Camping on the beach

I have been averaging a weekend away (or at least a day at the beach outside of PAP) since getting back from Ottawa, and it's been a really good way to get away and disengage from work. So, two weeks after Ile a Vache, I went on a camping trip to a beach called Kokoye (coconut beach). Ian didn't make this trip, but I went with 5 of my colleagues. It was Chiara-the-intern-and-only-other-expat-girl's last weekend in Haiti, so I guess you could say it was a special occasion...

Kokoye beach

This whole idea started when we got an email invite to a group trip to Kokoye planned in October that one of my colleagues mistook for the upcoming weekend. From the photos in the email, he was hooked (see photos in this blog), and we realized there was absolutely nothing preventing us from going that weekend anyways. Never ones to plan something until the last minute, we should have realized that our lack or organization could have prevented us from going, but this was not the case. We tossed the idea out there, didn't make any concrete plans, and on Saturday at noon I got a call saying "Yeah, I think we're going to go forward with this Kokoye thing. Are you still interested in going? We're going out to get some food now and we'll probably leave around 2:30." 2:30 became 4pm as some of the beach goers (myself included) went souvenir shopping, but at 4pm one our our big Nissan Pilots picked me up with 5 people + driver and a load of luggage in the back. Since we were only staying overnight I just had a small backpack with my swimsuit, towel and a change of clothes so I wasn't sure why there were two suitcases in the back, but I was told not to worry.

It took us about 45 mins to get out of the city, then we drove to Leogane where we met up with someone who was supposed to show us the way, since the trip actually involved a hour-long hike down to the beach. He wasn't actually much use - we probably waited 20 mind for him to show up and all he did was give our driver directions, but on we went after that. The only problem was that the drop off point was a little farther out of PAP than expected, and the PAP traffic and waiting for the directions guy took longer than expected. So, at 7pm when the driver dropped us off, the sun had already set. We were almost prepared for this - 3 out of 6 of us had headlamp flashlights, and others could use their cellphones. Only Chiara and I had running shoes/hiking boots however, the others had to make it down the hike in flip flops. I also soon understood why there were two suitcases in the car - one was carrying our tent, extra bedding and water, and the other had our food! Not the most effective packing but I guess there were no "travelers" backpacks around. So, off we trudged down the mountain with our headlamps, small backpacks, assorted pots/charcoal/water carried in our arms and Ben carrying this giant suitcase on his head like we often see Haitians do.

I'm not going to lie - it was a rough trek down, but we made it in one piece. Despite my running shoes I fell several times, but I seemed to be the only one (I can't believe that Ben in flip flops with a suitcase on his head didn't fall!). {Janine, I was thinking about that night on our Machu Picchu trek the whole time} Two guys broke their flip flops and had to go barefoot, but fortunately our headlamps worked, we didn't get lost and some nice villagers met us when we were about 20mins away and led the way to the beach. Chiara and I set up the tent while the boys got to cooking, and we were able to take a late-night dip in the ocean, which was (a) really refreshing but (b) really cool - there were phosphorescent plankton that just lit up the area around you! We spent the rest of the night chilling on the beach, and everyone but me fell asleep under the stars...

Beach camping site

I woke up the next day just before sunrise, and was able to see what a beautiful beach we landed on. There were big palm trees swaying over the white sand, absolutely no one around, crystal blue water that went on for like a 800m and two islands close by that were just asking to be explored. I put on my bathing suit and hopped in the water and watched the sun rise from about 500m away from shore as some local fisherman were bringing in some lobster traps. I mean how great is that? Everyone else started to get up and we spent the rest of the day swimming, exploring the little islands, tanning, playing frisbee, and just having an all-around awesome beach day. We were able to take a boat ride back, so fortunately the guys with broken flip flops were spared, and came back to the city feeling totally relaxed. We agreed to go back again for the organized trip - knowing of course we would be a bit better organized the next time!

Fisherman paddling in this boat..

Cow Island

I'm going to try and get this post out before Ian and I have our long overdue housewarming BBQ, with hopefully another post tomorrow. The first trip I'm going to tell you about happened about three weeks ago, when we decided to explore the southern coast. We originally thought to go to Jacmel, a cute little artsy town on the beach, but it was the weekend after Tropical Storm Isaac passed and a whole bunch of garbage has washed down the mountain and into the water, so we squashed that plan. Instead we went further west along the southern coast, to an island called Ile a Vache.

