Hyenas of Harar

We were all set to go at 1.00am from our hotel, the minibus driver having already picked up most of its occupants.....the roof was overflowing with hesian sacks full of local produce and babies slept cradled to their mothers backs, tightly wrapped in the shamma that supports them in their slumber.

Passing through the back streets of Harar during the day can frighten most travellers, the neglect and obnoxious smells eminating from the market place. People sleep by their stalls at night for fear that their wares will disappear as they have nowhere else to store them. At this time, predators avail of the glimmer of an opportunity to take advantage of the tiredness of the stall owners and prowl the area looking for any tasty morsel of food.

It was just then that we happened upon a hyena with canine fangs protuding through a ribbed carcass of some unfortunate animal that wasn't fast enough to get away...the hyena snarled at the beaming headlights having been caught in its wanderings looking for a midnight snack, all the while people sleeping on the ground not five feet away.