Haiti

Haiti – Travel guide at Black Countries Worldwide

Haiti

Haiti (Haitian Creole: Ayiti, French: Haïti) is a Caribbean country that occupies the western three-eighths of the island of Hispaniola. The eastern five-eighths of Hispaniola is occupied by the Dominican Republic. The North Atlantic Ocean lies to the north, while the Caribbean Sea lies to the south.

It is extremely helpful when traveling in Haiti to have a local contact, through a church, a hotel, or just through making friends with someone. Experiences like dining locally, riding on a tap-tap, or strolling through one of the insanely crowded outdoor markets are great fun and very worth doing but are much safer and easier if you have a trusted Haitian to go along as a guide and interpreter.


Climate


Tropical and semiarid where mountains in the east cut off trade winds, Haiti lies in the middle of the hurricane belt and is subject to severe storms from June to November. Experiences occasional flooding, earthquakes and droughts.

When traveling to Haiti it is very important that you bring a first aid kit. Be sure to include a lighter, flashlight (due to Haiti’s constant power outages), Pepto-Bismol, instant ice packs, Motrin, and Tylenol, water purifying tablets (just in case), bug spray, sunscreen, Benadryl, etc.

Terrain

Mostly mountainous, with a wide, flat central plain to the north. The highest point is Chaine de la Selle at 2777 m.


History

Sans-Souci Palace

Haiti was inhabited by the native Taino Indians when Christopher Columbus landed on December 5, 1492 at Mole St Nicolas; see Voyages of Columbus. Columbus named the island Hispaniola. The Taino were a branch of the Arawak Indians, a peaceful tribe that was weakened by frequent violent invasions by the supposedly cannibalistic Carib Indians. Later, Spanish settlers brought smallpox and other European diseases to which the Taino had no immunity. In short order, the native Taino were virtually annihilated. There is no visible trace of Taino blood on Haiti today, and the vast majority of Haitians are descendants of enslaved Africans, however, genetic studies have shown that both European and Taino admixture are more common than often believed.

In the early 17th century, the French established a presence on Hispaniola and in 1697 Spain ceded the western third of the island to France. Through the development of sugar and coffee plantations, the French colony of Saint-Domingue flourished, becoming one of the wealthiest in the Caribbean. Enslaved Africans were brought to Haiti to work on these French plantations. Work conditions for slaves on Haiti were the harshest imaginable, as sugar and coffee plantations required intensive labor. The French imported an enormous slave labor force, which ultimately vastly outnumbered the French planters 10 to 1. Even within the minority of free people in the colony there were major divisions, between the "petit blancs" (small whites) who did not own slaves and worked in trades or as overseers, the "grand blancs" (big whites) who owned slaves and plantations and the "free coloreds" who were descendants of slaves and whites and occupied all strata of free society from wealthy landowner to poor day-laborer. The whites, who were largely born off the island and only came to Saint Domingue to make a fortune instituted a racist caste system designed to deny the "free coloreds" the relatively powerful position they had gained by the mid 18th century. However, all those inherent tensions (and the overriding tension of slavery) came to a head when the French Revolution broke out in the metropole in 1789 and all this talk of "freedom" and "equality" meant that everybody - including the big whites - wanted to overthrow the colonial order up to that point, ultimately resulting in a slave uprising and the collapse of the whole slavery and plantation-based society.

In August 1791, Saint-Domingue's nearly 500,000 slaves revolted, triggering an almost continuous civil war in which the inherent tensions between the various groups of Haitian society erupted. After a bloody 13-year struggle, that was influenced and in turn influenced the Napoleonic Wars as well as the American War of 1812, the former slaves ousted the French and created Haiti, the first black republic, in 1804. One of independent Haiti's first leaders, Jean Jacques Dessalines, who proclaimed himself Emperor Jacques I perpetrated a massacre against the remaining white Haitians, killing almost all of them and driving most of the rest into exile. Jacques I was assassinated two years later, setting the precedent for a lot of violent transfers of power, which however usually ended with death not exile of the losing side. Haiti was hampered by the ravages of the wars, as well as a lack of major trading partners which was further complicated by the refusal of any major power to acknowledge Haitian independence. France only accepted independence in the 1820s after Jean Pierre Boyer agreed to pay a 150 million francs indemnity to France in exchange for recognition of independence - a major source of Haiti's crushing debt and a sum France has duly collected most of and never so much as apologized for. The United States, itself a slave holding nation, did not officially recognize Haiti until the Civil War eliminated Southern resistance in the Senate to such a move - six decades after Haiti had thrown off the colonial yoke.

A lack of government and civil unrest led to the American occupation of Haiti from 1915 to 1934. The withdrawal of Americans by President Roosevelt in 1934 left a power vacuum that was filled by Haitian military elite. The Forbes Commission in 1930 accurately noted that "the social forces that created [instability] still remain--poverty, ignorance, and the lack of a tradition or desire for orderly free government."

