The hyena feeder of Harar, Ethiopia

Hyenas are feared and despised in Ethiopia...blamed for killing livestock and, reportedly, drunken individuals who sleep on the streets at night.



But in the walled city of Harar, in the east, there is a symbiotic relationship with hyenas. Some mosques prepare porridge for the animals as part of an annual festival If the main hyena leader doesnt eat, its a sign of bad times to come. If he/she eats that means good times are ahead.


In the last 20-30 years, some men have become known through tv coverage for feeding hyenas meat by the city walls. Its become a tourist attraction.

Yusuf is one of the 2 main hyena feeders. He calls them by name and seems to know their habits pretty well.


I met an Australian researcher when I came to take a look...he is written his phd thesis on Harar's relationship with hyenas.





Pretty bizarre to see these predatory animals so close up.

Hunger in drought-prone Ethiopia.

Oromia region, about 250 kilometres south of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, is one of the most fertile parts of the country. But, like large parts of the country as well as much of East Africa people are facing drought and serious food shortages.

The Ethiopian government says inadequate rains mean 6.2 million people need aid this year and has appealed to the international community to help. International aid agency, Oxfam, has called for a shift in the way the world deals with food crisis; and is urging donors to switch more of their funding away from short-term emergency food aid to longer-term development work, which strengthens the ability of communities to prevent and deal with possible shocks and climate disasters

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZCdq2AOZww

Ladakh travels

So excited to get the chance to travel to Ladakh..a Himalayan region of India. In the winter, overland travel there is impossible because of heavy snow. I read that in some cases, temperatures dipped to minus 46.


But I was going at the tail end of the summer – and towards the end of the tourist season.

It was mainly pretty hot and dry in the day; but nights could get very cold. Even so, places I stayed seemed bemused by my requests for extra blankets; in one basic guest house run by a monastery, I piled on 5 blankets!!

The landscape is stunning. Its part of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir: a lush and largely muslim area. By contrast, Ladakh is austerely stark in its landscape – bare mountains often covered by snow; and mainly Buddhist.
frequent flier

Its sometimes been called “Little Tibet” – the population is racially a mix of Tibetan and Indo-Aryan and many Tibetan refugees live there – opening up small restaurants selling momos, and market stalls filled with Tibetan jewellery and textiles. They can freely practice their religion and culture. Unfortunately, I just missed the Dalai Lama who visits every year who comes to give spiritual teaching to thousands of followers.

Ladakh literally takes your breath away: its the highest region of India; the capital, Leh is 3,500 metres above sea level. Many suffer altitude sickness; and for the first few days, moving around, however slowly, seems like a major exertion. You find yourself wheezing as you ascent a hill to visit Leh Palace or Shanti stupa.
I spent the first few days in Leh, acclimatizing, resting and then enjoying the start of the annual Ladakh festival – a colourful parade of costumes, sounds and dances – which lasts for 15 days at the beginning of September each year.



A friend recommended the charming Sia-La guesthouse – run by a lovely couple with a beautifully tended garden full of vegetables and flowers.


After a few days, I was keen to explore the region more. I shared a jeep with 4 other tourists and we headed to some of the beautiful lake regions – Tso-Kar and Ts Moriri. I’d decided to go there as the landscape was meant to be stunning but also part of the Ladakh festival was going to be held there for the first time.


Several of my companions who’d arrived in Leh a day after me became ill with the dizzying heights we were experiencing. We drove up Taglung La (or Pass) – the world’s second highest motorable pass; spectacular scenery along the way. I have never really been into taking pictures of landscapes..but Ladakh made me change my mind.

Tso-Kar and Tso Kiagar with both beautiful lakes on our way to Tso Moriri. We were originally going to camp at Tso Kiagar – but it was a really exposed and cold area and we decided to push onto the village of Korzok, situated next to Tso-Moriri.

This was our base for the next 3 nights. It was an incredible setting; a wonderful village and even more special because of the festival.

The gompa’s (monastery’s) lama came back from Dharamsala for the event…he was greeted by villagers in traditional costumes who made incense offerings. I found out he was only 19 years old and this was his first return in a year.












