tree. (edited)
By Anita Powell, Associated Press
Last update: October 19, 2007 – 5:49 PM
HARAR, Ethiopia - For 1,000 years, this city on a hilltop has been a center of Islamic faith in the Horn of Africa, with a forbidding 13-foot-tall wall surrounding ancient mosques and serpentine alleyways.
Harar leaders now hope it can become a center of tourism, as well.
"The future of Harar is tourist attraction," said regional president Murad Abdulhadi.
Harar was named a UNESCO World Heritage site last year, joining some of the world's top landmarks, such as the Grand Canyon, the Great Wall of China and the Acropolis in Greece.
It is also the fourth holiest city in Islam -- behind Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. And some consider Harar the birthplace of coffee. Its aroma wafts through the cool air of the Ethiopian highlands.
Some of Harar's attractions defy easy explanation, such as the old man who hand-feeds about 50 hyenas every night, treating them like obedient kittens.
New hotels on the rise
But the city, which lies about 250 miles from the capital, Addis Ababa, lacks modern amenities and sufficient water. With only a few hotels and the nearest airport more than an hour's drive away, moving Harar into the future is an ambitious plan.
Abdulnasser Idriss, who heads Harar's tourism department, acknowledges the city faces problems in accommodating more than the 4,500 tourists who go there each year.
To speed development, the regional government has given a 10-year tax break to anyone interested in building tourist facilities. Federal officials plan to make Harar and its neighboring city, Dire Dawa, part of an advertising campaign to lure tourists from neighboring Djibouti.
Ethiopian officials would not say how much has been invested so far, but construction is everywhere: unfinished hotels and restaurants dot the road leading into the main part of the city.
Oil baron Sheik Mohammed Alamoudi, believed to have invested more than $1 billion in his native country, has sent a team to Harar at the request of regional officials to investigate potential to build the city's first luxury hotel.
The city is also planning a $34.5 million water project that will increase Harar's available water supply more than sevenfold. Each resident now gets five gallons of water per day.
But what Harar lacks in modern amenities it more than compensates for in ancient wonders: nearly 100 old mosques, fortress-style walls, alleyways filled with ancient homes.
Rimbaud lived in Harar
French poet Arthur Rimbaud lived in Harar in the late 1800s. The airy, colorful house where he resided is now an art gallery showing modern photography and Ethiopian crafts.
Abdurahman Ibrahim, 38, who lived in Harar as a child but recently returned for a visit, said the city has become much more alluring to tourists.
"Everything has changed," said the Toronto resident. "Most of the things for the better. The city has grown so much. The road is better. The electricity is better. The water is better."
Still, as Harar moves further into the modern world, many locals say they're proud of the past.
According to Zeydan Bekri, a lifelong Harari, "The basic thing is we want to protect this culture, to keep it as it is for the next generation."
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