The following 20 years saw ruthless struggles for power that ended with the ascension of François (Papa Doc) Duvalier. Duvalier's brutal dictatorship lasted nearly thirty years, with his son, Jean-Claude (Bébé Doc) Duvalier assuming power after Papa Doc's death in 1971. Bébé Doc was ousted in 1986, followed by more bloodshed and military rule that culminated in a new Constitution in 1987 and the election of former priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide as president in 1990.

After a coup, Aristide went into exile. Most of his term was usurped by a military takeover, but he returned to office in 1994 after Haitian General Raoul Cedras asked the United States to intervene, negotiating the departure of Haiti's military leaders and paving the way for the return of Aristide. His former prime minister, René Préval, became president in 1996. Aristide won a second term as president in 2000, and took office early in 2001. However, accusations of corruption were followed by a paramilitary coup that ousted Aristide in 2004. Since then, Haiti has been occupied by U.N. peacekeeping troops (MINUSTAH), mostly from Brazil.


Culture


The New World Afro-Diasporic customs of Vodou are widely practiced in Haiti and mixed with Catholicism. Vodou (also spelled Voodoo, et al.) arises from Yoruba religion from Nigeria, plus elements of indigenous Taino culture.


Holidays

    January 1: New Year's Day and Independence Day
    January 2: Ancestry Day
    May 18: Flag and Universities Day
    August 15: Assumption
    October 17: Anniversary of the Death of Dessalines
    December 5: Discovery Day
    December 25: Christmas


Regions


  Central Haiti
Haiti's population center at the heart of the country—the sprawl surrounding the capital, and lands to the north.

  Northern Haiti
Home to the country's most important cities outside the capital, as well as the foreign tourist's favorite beaches near Cape-Haïtien.

  Southern Haiti
The Caribbean side of the country is the nation's less hectic region, with the up-and-coming Haitian backpacker destinations of Jacmel, Port Salut, and Île à Vache.


Cities


Port-au-Prince — Haiti's biggest city, and capital city.

Cap-Haïtien — the country's second-biggest city, on the Atlantic coast near some beautiful beaches and interesting old forts.

Gonaïves — here, on 1 January 1804, Jean-Jacques Dessalines signed Haiti's Act of Independence, establishing the world's first black republic.

Jacmel — a relaxed town with a beautiful historic center and a claim not easily dismissed to be the country's artistic and cultural capital, albeit in ruins following the earthquake.

Jérémie — Haiti's westernmost and profoundly isolated town is a sleepy little charming place.

Les Cayes — Southern Haiti's principal port and a popular jumping off point for Île à Vache.

Petionville — a wealthy and much safer suburb of Port-au-Prince, where you will find most of the capital's nightlife, restaurants, wealthy Haitians, and foreigners.

Port-de-Paix — the main city in Haiti's drug-smuggling coast, with the opportunity to hail a ferry to Tortuga Island, a virtually undiscovered tropical paradise—albeit well discovered through the centuries by any famous pirate worth his salt and not a few wealthy drug lords.

Port-Salut — President Aristide's birthplace, home to miles of gorgeous, empty white sand beaches.


Other destinations

Citadelle Laferrière in Milot

The Citadelle Henri Christophe (also known as Citadelle Laferrière) is a fortress located on a high mountain in Haiti overlooking the city of Milot, Haiti. At the base of the mountain stands the ruins of Palais Sans Souci.

    Labadie - a private port used by cruise ships.

The 27 historic vestiges of Mole Saint Nicolas, North West, a strategic bay at the enter of Canal du Vent, also called Gibraltar of America. Good site for sports too (wind surf, kite surf, mountain bike, hiking..).

    Gonâve Island


By plane


International travelers will arrive in Haiti at Port-au-Prince (PAP) at the Aéroport Toussaint L'Ouverture Airport or Aéroport International Cap-Haïtien in the North. The plane tickets can be purchased via many online ticketing sites and agencies. There are intra-Haiti flights available as well. Prices on these flights can fluctuate from time to time due to inflation but, depending on the airline, are usually between $125-$132 return from and to Port-au-Prince, cheaper between Port-au-Prince and Jacmel. A really cheap, dependable and popular airline is Sunrise Airways In addition to avoiding rather dangerous and inadequate public transportation system by bus and tap-taps, flights offer a safe passage into and out of Port-au-Prince from other parts in Haiti.

Airlines such as American Airlines, Delta and Spirit serve Port-au-Prince from the US. Air Canada, Air France and Caribair, among others, also offer international flights to and from Port-au-Prince.

Lynx Air flies from Fort Lauderdale and Miami to Cap-Haïtien. MFI (Missionary Flights International) fly to Cap also from Florida, but only registered non-Catholic Christian missionaries are welcome aboard. Other international airlines serving Cap-Haïtien include Sky King, Turks and Caicos Air and Pine-apple Air.


By road


From Santo Domingo, Caribe Tours runs a once-daily bus to Petionville (in the hills above Port-au-Prince) that leaves at 11AM. A ticket costs $40 one-way, $26 USD tax and 100 DR. Unfortunately, this bus drops you off in Petionville after dark so make prior arrangements with a trustworthy person to meet you and transport you to your lodging.