He presided over some horse racing along the banks of the lake…to me it felt like watching something on the Mongolian steppe. There was a lot of humour…the crowd laughed as one rider almost fell of his horse trying to pick up a white silk scarf on the ground; then rallied round in support for him as the underdog in the competitions.

In the evening, a cultural show…but this was really an event for locals more than tourists…They crowded into the community hall and watched as if it was the first time they’d ever seen the dances. Children laughed and ran in and out of the crowds.


More festival activities the next day – with a series of wonderful cham masked dances performed in the gompa (monastery). The village gompa was lovely – and a perfect place to stage the event since the two-storey building formed around a courtyard (almost Shakespearean in style) allowing everyone to have a good view of the spectacle.

I peered into the gompa in between the dances…which was a lucky thing to do since they happily let me in and take pictures as the monks were preparing their costumes and masks.















I didn’t want to rest up in Leh again so headed out in the afternoon with a guide for a mini trek.
I didn’t have proper hiking shoes with me and wasn’t sure how much abuse my day trekking shoes could stand. (As it turned out, not a lot…when I returned to Leh a few days later, the sole had come unglued from one of my shoes!)

It was good to get some more physical activity – the treks (taking in villages from Likir) were not so strenuous but took you through some really beautiful scenery and picturesque villages.



It was good to get some more physical activity – the treks (taking in villages from Likir) were not so strenuous but took you through some really beautiful scenery and picturesque villages.
Likir gompa




People I met on my trek











After the trekking, I hitched a lift to Lamayuru – a medieval looking town, famous for its gompa which clings atmospherically to the mountainside.
Lamayuru

Though I was thankful for the lift, the Indian driver was hell-bent on trying to overtake 40 Indian army trucks as we crossed the hairpin bends of the Fotula Pass…one of the highest roads in the world and one of the scariest.I really thought this might be the end of my trip!

I was happy to be on terra firma in Lamayuru , spending the day exploring the gompa and the labyrinthine town.

The incredible Fotula pass

Back to Leh again…and preparing for a visit to Nubra Valley. I couldn’t get a jeep with other tourists…but one wonderful tour agent told me there was a cheaper option – a shared local jeep. I got up at some unearthly hour in the morning and found myself on the northern tip of the city…and yes, there were several jeeps all about to head to Nubra.
Arriving in Nubra valley

Road journeys are never boring in Ladakh. The scenery is magnificent, you always spot interesting things; and of course, this being India, my fellow car travelers were not good car passengers. One poor boy threw up most of the way there (and one woman threw up most of the way back when I finally made it back to Leh).

Buddha-like soldier in Nubra...close to the border with Pakistan

Nubra seemed like a dream..it was gloriously hot when I arrived. I was dropped off at a road by a gompa and walked down steps; crossing bubbling brooks, pretty trees and countryside. My guesthouse/campsite had a lovely garden – and a pet pashmina goat, which did tricks, standing on its hind legs, for food. It was lovely just chilling out there for a few hours before heading out to explore when it got a bit cooler.
Crazy clouds/sky in Nubra

The lighting that day was just incredible; the sky amazing and the clouds moving fast-forward like a psychedelic movie.



I’d decided that this was the place I would hang out for a few days. More Ladakh festival activities in Hundar (the town I stayed..though not really a “town” – more a village) and Diskit.



Nubra valley




Two humps better than one: Bactrian (2 humped) camels


Sad to leave and head back to Leh. But time was running out and I wanted to see some monasteries – and stay overnight to enjoy the atmosphere and morning worship or puja.




Nubra valley


Sad to leave and head back to Leh. But time was running out and I wanted to see some monasteries – and stay overnight to enjoy the atmosphere and morning worship or puja.
Combat ready Indian police near the Pakistan border



Polo match, Leh

Alchi monastery









Leh tea shop


Ladakh festival in Nubra valley












Another trip - to the amazing Pangong Lake, which is crystal clear and changes colours during the day.
Snow journey to Lake Pangong..


Wildlife...this is a marmot


Beautiful Lake Pangong, crystal clear, and colours changing throught the day






Thikse monastery


Sad to leave and head back to Leh. But time was running out and I wanted to see some monasteries – and stay overnight to enjoy the atmosphere and morning worship or puja.



