At the Bassin-Bleu

Saturday I finally visited the famous “Bassin-Bleu”. I have heard a lot about it from colleagues that have been there both pre and post earthquake. They all said if the bassin is blue and not brown, it’s worth the 3 ½ hour drive to get there, after all this is the rainy season in Haiti. As I write this, I can hear the thunder crack in the background, actually I’ve been hearing the thunder cracking all week and most of last week too!

(take look the cool photos of the lightening bolts I took).

Like most excursions I take, I don’t really do a lot of research on it because for me it takes the element of surprise away when I get there. What I do is, I just get the bare minimum and off I go. Now, with that said here’s something I read this is an actual quote from there website: “ It is best to come via either horseback or with an off-road vehicle. During your trip you will have uneven roads and a river to fjord. The journey is a part of the experience though!” NO SHIT! It’s 12KM of NO roads, The Haitians have a very different meaning for “off road” compared to us. Without going into many details, let me give you a little aperçu of our “journey” there. Once we passed through Jacmel, we drove into this guy’s backyard to access the river we had to drive through, then we drove up the mountain on a hiking trail. The road was so rough my elbows were sore from banging on the arm rests, that’s how bad it was! I never figured where they get the horses to get there, there wasn’t a horse in sight even when I was there. At least we rode in a Land Cruiser, I couldn’t imagine riding in anything else…

Once we got to the site, the local guides took us to the Bassin-Bleu site. There are 3 bassin, the 1st bassin is shallow, no-one really swim in it, the locals use it as a watering hole for their cattle or horses, so I was told. We walked a couple of hundred meters to the second bassin, it was amazing, the water was bright turquoise, the vegetation around it was like something I have never seen before, there was this bassin of turquoise water in the middle of the jungle, just breath taking. Then the highlight of the trip began, to access the 3rd bassin I had to climb up a 50 ft cliff to access the 3rd bassin I had to climb down the side of a rock using a rope. I thought the view of the 2nd bassin was amazing, the 3rd was awesome, the bassin is located at the base of a fjord and there is a big waterfall feeding it.

The water was cool, there is a boulder in the middle of it that you can dive from. I swam across it and stood under the waterfall, swam to and from the 2nd bassin a few times. After that the guides took us at the top of the cliff and told us it was tradition to jump from the top of the cliff into the bassin. I must admit it took me a couple of minutes to muster up the courage to do it since I am deadly scared of heights, after all it’s about 50ft high! My motto is, when in Rome…so I jumped. I thought I was going to scream like a little girl all the way down but I didn’t. I am proud of myself for doing it, I even have a photo posted in the album to prove it.

It was a memorable day. Of course I have more to say, but I think I will keep it for another post

Until the next entry…

A guided tour of Port-au-Prince

It took a bit of organising but we were able to make it happened. The original plan was to spend the morning at the “Bassin Bleu” and the afternoon in Jacmel but for the last 3 days, we had severed thunderstorms and rain so we had to bail out again because when it rains the bassin bleu becomes the bassin brun (brown) and it takes a few days for the water to clear and turn blue again.

So rather than spending the day here doing nothing, we asked our driver to take us on a guided tour of PaP and Pétion-Ville which he did. .

We started or day by driving up to the rural town of Damiens home of the Barbancourt distillery and domaine Barbancourt sugar cane plantation. The old distillery is not open to the public in fact the distillery is abandoned and it move downtown PaP some years ago. After that, we went further up the hill to a belvedere to take amazing photos or PaP. It was a bit hazy but we were able to see everything including the border to the Dominican Republic.

Then we drove downtown to see the Presidential Palace & the Justice building, National Archives, National Library and other government buildings that are reduces to a pile of unrecognisable rubble. We also saw the Cathedral, University of PaP and the “pénitencier” (prison) which is the only building left standing in that area. I have seen many toppled houses and buildings since I have been here but this is nothing compared to what I have seen downtown. There are not many buildings left standing. Some buildings will topple again if there is a hurricane. They are holding on by another toppled building or a single cement beam. What really impressed me downtown is the market area and businesses around it. They is good business happening in the downtown area. You can practically buy anything you want or need and there are ten of thousand people shopping in the downtown area on any given day.

