THE CENTRAL AMERICAN SERIES PT6
HAITI – DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
After the scariest flight of my life I arrived in Cap-Haitien safe and sound and surrounded by eager taxi drivers, the first sign of arriving back into the third world.
THE IMAGE OF THE BEACH WILL FOREVER STAY IN MY HEAD; A LONELY PALM TREE SURROUNDED BY TONNES OF RUBBISH!
There couldn’t be two more contrasting countries to fly between. Turks & Caicos with its abundance of 5* resorts and crystal clear waters and Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, which if I’m honest, doesn’t do it justice. On the drive from the airport you see nothing but rubbish on what would be one of the nicest beaches on the Caribbean!
WHERE IS HISPANIOLA?
Haiti & Dominican Republic, an Island of two halves
HABITATION DES LAURIERS
The driving was chaotic, people hanging out of windows, sitting on top of buses, no right of way, just complete chaos! Getting up tot eh hotel required a lot of effort and as the road was so steep the driver had to beep his horn the entire way so we wouldn’t have to stop.
I checked into Habitation des Lauriers which is thee place to stay in Cape-Haitien. It doesn’t say much but it was seriously impressive, however I did feel guilty as it was a little like staying in an ivory tower! The owner told us an interesting story, that his land which surrounds the hotel is slowly being taken over by the neighbouring slums. But rather than make things worse he lets it happen. I arrived at a perfect time however as there was a tour leaving that minute to visit La Citadelle Laferrière, a fortress in the mountains.
LA CITADELLE LAFERRIÈRE
This can be done via public transport but it’s a bit of a nightmare and I didn’t have much time here either. The citadel was built by Henry Christophe over 200 years ago and took 13 years and 200,000 slaves to build! The walk is long, around 2 hours but not difficult. Be sure if you visit that you check out Sans-Souci which is the palace of Napoleon’s sister.
Haiti & Dominican Republic, an Island of two halves
THE BUS
The following day I had arranged to get the bus from Cape-Haitien into Dominica Republic, all the way down to Santo Domingo. Luckily a couple who had done the tour with me yesterday were also doing the same trip. Darlene & Rene who are keen travellers themselves currently source books and other written material in the Caribbean for universities in the U.S. They have a place in DR but live in Puerto Rico and save a fortune on shipping costs against if they were to live on any other Caribbean island.
I’ve took them up on their offer of their spare bed, had a driver come pick us up from the bus station, paid for a nice dinner in an Italian restaurant and showed me where to go for all the sights in the town of Santo Domingo. They also gave me a few tips for my trip to Puerto Rico, amazing couple!
I can’t stress this enough but if you get a chance to meet some locals in an entirely new place then take full advantage of it!
RELATED READ: A NAKED SWEDE AND ANGKOR WAT
BACK TO THE BORDER
Quite often the border is an imaginary line and the two countries tend to merge over a few miles. If it wasn’t for the border sometimes you wouldn’t even notice the difference. However not the same could be said for these two countries. Here it’s the river that represents the border and as you drive across the bridge the difference is astounding. How a developing nation like Dominica Republic can be so close, literally a stones throw from Haiti made me wonder.
It’s a shame that the locals of Haiti have been dealt the card they have when in fact they can see opportunity just across the river. Kids run from side to side to try and plead with tourists for some money. Most of them offer to help with our bags during immigration.
Haiti & Dominican Republic, an Island of two halves
POVERTY
Once the bus stops and the luggage compartment opens they all fight for a bag. Not interested in stealing but just want to carry it to the customs for a dollar. They don’t wait around either, you could be coming out of the bus stretching your legs and the next thing you see is your bag over some kids shoulder halfway down the street. It looks bad because they run to the customs door (which is a warehouse) only because they want to get back quick enough for another run. Kids this age should not be having to worry about this, it can be difficult to watch sometimes.
Haiti & Dominican Republic, an Island of two halves
SANTO DOMINGO
Santo Domingo is a gem and with its Spanish architecture and cobblestone roads is one of the nicest capital cities I have seen. I spent my time here checking out Alcázar de Colón, the fort and the many coffee shops on offer on the Plaza.
Haiti & Dominican Republic, an Island of two halves
RELATED READ: A HANGOVER & THE 134 NEVIS BUNGEE
PUERTO RICO
My next visit was San Juan in Puerto Rico where I had an interesting time getting the bus from the airport. None of the buses had destinations on them apart from ‘aerporto’ and it wasn’t until they all drove past that I realised I had to wave them down. Got to the hostel on Calle San Francisco after knocking on the wrong door for 10 minutes. Then after landing without a cloud it the sky it started to rain!
San Juan is very nice and has similarities with Santo Domingo. It seems like every city in the Caribbean has a fort or citadel.
NEXT UP
Onto Mexico to visit Chichen Itza followed by a trip down the Yucatán coast. Click to read.
SAFE TRAVELS, DS x
62/229
This post is part of The Central American Series, click to explore or for episode 1 click here.