I stopped off to overnight at Thikse gompa, near the capital. It resembles the Potala Palace in Tibet. But because its so close to Leh morning prayers was also full of groups of tourists…not quite the atmosphere I had wanted. But it was still wonderful sitting in the semi dark and listening to the hypnotic chanting. Also watching some of the naughty young monks playing around before the new crowd of visitors.



It was enough to make me decide to travel to another monastery, Hemis. I hitched some more lifts and arrived around midday. It was a lovely place with a newly opened and very interesting museum. When the day-trippers left, I was the only foreigner staying there apart from another girl who apparently was visiting for several weeks to study Buddhism.

Morning puja was really special a very different atmosphere from Thikse and I’m glad I’d stayed the night.


Young monks at Hemis monastery







I was lucky to get a lift back to Leh. The morning bus never turned up!!
Part of the adventure and joy of travel.

Back to Leh again for final shopping before I flew back to Delhi.

An amazing holiday…incredible landscape; wonderfully hospitable people; I hope I will be back one day.

Ladakh festival

Just got back from amazing holiday in Himalayan region of Ladakh, India...
it was also the start of the Ladakh festival...

Nepal poor hard-hit by climate changes

Tending rice saplings

Oxfam has just released a report today looking at how climate changes in Nepal are having a big impact on millions of rural poor.

In the report, "Even the Himalayas Have Stopped Smiling: Climate Change, Poverty and Adaptation in Nepal", farmers said changing weather patterns had dramatically affected crop production, leaving them unable to properly feed themselves and getting into debt. Nepal is already one of the poorest countries in the world (31% of its 28 million population living below the poverty line). And more than 3 million are estimated to require food assistance because of a combination of natural disasters including last year's winter drought - one of the worst in Nepal's history.


Hear some of the voices of the villagers

I helped organise a media trip to the mid west - to Surkhet district. People told us that crop production was way down on previous years. Plus, they were having big problems with water shortages - which had helped to spread an outbreak of diarrhoea (more than 300 killed in the epidemic).


Spindly maize - not enough water

Among recent changes in weather patterns in Nepal are an increase in temperature extremes, more intense rainfall and increased unpredictability in weather patterns, including drier winters and delays in the summer monsoons. The melting of the Himalayan glaciers will also be felt well beyond Nepal's borders. Scientists warn that if the Himalayan glaciers disappear – with some predicting this could happen within 30 years – the impact would be felt by more than one billion people across Asia.



Some of the heaviest burdens have fallen on women who are on the frontline of climate change. They have to travel further distances to fetch water and take on the responsibility for feeding the family as men in many poor households migrate seasonally to seek work.


Men like Padam Bahadur Sunar travel to India for up to 8 months of the year to find casual work to feed the family

Poor and marginalised communities living here - in remote areas that often are several hours walk from the main roadheads - are the most vulnerable to weather shocks and the least able to protect themselves.






Oxfam says more work needs to be done in Nepal by the government and international organisations to create greater awareness about climate change and its likely impacts, to prioritise and institutionalise actions at national level; and help communities to play a greater role themselves in initiatives to reduce their vulnerability.


Nepal is extremely vulnerable to climate change; yet has one of the lowest emissions in the world – just 0.025% of total global greenhouse gas emissions. Oxfam is calling on the world's richest countries, those most responsible for global emissions, to do more to help poor countries like Nepal better adapt and mitigate the effects of climate change when they meet to discuss a global climate treaty in Copenhagen in December – in 100 days from tomorrow

aerial view of the desert - Mali

Amazing views as I flew from Gao to Bamako, in Mali.


I was lucky enough to get a seat in the cockpit for part of the way.
Impressed by the pilots...



This was my 2nd time in Timbuctu...last time travelled by boat and went to the desert.









Views from the plane - journeying from Gao region, north-east Mali, via Timbuktu and Mopti to Bamako, the capital

Back from the desert in Mali

Just got back to the Malian capital, Bamako, after spending the last week in the north-eastern Sahelian region..think desert, dust and camels!



It was an exhausting but inspiring trip



Its an extremely poor region; a food deficit area where people are struggling. Yet they are warm and friendly to visitors .



More pix to come..too tired to post now