Our hotel on Ile a Vache

Ile a Vache is a beautiful little island with a small population and a couple hotels that cater to expats looking for a weekend away or even travelers looking to take a week or so. The place where we stayed had a bit of the "resort hotel" feel, you payed an all inclusive price for the boat ride to and from the island, accommodation and food but are still required to buy your drinks. The trip there took about 4 hours, and we were only staying one night, so we tried to make the most of our time there.

Lover's Island

The first thing we did came recommended by guests we met getting off the boat - it was a getaway to "lover's island". Lovers island is this amazing sandbar in the middle of the ocean, far enough away from ile a vache and the mainland that you have complete privacy but still amazing views. The sandbar is maybe the size of a tennis court, and they drop you off with an umbrella and a cooler of drinks and come back whenever you want to be picked up. Ian and I brought our snorkel gear so we took and underwater tour around the island, and just enjoyed staying out in the sun.

The rest of our time was spent eating great food, looking at great views and snorkeling around the hotel. There were some interesting coral and fish to see around the hotel, and apparently there are even spots to go diving, which I'd like to check out when we get back. One night definitely isn't enough, so we'll need to make the most of a long weekend our next trip there.

The other interesting part about the weekend was the drive to and from. I had never been this far along the south of the horseshoe, and it had some beautiful scenery - rolling hills, lots of palm trees and jungle-y forest stuff, and the southern coast that faces the Caribbean sea is just beautiful. I might almost have enjoyed the drive as much as the trip! Fortunately there are a few more towns to check out along that coast, so I'll get to pass through again....

Cap Haitien

>>> this post was written at the beginning of August but I think I forgot to publish it. Sorry!

I hope all you Canadians are enjoying your long weekend. We actually Monday AND Tuesday off last weekend, so Ian and I decided to take advantage and do some in-country travel to Cap Haitien, a major town on Haiti's northern shoreline. We started off in PAP on Saturday morning, and drove on the "northern route", following the coastline to about the mid-way point in the big bay that makes Haiti look like a horseshoe. That was a beautiful drive along the shimmering blue ocean. We then darted inland to get to the northern coast, going through valleys then mountains then jungle, quite a different landscape than what I've seen around PAP. During the evening after we had gotten there, we went for a stroll along the major plazas, saw some lovely gingerbread houses and had dinner at a seaside restaurant.

Palais Sans Souci

The next day we went to Palais Sans Souci and the Citadelle, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Sans Souci palace was built in the early 1800s, meant to the be "Versailles of Haiti". In the 200 years since it's been sacked and looted, but you can still see a lot of the old structure and it's quite nice. There is a catedral at the bottom of the hill, and a grand staircase leading up the palace, with a large garden area off to the side. UNESCO World Heritage sites in Haiti are not like those in Europe, there are no barriers that prevent you from going upstairs (or ones that prevent you from falling over, for that matter), so we had a good time walking through and exploring.

We drove up the hill, parked the car, and walked up to the Citadelle, a fort built on top of a very high hill which overlooks the valley clear through to the water. The Citadelle was built with 4m thick walls and has a very steep slope to access it. It also has about 1,500 cannons and something like 15,000 cannonballs. For all of this protection, no one ever tried to attack the fort and the cannons were never fired at a hostile enemy. The Citadelle itself is very well preserved compared to the Palace, and it was really cool to wander around. The whole thing is open and you can wander wherever, from the rooms with the cannons to the medieval-esque courtyard inside, to the top of the structure to give you stunning views into the valley below. Again, there are no barriers to keep you from falling over and tumbling down the valley, but fortunately the 4m thick walls make it easy to walk across the top without fear of falling over...

View from the Citadelle

The day after we explored the Citadelle we had our beach day. We first went to Labadee, the beach that Royal Caribbean has "leased" from the Haitian Government for something like 50 years, and has cruises stop at twice a week. Since there were no cruises that day, the place wasn't open and they didn't let us in, but you can drive around the perimeter and see into it from the other side of the beach. This place has everything from a zip line to a waterslide to a roller coaster! I couldn't get over it, a roller coaster in Haiti. This must be how the cruises make their money... there is also a beautiful stretch of sandy beach, clear water and a water trampoline! Fun. We asked and you can't even get into the area when there is a cruise, probably because Royal Caribbean is scared you'll tell people they're actually in Haiti - apparently Royal Caribbean calls it "Hispaniola", which is the name of the island that has Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