You think 6 month after the earthquake reconstruction would be in full swing in Haiti. It is not! I have not seen a single building or dwelling damaged by the earthquake being rebuilt. Since I have been here, I have not seen a building being reconstructed. There is NO construction going on or any equipment anywhere. Not even at the Presidential Palace. I was told the reason being is, the current government is concentrating on the fall elections. Both the current government and opposition are using the reconstruction priorities as there election platforms.

So with that said, it was a very interesting day for me. Not only I have seen the most devastated areas of Pap but I also learned a lot about the history of PaP.

Today is my ½-way mark. Three more short weeks Kerry and I will be flying home!! Tell the girls that daddy will be there soon.

Sunday is laundry day. I promise not to write about that unless something incredible happens.

Until my next entry.

Q&A

Thank you for your comments and emails. I always look forward to reading them.


Here are the answers to your questions:

Why another Blog?
Before I left for Haiti many of you asked me if I was going to Blog? I said I would if I have access to the Internet. Unfortunately, the connection we have in our building is not reliable. So I cannot update the blog as often as I would like too and adding a photo can take hours which is fine but I don‘t always have a connection for that long…mostly. The purpose behind the blog is to share with you my experience in Haiti and to show you some of the devastation caused by the earthquake. I am amazed how a nation can adapt is such harsh conditions and how one can survive with just the bare minimum. The best way to describe it is, the Haitians made the best of a really bad situation.

Why are you in Haiti?
My work sent me to Port-au-Prince for 6 weeks. The work I do here is not a secret (unlike my job in Ottawa which is so secret even I don’t know what I’m doing!) but I do not want to talk about it on my blog because my blog is personal and what I post is all done on my personal time. If you would like to learn more about what I do in Haiti send, me an email and I will gladly answer it.

Do you feel safe in Haiti?
I do…sort of. As I said, I live in a really nice condominium with a breathtaking view of PaP. I am living the life of a drug cartel. The building is surrounded by 12 feet high concrete walls with barbwire and security guards armed with 12 gauge shot guns. I can’t go pass the walls unless I am in the armoured SUV with my “special friend” I cannot walk anywhere! So yes, I do feel safe and I hate it. I feel like I am under house arrest “a la Conrad Black” except he’s free and I am not!

Are you living in a tent?
No. I live in a really nice 1-bedroom condominium built 2 years ago with a magnificent view of PaP.

Can you walk around in PaP?
I cannot and that pisses me off to no end! Yes, I know there is a lot of crime and violence in certain areas of PaP but I do not go to those areas. I am no way near those areas. I personally do not care that I could be prone to be harassed by beggars that is something I can deal with. When I travel to a foreign country, I like to mix in with the locals. I know that I stick out like a soar thumb here but to me that is not a valid excuse. Unfortunately, I do not get to walk around in Haiti….yet. The photos you see of PaP and Pétion-ville are taken from inside the SUV when I ride to and from work.

WTF does PaP mean?
It's an acronym for Port-au-Prince. The Capital of Haiti where I work

What do you mean by “special friend”?
My body guard. A really nice dude born and raise in PaP and he's got a great sense of humour!

Where is Pétion-ville?
I just saw the sign this week where Pétion-ville begins. It is not obvious. I posted a photo in the album. I thought Pétion-ville was a district of PaP but it is not. Pétion-ville is a city and it has its own mayor, council and police force. Go figure.

Can you go to restaurants or visit tourist sites?
Yes and no. We do go out to restaurants. The four I have been too are really nice. They all have white tablecloth, servers dress in black and white uniforms, and most of them the dinning area is outside in a courtyard with palm trees and tropical vegetation. Very classy and of course expensive. I really want to try the chicken they sell on the sidewalks but I have been told not too and this is why: there are three types of chickens. 1) Grain fed, 2) factory fed and 3) free roaming street chickens that eats garbage and whatever else they find, of course that is the type of they sell on the streets so I am still debating if I want to try it. I will keep you posted on that one.

Have I answered your question?
If not write a comment or email me at kerryandluc@videotron.ca

My First time at a Resort

Today I spent the day at Club Indigo (formerly known as Club Med) in Montrouis, Haiti. It was nice to spend the day at the beach and to get away from the ruins and the hustle and bustle of Port-au-Prince.


