Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the planet without a branch of Starbucks or its ilk. In fact, Al-Makha doesn't have a lot of
anything these days - except flies and heat.
The history of Al-Makha stretches way back to the days before Islam (and Starbucks),
but its heyday was during the 17th century when it became the world's foremost coffee-
exporting centre. Back then, Al-Makha had a population of some 20,000 people.
Nowadays it's a forlorn and windblown town of a few hundred hardy souls who make
their bread and butter through fishing and smuggling. Africa is only a hop and a skip away
and the chaos in Somalia as well as Yemen provides an endless source of income for the
unscrupulous. Alcohol, weapons, drugs, consumer goods and, most disturbingly, people
all enter and leave Yemen through this narrow back door.
Sights & Activities
Reminders of past glories are few and far between. The most impressive building is the
Masjid ash-Shadhil
, a blazing white 15th-century mosque. Nearby is an old
minaret
and a few
piles of rubble that were once
merchant villas
. The newer part of town has a
qat market
, a
beach
with a few garishly painted boats and a large morning-only
fish market
and a weighing
room, whose floors are ankle-deep in thick, black squid ink.
THE PECULIAR INCIDENT OF THE GOAT & THE BERRY
Most of us need our early-morning caffeine kick to get going, but have you ever wondered who discovered cof-
fee? Well, according to the Yemenis, it wasn't a person at all but rather a humble goat. It's said that a shepherd
was out in the Yemeni hills with his goats when he noticed that one of them, having eaten some peculiar berries,
started behaving strangely. Mystified by this sight, the old man took a bite himself and within moments felt 20
years younger. Astonished by this discovery, he raced back to his village and spread the news. One of the people
he told was a poet who accompanied the shepherd back into the mountains to try them for himself. After swal-
lowing a few of the berries, the poet felt so enlightened that he immediately composed a poem in praise of this
odd shrub. It was this poem that spread the fame of coffee around the world. And the goat we all have to celebrate
for our morning rituals? Rumour has it that in thanks he was eaten for lunch the next day.