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After our visual tour of Labadee we headed to Cormier Plage, the beach where we were staying at that night. It was just as gorgeous and way less crowded than Labadee would have been, and we spent the day reading, snorkeling, swimming and tanning. It was a really relaxing way to end an already chilled vacation, we actually wound up staying till 3pm the next day before heading back to PAP. This time we drove back through the central plateau, which had a very different landscape form the northern beach route. We went through the jungle, through plains with lots of agriculture, rolling hills that looked like English countryside and then past a series of connecting lakes that reminded me of Quebec. I really can't get over what a diverse countryside Haiti has, and how different the cities outside of Port-au-Prince can be. I'm really glad we could take the chance to see Haiti outside of Port-au-Prince... 

Calm before the storm

So this post (like almost all my posts) is way overdue. This was going to be my "I survived hurricane Isaac" post, but of course you all know that because it happened two weeks ago. What I want to start telling you about was actually three weeks ago, when I finally discovered where the yoga happens in Haiti.

Yoga in Port-au-Prince

There were twice-weekly yoga classes in Kabul that I attended pretty regularly - it is super relaxing and was a really good excuse to get out of the house. I know that there are yogis among any expat community, so I was searching and searching for a similar yoga class in PAP. I finally learned about one three weeks ago, the instructor gives a free class on Wednesdays on the roof of her apartment. It felt really really good to get back into yoga - it had been almost 8 months since my last class - and it could not have been in a more picturesque location. The classes are on the instructor's apartment rooftop with a great view over PAP and the bay. They start at 7pm so we're doing our sun salutations watching the sunset, it's absolutely amazing. I'm really excited about finding this class and have been attending weekly every since.  I also realized that yoga is another way you get 'spoiled' as an expat - I haven't paid to attend a class in two years and the concept just seems foreign to me now!

So that was Wednesday. By Thursday, everyone was buzzing about Isaac, the tropical storm that was slowly making its way to Haiti. We actually had Friday off work in case it hit, which turned out to be THE most anti-climatic day. It was a bit cloudy and kind of windy, and then everything quieted down (the proverbial calm before the storm, I suppose). By dinner time we were going stir crazy in our apartment and headed over to our friends house down the road for dinner and drinks. The winds picked up around 7 or 8, and the rain around 9 or 10, but the storm wasn't even in PAP by the time we went to bed. It hit us around 2am, and I awoke to some howling wind, but was able to get back to sleep so we really slept through the entire thing.

Isaac was tropical storm strength (one strength less than a hurricane), and caused less visible damage than a freak 20-min hurricane we had had a month earlier. There wasn't too much rain, so the amount of damage caused by flooding was minimal, things were quite normal in PAP. The storm came through the south and they were hit worse off then us. Overall it was a very anti-climatic experience, firstly because the storm hit late and we slept through it and secondly because it didn't leave much of a trail. I'm not complaining, and we still have three more months of "hurricane season" so there may still be a storm or two coming, but at the moment I'm back to enjoying my sunny days on my tropical island!

The apartment blog!

For all of you avid blog followers, the blog you have been waiting for is here! It's the apartment blog! It's only about two weeks after I originally wanted to post this, so thanks for your patience... 

After Ian spent two weeks looking at 20+ apartments, from dingy studios to pimpin' penthouses, we settled on a nice 2-bed 1-bath that wasn't even referred to us from Ian's vast networking of local real estate agents, the landlord is the best friend of one of my colleagues. Fortunately Ian doesn't see it as time wasted, because he got a good idea of the market and knew to snap this one up when he saw it. I'm glad he did because it's perfect for us. 

The location is only five minutes away from where I was in the Build Change apartments, so it's a good distance in between work and Petionville, the part of town where we normally go out for dinner, drinks or to parties. The landlord is very nice and putting in a BBQ pit, so we'll soon be able to have cook outs! We're surrounded by Haitian neighbours, which is nice because it makes me feel a lot more connected with my surroundings than I did living in a poppy palace in Kabul. Plus there aren't any helicopters flying 100m above my bed. 

Here is what I know you’re really looking for thought, the photos:

View from the front door

The living room

Our balcony! We eat here almost every meal... 

The master bedroom. The cleaning lady was washing our sheets.. 

