Ah, oh.
(dramatic music)
(person whistles)
Whoo! Ladies and gentlemen, I am buzzin'.
We just made a video eating khat with the boys
and it was a lot of fun,
but that's not why you come to Harar.
You come to Harar
for a very special event that happens right around
maybe in about an hour and a half where you feed hyenas
like "Lady and the Tramp."
So this city has an ancient reputation,
an ancient relationship with hyenas.
They were the custodians of the city.
And now we're on our way to meet a man called the hyena man
to learn more about it.
Let's go.
Where's Harar?
It's here in northeast Ethiopia, right beside Somalia.
This ancient city has been a trading hub
in the Horn of Africa for well over 1,000 years.
(singing in foreign language)
Ethiopia is one of the very few countries in Africa
not colonized by Europeans
and retains a lot of its rich culture.
Walking the streets, you see all sorts of interesting faces,
each telling stories that you can only barely imagine.
But before we feed hyenas
in the absolute worst way possible,
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- Oh! - Oh, that's dangerous.
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And now back to the show.
We arrive at the hyena man's home.
You can still see the old city walls
even though the town has grown beyond them.
Some men graze their cattle on what little grass grows here.
Then we see bones.
Behind them, a man is cutting up a camel.
Soon, it's for the midnight feast.
(children chattering)
Then the hyena man himself emerges.
But I get intercepted.
Hi. Hi.
Boop, nice to meet you.
Hello? (child chatters)
I've got the LCD out so they can see in the side.
That's you, that's you.
I don't know what you're saying, but you're hella cute.
Oh, you're awesome.
Okay. Let's get back on track.
This is Youssef, the hyena man.
- [Man] Is your GoPro rolling?
- GoPro is rolling. - Cool.
- Camera one is rolling. - Rolling. Yeah.
- Camera two. - Rolling.
- Rolling. Youssef.
Nice to meet you, my friend.
Can you tell us about this very interesting relationship
you have with hyenas?
During the old times, the hyenas were the garbagemen,
cleaning up the streets of Harar, taking out the trash,
eating what was left.
And the people who say hyenas are dangerous, is that true?
Youssef, can you tell us your first memory of a hyena?
You were attacked by hyenas in the beginning.
What made your relationship change?
So for me, I don't think I've heard very many times
what a hyena sounds like.
What do hyenas sound like?
Like hoo-hoo-hoo! Hoo!
- Hoo. - Like that? Hoo.
- They don't wanna miss you. - Yeah.
- So they still love him that much
that they come and they still visit the hyena man (laughs)
all the way.
My friend, thank you so much.
- Okay. Thank you.
- We take a little break.
(dramatic music)
And return at night.
You know hyenas.
They love the darkness.
Okay, it's a little spooky. Not gonna lie.
Night has fallen over Harar,
and we're here just maybe 100 meters behind
Youssef's house.
He is going to bring the hyenas in.
As you heard, they're best friends,
former enemies, now best friends.
And we will have an opportunity to feed them,
I think, if we're comfortable.
Right now, no sign of the hyenas yet.
Then we walk past a scene that isn't for the squeamish.
There are leftovers from previous nights,
a junkyard of camel parts.
Youssef's son begins to call them in.
(speaking in foreign language)
(man whistles)
As the man himself gets into position.
- (whistles) Ha-hey.
- There's one hyena and one stray cat,
both enjoying a giant pile of bones
here off to the right-hand side.
I've never seen a hyena before.
But hyenas, while they might kind of look like cats
and kind of look like dogs,
they're not really related to either one.
They're their own thing.
And they can be up to 170 pounds
and they have a bite stronger than a fricking lion.
They can crunch bones with those jaws.
And you can find hyena poop really easy
because it's the ones that have bone chunks
and white powder from them actually eating bones.
They're an incredible animal.
- Ha-hey. (whistles)
- The hyenas are skittish at first.
But then they get bold.
(hyena meows)
With the Muslim call to prayer
echoing over the hills of Harar,
hyenas start to laugh.
(hyenas laughing)
- Hey!
Come in and sit down.
- Come in and sit down.
Youssef calls me up - Come in!
- to the top of the hill.
I'm just trying to go slow. Holy shit.
(Youssef whistling)
- [Youssef] Ha-hey. (whistles)
(speaking in foreign language)
These animals are huge.
(Youssef whistles) It's time for the feeding.
(speaking in foreign language)
- Jesus Christ. (Youssef whistling)
- No, no, no, no. That's not a...
- [Youssef] Yes. Ha-hey! (whistles)
Okay? Okay! (whistles)
- I can hear it breathing in my ear.
(host exhales) - Okay? (whistles)
- My heart's beating so fast. - Yeah. (whistles)
(host laughs)
Ha! (whistles) Yes! (whistles)
- Oh, this is one of the craziest things
I've ever done. (exhales)
- [Youssef] (whistles) Ha-hey!
- Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
Oh, my God, oh, my God.
Don't bite my ear.
- [Youssef] Okay?
- Oh, Jesus, my man.
- Heh. - Yeah.
- Yes. (both laughing)
- Youssef then decides to raise the stakes.
- [Youssef] Ha. (whistles)
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Youssef] Yes!
- Yeah. Yup.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Youssef] Yes. (host laughing)
(speaking in foreign language)
(host laughing)
- Ben, my man behind the camera, gives it a try.
(speaking in foreign language)
So gentle.
(people laughing)
(man whistling)
And my friend and guide Gumbo does too.
He gets a little uncomfortable.
(man whistling)
(people laughing)
- Mike, so gentle. Ah!
- He's looking at...
All right, listen.
Holding it in my mouth
and seeing the hyena's mouth go like this,
one of the strongest jaws in the animal kingdom,
that's the last sight some people see,
some things see as a hyena's jaws
crunch their fricking face, man.
I don't know.
(hyena whines) (man laughs)
They are a fearsome animal, so they say.
But he ones here are actually quite timid.
And this man's built a reputation,
built a relationship with these animals.
So we can come here, we can do this crazy shit
that you shouldn't be able to do in real life.
But hell, man, I love this country. (laughs)
That was wild.
Well, that concludes our Ethiopian adventures.
I got some shout-outs to make first.
We got Ben
behind the camera. - Yeah, baby!
- We got Gumbo. (tongue clicking)
We got the rest of the Ethiopia team over there.
If you want to come too, detail is in the description.
Message Gumbo, message this crew,
and you can come and have an amazing adventure here as well.
This country's incredible.
Can't wait to see you here.
Chase your fears, dragons.
I'll see you in the next video on "Fearless and Far."
(gentle music)