Travelling to Haiti

Day 1. Who would have guessed that getting to Haiti could be so difficult? And not because of difficult roads, or Haitian customs but the airline companies. At least we made it, and the drive in Haiti made it all worth the hassle.

The problems started in LA where our flight was delayed by more than two hours. Of course this meant we missed the flight from Fort Lauderdale to Port-Au-Prince. This was a problem because there is only one flight out of Fort Lauderdale each day. To make matters worse, our ride in Haiti was a local pastor who couldn’t have picked us up on the next day, Sunday, so we would have had to wait till Monday. Our one week vacation was starting to look pretty short. Plus it would cost us an additional $150US for him to rent the van again. Compound this with the fact that we couldn’t convince the airport pay phones to call into Haiti to warn them of our challenge despite trying credit cards, change, phone cards, and the operator. And did I mention that our flight was supposed to leave at 11pm so our kids we’re extremely tired and frustrated as we moved from line to line so late at night?

In the end things worked out fine. We were able to catch my Parents, who were supposed to be arriving in Haiti a few hours after us, before they left their hotel in the US to let them know what was happening. Then, while we were flying from LA, the airline took the liberty of re-booking us on a flight out of Miami and paying for a shuttle bus to take us from Fort Lauderdale to the Miami airport. The only question left was how to convey this message into Haiti where the last they would have heard was that we couldn’t make our flight? Making us of our “emergency” contact system we left a message on my parents phone in Canada. Sure enough they remembered to check it before leaving Port-Au-Prince and drove back to the airport where we found them waiting for us when we arrived.

Our first impression of the Haiti airport was very good. Compared to our last visit, where there was only a single stall, open air bathroom (yes you could sit on the toilet and watch people getting off the plane) this time there large private bathrooms in an air conditioned airport that looked quite new. In-fact there was even a significant amount of work done towards two new jet bridges and connecting passageways and escalators. Very modern looking indeed. In-fact the entire airport process seemed very North American. The Customs agents didn’t speak English so they just didn’t ask any questions. Luggage pickup was very sane compared to our last trip and there were a number of free luggage carts available. There were a few baggage handlers hanging around outside the airport but they were a lot less pushy than I remembered, and I didn’t see groups of people placing their hand on every bag like last time!

The city of Port is an experience to say the least. Side by side is sandwiched some of the most impoverished people in the world, with some reasonable modern amenities. Cellphones and cellphone advertisements are everywhere. Many people carry at least two phones for some reason. Houses are stacked on top of each other, overlapping, and often barely have room to walk in between. In other places are large commercial bank buildings. Near the government buildings there was a very nice park with green grass, fields, and a number of pieces of playground equipment. There is people pretty much everywhere. Motorbikes, pedestrians, cars, and tap-taps freely mingle on the roadways. Surprisingly people to stop at the stoplights, although its not unusual to see three or four vehicles plus motorcycles squeezed in side-by-side where we would have a couple of lanes. People are selling things of every curb, nook and cranny. Driving is chaotic to say the least. Driving on the right is only a rough guideline and is regularly broken. It’s not unusual to see someone driving down the wrong side of a divided highway even if there are cement barriers to separate the traffic! Honking is constant as it is used as a method for warning other drivers and pedestrians that you are going to speed by them with probably only a couple of inches of space. You would definitely get a broken arm here if you held your hand out the vehicle window.

The roads do seem somewhat improved. We spent a lot of time on a road that had been recently repaved with proper gutters and slope. In fact the road from Port-Au-Prince to Jacmel was truly amazing! It starts off along the ocean shore and then heads into the mountains. Slowly, it winds gently back and forth as you work your way over the range. There is a section along the top of athe range where the road is literally driving along the top of a sharp ridge where the bank slopes away on both sides. This gives a vary impressive view of the beautiful but rough countryside. It is pretty green right now as there has been a lot of rain the last couple of years.

Unfortunately the hired driver doesn’t give us much time to enjoy the view. The driving is from gas to brakes to gas. You are either accelerating or slowing. We would regularly make passes around corners, abrupt turns to avoid pedestrians, or sharp turns just to make a corner. Our oldest daughter sat in the front seat and talked the entire trip. The locals were impressed (I think). Unfortunately our youngest daughter, who was sitting on my lap of course, wasn’t as lucky. She made it three quarters of the way before letting her lunch go all over me. We’ll at least the driver was considerate enough to slow down for a minute while we tried to collect the mess (with our hands) into a bag. Although I thought the persistent awful smell might trigger my own stomach it seemed to hold out ok. A little bit of rain helped keep us all cool, and the smell a little fresher.

When we arrived at Jacmel, much later than anticipated, it was now dark. This in not an ideal situation. Jacmel is one of Haiti’s nicest cities but we are still in a van full of obviously international travellers. At one point a large group of partiers flooded the road in front of us as they rushed down from one celebration to another. Yes, this is Haiti’s party city and these are the kind of crowds that one is generally advised to avoid. Fortunately, by now the dark generally conceals our identity as we wait for the partiers to slowly wander off to their next event.

It is with much relief that we finally arrive at the Pastors house, 22 hours after we began our travels. The power is out in the city at the time and so they have lit oil lamps to show us around. There is a large meal ready and waiting for us including Carrots, beats, onions, a green vegetable mix, fried meat, lettuce salad and of course rice and bean sauce. To help make us feel at home they had even made some home made french fries.

The Pastors home is very nice and brings back fond memories of traveling in tropical climates. It has windows that don’t close, which allows the sounds and smells of Haiti to wander at their will through the house. The tile floors feel cool on our bare feet, and the open veranda allows the wind to refresh us. With flushing toilets, and a dripping cold shower, we feel quite at home.

Sleep comes quickly that night as we, and the kids, are more than exhausted and we have a long day ahead of us.