Our landlord said that when the earthquake hit, they were renting these apartments unfurnished to Haitian families. Many moved out because they were afraid to sleep under a concrete slab roof (it took some people up to a year to be able to sleep inside again, so don't take this as a shot against the structural integrity of our building), and the landlord decided to furnish the apartments and rent to expats. Our landlord is actually a young guy and so he took extra furniture from his parents house and put it into our apartment and showed it off to potential clients like a model home! We still have our "model home" furniture, but actually it make the place feel quite homey and has a Haitian flavour, I really really like it. 

In other fun news, Ian got a job! He’s going to be working as a Finance Delegate with the British Red Cross. He’s very happy with his choice and I’m proud of him – Red Cross jobs are hard to land! He actually flies to the UK on Saturday for a week of orientation (during the Olympics!) and then will start in earnest Aug 13th. Inshallah he will continue to be able to live with me, pending the outcome of a security assessment, but the Red Cross don't seem to bothered about it and I think it will all work out. I'm actually going to miss his first few in-country days, as I'll be back in Ottawa for a VERY short R&R trip, I fly in at midnight on Friday the 10th and fly out mid-day on Weds the 15th.... 

Last weekend was a holiday in Haiti as well as the Canada, for a just-as-random holiday, le Carnival des Fleurs. Since Monday and Tuesday were off, we took advantage of the possibility for some in-country travel and went up north to Cap Haitien. That blog to follow...  

Voodoo at the Waterfall

Hello all,

I'm sure you all expected my next post to be about our new apartment, but you'll need to wait at least another post for that one. As much as I love our new place, I had a great experience last weekend I think you'll be more interested in hearing about.

Last weekend we went to Saut d'Eau, which literally translates from French to waterfall (in Creole it's just Sodo, because, as my colleague put it, the French just add in too many extra letters when they try and spell stuff). Saut d'Eau a town plus the waterfalls themselves about an hour inland north-east from Port-au-Prince, and last weekend happened to be the anniversary of a supposed sighting of the Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel. The story is kind of fishy, but apparently a priest saw the virgin appear on a palm tree a couple of hundred years ago, and not wanting it to turn into a superstitious thing, he cut the tree down. Nevertheless, it turned superstitious and both Catholics and Voodoo-practitioners have associated something religious with the place. There is a pilgrimage to the waterfalls every year in July to bathe in the waterfalls using herbs swirled around and blessed in a calabash (or you can just use plain soap).

Ian making his way up the waterfalls

We drove up on a Saturday and went straight to the waterfalls, where the festival atmosphere had started a bit. We passed lots of stalls selling soap, herbs, alcohol and more, and President Martelly had been at the waterfalls only a few minutes before we arrived. The waterfalls are quite big, you can either get into them from the bottom or the top, but it's possible to climb up or down through the waterfalls. They are also a lot of places to just sit down and have the water run down all around you. It was a really relaxing afternoon, and it's somewhere easy enough to drive to, spend a few hours, and go back to the city on a weekend or with visitors (ahem).

We stayed overnight at a friend of a friend's, a Haitian that lived in Montreal driving a taxi for 16 years and has come back to enjoy retirement in his home country. He was very welcoming and had a lot of people around for the festival anyways, so a few more were no big deal. At night he had a lot of friends over, and got this "troubadou" band to come and play while everyone ate. Troubadou is one of the local music styles here, quite African and super cool. There was a guy on a banjo, a maracas guy, a drummer, and a guy with a bass that was actually a big box he sat on with a hole in the middle, and different lengths of knives over the hole that he would pluck for the sound. These aren't the same guys, but this gives you an idea of what I'm talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmcvQ8-Aoq0.

One of my fav photos - scrub scrub scrub!

The next day we went back to the waterfalls, and it was a LOT busier than the day before, I bet there were at least a thousand people in the waterfall at any given time. We stayed up at the top of the falls where we were the day before, and spent a couple hours just watching the real festival-goers do their thing. There were a lot of people going through the bathing ritual - in fact I saw so much flesh that it felt weird going back to Port-au-Prince and seeing people in clothes! No one was running around naked, but everyone was in their underwear, and given the force of the waterfalls, there was little to be left to the imagination. If I ever had any doubt about how a man washes himself, it was put to rest last Sunday, I can tell you that. We also saw some voodoo priests with a gathering of followers, normally women, and he would swirl around the herbs in their calabash and wash them all up and down. There were rah-rah bands around, lots of chanting and a bit of singing and you can tell it was generally just enjoyed by all.

