There are also a few museums. The Harar Museum and Cultural Center has a reconstructed traditional home that should not be missed. Harari homes consist of several rooms, including a common room with different platforms for sitting and colorful basketry hanging from the walls. If you stay in Harar for any length of time you'll be invited into a real home, but it's nice to poke about here because you can see the private quarters that are otherwise off-limits. Another excellent museum is the Abdullahi Sherif Private Museum, run by a descendant of the prophet Muhammad who has devoted his life to collecting, preserving, and studying artifacts from Harar's past. The museum is housed in the palace that Emperor Haile Selassie grew up in. Examining the various coins, swords, dresses, and medieval manuscripts will show just how eventful Harar's history was, and how it was a nexus of influences from all over the world.

Admirers of literature will want to see Rimbaud's House, an elegant mansion that, in a surprising display of honesty, the curator told me was never Rimbaud's. Be that as it may, it is now devoted to the memory of the poet, with many of his photos of old Harar and information about his life and work. Rimbaud introduced photography to Harar when he moved here in 1880 and his photos are priceless documents of life in the city more than a hundred years ago.

And there's much more to explore. I'm planning to go back for two months next year to do an in-depth research project on some aspect of Harari culture. Exactly what aspect I'm not sure. As one Harari friend advised, "Don't come here with an idea in your head. Let the city give you the subject." Harar is that kind of place.

An excellent introduction to the city and its people is Harar: A Cultural Guide (Shama Books, 2007) by David Vô Vân and Mohammed Jami Guleid, with beautiful photographs by Alain Zorzutti.


Don't forget to read the rest of my series on travel in Ethiopia.

Next time: some final thoughts on travel in Ethiopia.