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Exploring a Somali camel market
Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, is built on an oasis used by nomads since ancient times. It's been a center for camel and livestock trading for centuries. Hargeisa's camel market, the Senlaola Hoolaha as it's called in Somali, is a huge and dusty field a mile from the city center. Most of the day it´s used as playground by schoolchildren, but between 7 and 12 a.m. the scene is taken over by camels, goats, sheep, cows, their respective owners and of course prospective owners. It´s a tumultuous place. The men are inspecting the animals or standing in groups sharing the latest gossip. The women have occupied a big part of the field for their own business of selling food to hungry traders. Some have traveled for days to sell their goods. The camel herders, who generally travel without any motorized transport, have been traveling for as long as two weeks and from as far away as the Ogaden region of eastern Ethiopia.
A camel can cost anything from 300 to 1000 dollars depending on its age, strength, and of course the buyer's ability to haggle. All camels have been marked with the owner's special sign to avoid any conflicts about ownership.
Gallery: Hargeisa's camel market
Not everyone can learn how to recognize a good camel, says Hassan, who has been buying and selling camels and goats at Senlaola Hoolaha for twenty years. He enthusiastically shows me where to check on the camel's back to know its age and health. You have to know how what to look for or you'll get cheated, he says. Many camel herders give their camels extra water to make them look fatter than they really are, and only a well-trained eye can spot the difference.
To make sure that your bargaining doesn't affect anyone else's deals, an intricate technique of hand signs has been developed. The two businessmen put a shawl over their interlocked hands, and the bids are communicated by touch. The negotiations usually last from five to ten minutes but can take up to half an hour. The system might seem complicated at first glance, but the logic is simple and easy to learn. Every finger has a number. All the numbers from 1 to 9 represented. One, for example, would be described by grabbing the index finger at the tip. In the case bigger numbers are needed a zero can be added by grabbing a bigger part of the finger. One finger can therefore describe 1, 10, 100, 1000. Since both parties know the general price for a goat or a camel the use of zero is limited.
If you've ever been to the camel market at Birqash, near Cairo, you'll probably notice one significant difference. While in Egypt you'll constantly be followed around by hustlers, in Hargeisa you won´t be offered anything but long gazes of amazement. Here you are the only tourist around and you´ll soon find yourself, not the camels, becoming the main attraction.
(Note: the photos and much of the text in this post are the work of Leo Stolpe, a Swedish photojournalist who joined me on some of my Somaliland adventures. I merely edited the text and added a few things. Unfortunately, the program I'm using doesn't allow me to put him in the byline. Check out Leo's website for more great photos from his epic travels in east Africa.)
To make sure that your bargaining doesn't affect anyone else's deals, an intricate technique of hand signs has been developed. The two businessmen put a shawl over their interlocked hands, and the bids are communicated by touch. The negotiations usually last from five to ten minutes but can take up to half an hour. The system might seem complicated at first glance, but the logic is simple and easy to learn. Every finger has a number. All the numbers from 1 to 9 represented. One, for example, would be described by grabbing the index finger at the tip. In the case bigger numbers are needed a zero can be added by grabbing a bigger part of the finger. One finger can therefore describe 1, 10, 100, 1000. Since both parties know the general price for a goat or a camel the use of zero is limited.
If you've ever been to the camel market at Birqash, near Cairo, you'll probably notice one significant difference. While in Egypt you'll constantly be followed around by hustlers, in Hargeisa you won´t be offered anything but long gazes of amazement. Here you are the only tourist around and you´ll soon find yourself, not the camels, becoming the main attraction.
(Note: the photos and much of the text in this post are the work of Leo Stolpe, a Swedish photojournalist who joined me on some of my Somaliland adventures. I merely edited the text and added a few things. Unfortunately, the program I'm using doesn't allow me to put him in the byline. Check out Leo's website for more great photos from his epic travels in east Africa.)
Filed under: Africa, Somalia, Budget Travel
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Krista May 14th 2010 4:10PM
What a fascinating experience!! Thanks for explaining the bartering system too - that really brings the whole thing to life. :-)
Scott Carmichael May 14th 2010 4:28PM
The experience sounds about as confusing (and scammy) as buying a used car :)
Awesome experience - thanks for sharing!
Osman May 15th 2010 2:15AM
I'm from Hargeisa and I never really understood how they make those deals, as a child my father use to take me there but all I saw was them shaking hands aggressively and laughing.
It's quiet fascinating system.
Some people say before the settlement of Hargeisa, it was simply a camel market, Hargeisa is no more than 100 years old. Before Hargeisa the Somaliland capital was Sheekh, then it was moved to Berbera, then the main ruler of Sheekh town called Sheikh Madar moved to Hargeisa, the British provided him with camel corps (then Somaliland army) to protect him from the Ethiopians, Mad Mullah, etc.
They also say the name Hargeysa (Hargeisa) is drived from the Somali word Harag (meaning animal hide) and the other word gee (to take), so basically it means Harag-geeysa (which can be translated to place where they took the animal hides) ---> a camel market.
Animal hide was always profitable business, to find out how profitable just find Indhadeero Group company, who owns more than 8 business chains from livestock export, transport, hotels, shipment to fuel stations in Somaliland. He made all the money from animal hides. He use to export Somalia's (when Somaliland and Somalia were one) animal hides to Arabia. He made millions.
Hargeisa is the camel market like no other.
Abdi Warsame May 16th 2010 5:19PM
Thank you for visiting my home country.
Yusuf Dahir May 15th 2010 7:44AM
Great job Sean.
Thank's for explaining in details how traders in Haegeisa's Saylada Hoolaha do there numbers while trading, keep up the good work and i really do appreciated your wonderful reports from Somaliland.
Mohamed O.Osman (Guudle) May 15th 2010 1:50PM
Thank you so much Sean Mclachlan,
It was early in the evening , when I left my home to Hargiesa down town, I saw some one Having 'Somaliland Times' the English Version of Haatuf news paper , i grabbed it and saw this wonderful articles about my home land , I really amazed how much you have written and explored it.
This is the true experience you have adventured , I said thank you once again , Welcome to Somaliland , where many writers mentioned it ' A fragile state' .
I am a Graduate of Economics from an Ethiopian University ( Admas University College) which has campus in Hargiesa , and Affiliate with a newly established Research Institute in Hargiesa named 'Somaliland Socail and Economic Research Center SSERC , you can visit www.somalilandserc.com.
I am writing about the current somaliland upcoming presidential election , I will be grateful if you could help me on this matter.
I hope this experience will have much value to you.
Deka Mar 11th 2011 2:23AM
I really enjoyed reading your entire experience in Somaliland, I'm planning a trip to go back and visit my homeland next month and the last time I left I was a child fleeing the chaos and the civil war back in 1989. I'm going solo first for a month and half and then I plan to come back work my butt off and save up enough money to take my children back. They are born and bred in the U.S but I think a visit would give them much needed eye opener and enrich their lives and give them appreciatation of what we have here. I loved the Camel Market Pictures..Awesome can't wait to have my own experience.
Thanks for sharing your experiences:)