Better to be upstream than down

When we were leaving the city we encountered one of the major problems with holding a festival with only two roads in and out - traffic. Our driver had done the smart thing and parked on the outskirts of the city, but the traffic to get there was horrendous. There were about 10 of us in one truck (between the seats inside and the flatbed), slowly crawling along to try to get to the other car. Finally we decided it would be easier for those of us going to the other car to hop on a moto taxi, so that's just what we did. We had a mini-convoy of three motos with 6 people plus drivers that easily weaved through the traffic and got out to the car in 5 minutes. Ian and my driver had the speaker system set up to his phone and was blasting the tunes while the moto in front of us was beeping along to the beat. It was just one of those situations where you had to laugh... 

Jellyfish to the Face

Hello all, 

I hope that you're doing well and are enjoying the full swing of summer. It's been summer since I got here, but hurricane season just officially started, so I expect a rain or two in the coming months. 

The most exciting news of this week is that we found an apartment! It's quite close to where I'm currently living, so it's a good distance between work and the after-work places we like to go. It's "homely" as Ian calls it, because not only is it furnished but there are paintings on the wall and it is a very comfortable place. The best part is that is has a big balcony, I imagine we're going to be eating a lot of meals and playing a lot of scrabble out on it. We should be moving in next week, so I'll send pics once we're settled. What most important for you perhaps is that it's a two-bedroom, so there is a bed for visitors :) Yes, that means you. 

I also got to get out of the city for work this week, which was nice. I went to Leogane, south and west along the peninsula from Port-au-Prince. I had only driven through it once before, and didn't see that much this time around, but it was nice to get out and see the rural areas of the country. There are lots of banana trees and agriculture around, and life is just as colourful but seems a bit less crowded - it's nice. Leogane was actually the epicentre of the earthquake, and I was surprised that there were still a lot of people living in tents - proportionally as much as PAP maybe. There were also a lot of transitional shelters - buildings meant to last 3-5 years as people save money to rebuild their own homes. It will be interesting to see how it develops in the next five years as many shelter projects draw down in Leogane, but health and education programming goes up. 

I got out to that side of the country again this weekend, as we spent today at the beach. There aren't any beaches (or at least ones you want to go to) directly in PAP, it takes about an hour outside of the city either north or south to get somewhere that you have a chance to relax. There are basically three types of beaches in Haiti:

1. Public beaches that we call "MINUSTAH beaches" (MINUSTAH is the peacekeeping force here), because inevitably a couple truckloads of soldiers show up, have the tunes blasting, have lots of beer to go around and are generally making a commotion. Depending on the nationality of these guys, they may also be staring at me. Not so ideal when one wants to relax. 

2. Beach resorts. These are very nice classy places, Club Med standard. But they charge an entrance fee to get in, and $20 entry or $40 with a buffet is standard. Pricy!

3. Smaller hotels that don't charge an entrance fee, you just buy lunch or drinks or whatever. This has been my preferred option since being back, I've been going to this great little place called Villa Taina near Grand Goave. 

Yes, those are bits of tomato on my neck. I guess my freckles mask the swelling but it's there!

So we went to the beach today, which was really nice and relaxing. There were definitely people there but it wasn't overcrowded, the water was warm and the sun was out. Everything was very idyllic, down to the Haitian man in a canoe (aka hollowed out tree) paddling to get the lobster in the traps for lunch. Ian had a couple pairs of goggles and we were able to check out some of the coral and fish below, although it was only a small reef. You can imagine after a morning of swimming, a lunch of lobster and then a last swim where I was alongside the fishes in the reef, I was pretty relaxed. I was! And then a jellyfish stung me in the face! I'm serious, it got my whole face and part of my neck! I'm still not sure how it happened, as I was wearing the goggles and should have seen it, but I guess jellyfishes are clear. 

I immediately got out of the water as the stinging was starting, then I splashed cold water on my face then the owner of the place took me into the kitchen where he gave me his home remedy: first he soaked a rag in vinegar and ran it all over my face and then cut a tomato in two and ran both sides over it. It didn't smell the loveliest and it attracted a lot of flies, but it worked! The stinging subsided and I was just left with a swollen face. It took about three hours for the swelling to fade, but that's gone now too. I don't think that episode took all of the relaxation out of me, so the trip to the beach was still worth it...