For $45.00 USD it got me a great day at the beach, swam in the Gulf de la Gonâve, all you can eat buffet, 2KM of sandy beach and I finally got ride of my T.T.T. (Tank Top Tan line) all this without spending a  single minute sitting on a beach/long chair! (Sorry Kerry I'm still not convinced about resorts)

The drive to Montruis was quite interesting in it's self in so many ways. The road we took to leave PaP was new to me. I saw even more devastation. There is more damaged buildings on the secondary roads than on the main roads. Probably because there are more buildings?

The countryside of Haiti is gorgeous, the fields are filled with plush green vegetation, beautiful green hills (I would love to hike some day) the road is along the coastline, the water is bright turquoise. palm trees everywhere just gorgeous.

What I found interesting was the road we took to get to the resort. The road and the ditches are newly constructed. In some villages the road is currently under construction. I was told the Government is preparing for people to be moved to the villages North of PaP. I'm not going to elaborate too much on that because I don't have the all the information.

Although I can see the logic in that for a few reasons. The North of Haiti wasn't hit by the earthquake, the epicentre was West South West of PaP. You'll see in the photo album that there are thousands of tents in the fields and people are moving North. Apparently since the earthquake (or l’évenement as the Haitians call it) the Haitian Government is urging it's citizens to move to the northern villages.

What struck me the most is the poverty. I saw people ridding on donkeys carrying their groceries and merchants using donkeys to haul their goods. Don't get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with ridding an ass once in a while but this is the 21st century and it's a country in the western hemisphere. I saw people living in shacks, sheds, brick boxes with no roof, cars, abandoned school buses, etc... Most markets are on the side of the road or in open fields with no roofs and they are so crowded with people, live stock, food, clothing and crap I don't know how people can move around?

I hope you enjoy the blog as much as I enjoy writing, every time I see something interesting or take a photo of something interesting I look forward to write about it.

Your comments on the blog are always appreciated.

Until the next entry.

In Port-au-Prince

Hello again dear readers.


Before I start my 2nd blog, I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all of you who provided comments and feed back on the Israel blog. It is very much appreciated.

When I was offered to go to Haiti, I tried to prepare myself psychologically. I really did. I spent hours on the Internet reading articles, watching news segments and looking at graphic images. I ask colleagues who went to Haiti days after the earthquake to tell me about their experience. I thought I had a grasp on things, I thought I could handle the scenes of the devastation, I really thought I was prepared. Then I arrived in Port au Prince....

When we left the airport, for the 1st 500 meters that we drove, there was nothing left standing except the airport building which in itself is very damaged. There is a few brick walls near it that are still standing but that is pretty much it. Every single dwelling was toppled. Floors stacked on top of each other like pancakes. Hoards of people walking in the streets going about their daily lives like nothing happened. The street vendors are lined up side-by-side selling fruits, vegetables and all sort of stuff, it was just surreal.

The condition of the roads is unexplainable. For the a few kilometers I thought we were driving in people's backyard (literally). The roads are not paved, there is no stop signs, no traffic signs of any kind, there are no policeman to direct traffic, no sidewalk, It’s total mayhem. People, rubble and debris everywhere, a lawless city really.

Once we got to my apartment on la montagne noir in Petionville, you cannot tell that just 6 months ago, a devastating earthquake destroyed the city a few hundred meters behind. The only visible sign, is the “Tents Camp" located at the bottom of la montagne. The houses and buildings are intact. A couple of buildings have a few visible cracks but they could have been there before?

The road (if I can call it that) to my apartment is so bad that some residents leave theit car at the start of the road and walk home. Only SUV’s and motorcycle drive on the road. The joke is, since the earthquake, the road improved because debris filled the potholes (I kid you not). After driving on this “thing” for a week it make potholes back home look like speed bumps. f I ever hear someone complaining about our potholes I will "bitch slap" you.

With that said, I want to tell you that I am here safe and sound. I am really enjoying myself in Haiti and do not worry I am in very good company.

I will do my best to update the blog. I ask you to please bear with me on the updates because this is Haiti after all and the infrastructures here are NOT all that reliable.

I apologise in advance for not being able to include photos in the blog like I did with the one on Israel because the Internet connection is very slow and I tried to upload a photo and it took hours so I gave up. I included a link at the beginning of the blog so you to access my personal album on Haiti on Picasa. I will try to update it regularly.

Take car of yourself and remember to stay hydrated.

Until the next entry

Luc