Harar Add-On Adventure

French-imported blue and white vintage Peugeot taxis cruise beneath Italian-built colonial buildings decked with tropical flowers, giving a strange Cuban twist to Sunni Islam’s fourth most holy city after Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem.

The narrow winding streets within the perimeter walls are alternatively whitewashed then painted in pastel shades of blue, viridian, vermillion. Khat, the highly addictive leaf grown on the surrounding plains, releasing an amphetamine buzz when chewed, occupies the daily thoughts and actions of many of the city’s inhabitants.

Men dye their beards orange. Women wear the most ostentatious, beautifully designed and brightly coloured shammas in the whole country. Hyenas roam the city walls looking for food. This is a city not to be missed.