There is also a crowded border crossing between Dominican Republic and Haiti in Dajabón/Ouanaminthe. The border is open only during the day. From here you can catch local transport to Cap-Haïtien.

Another, less expensive, option from Santo Domingo to Port-au-Prince, is to take a gua-gua (Dominican minibus) from Santo Domingo (departing a few blocks north of Parque Enriquillo) for 380 DR pesos (about $10, 5 h) and arrive in the border town of Jimani. From there, it is a 4 km walk or a 50 DR pesos ride by motoconcho to the border post.

The border is apparently open 09:00-18:00 (but don't rely those times). It is very easy to cross the border without submitting to any immigration procedures on either side, and although it would probably be illegal, it saves a few dozen dollars on bribes and is much faster too. Apart from entering the DR when a soldier takes a look at the passport, nobody does any inspection: immigration or customs. Entering Haiti legally is quick: fill out the green form and pay whatever amount the official asks (around 100 DR). There are no ATMs at the border.

Moneychangers give gourdes for DR pesos and US dollars. Rates are fair. There is plenty of local transportation from the border to Port-au-Prince. Crowded tap-taps and buses can take you to Croix-des-Bouquets for 50 gourdes (1.5-2 h), from where it is another hour to Port-au-Prince proper (bus, 5 gourdes). The road has variable conditions and is prone to flooding. Peruvian UN soldiers at the border have confirmed that the road to Port-au-Prince is safe to travel with no incidents of robbery or kidnappings, but definitely try to arrive in Port-au-Prince before dark.

Cars may be rented through Hertz, Avis, etc. Taxis in Haiti are usually in the form of SUVs or trucks, as most of the roads are long overdue for repairs, in addition to plethora of unpaved roads one faces while travelling in Haiti. The price is often fair (i.e., 450 gourdes, or $11.53 at 39 gourdes to a dollar, from Port-au-Prince to Léogâne), but offers safety and comfort that cannot be found in riding tap-taps or buses.


Language


The official languages of Haiti are French and Haitian Creole (Kreyòl Ayisien), which is a French-based creole language, with 92% of the vocabulary being derived from French and the rest primarily from African languages. Haitian Creole is the native language of the masses, while French is the administrative language, even though only 15 % of Haitians can speak it and only about 2% can speak it well.

Creole is mutually intelligible with French on the most basic level, so the competent French speaker should be fine in limited circumstances. Many Haitians are very appreciative if you take the trouble to learn a little bit of one of the official languages (preferably Creole), rather than using an interpreter or expecting them to speak English. Haitians working in tourist areas usually speak English well enough for conversation.


Places To See

Ruins of Sans Souci Palace


Port-Au-Prince has some landmarks, structures and statues, such as a large pair of hands holding the earth. Many of these are close to the airport. This city is the largest in Haiti and was the most affected by the earthquake. You will still see evidence of the disaster, such as crumbling buildings, but much reconstruction has taken place. When you go a short distance outside of the city, you will have a better idea of the devastation. There are still people living in the "tent village," which extends for about two miles and is made up small tarps draped over sticks stuck in the ground. As you go on, you may pass one of the mass graves dug after the earthquake, but you probably will not realize it is a grave. It's on the side of small mountain, and the grass has grown over the turned earth. There are no markings but you will sometimes see people there or flowers placed in memory.

Haiti has beautiful scenery if you know where to find it. If you are travelling or staying with someone who knows the area well, ask if there are any nice beaches or mountainous areas nearby. St. Marc, along with some other cities, has a beautiful mountain range that can be hiked. At the top of these mountains are some historical artifacts, structures and incredible views of the ocean.


Money

Exchange rates for Haitian gourde

As of January 2018:

    US$1 ≈ G65
    €1 ≈ G75
    UK£1 ≈ G85


Exchange rates fluctuate. Current rates for these and other currencies are available from XE.com

The Haitian gourde is the currency of Haiti, denoted by the symbol "G" (ISO code: HTG). Although merchants are required to quote prices in gourdes by law, virtually everything is priced in "dollars"--not US but Haitian dollars, equivalent to 5 gourdes. This practice is a holdover from the US occupation of Haiti in the early 20th century, during which the gourde was pegged at G5 to the US dollar.


Shopping


Haiti has become famous for its very informal yet interesting bustling marketplace. Everything is sold here ranging from the curiously appealing to the dullest of objects for rather inexpensive prices. Haggling is both wise and recommended, as most Haitians will charge foreigners at least double the market rate. There are various large retail supermarkets in the capital that offer a variety of items at fixed prices. Haiti has a world of crafts waiting to be sought after.


Eat


Haitian dishes; rice and beans (diri kole ak pwa), pink salad (with potato and beets), baked macaroni, fried plantains, fried chicken and pork (griot), green salad, sauce and piklis (similar to coleslaw)

Haitian cuisine is typical of Caribbean métissage, a wonderful mix of French and African sensibilities. It is similar to its Spanish Caribbean neighbors yet unique in its strong presence of spices. Roast goat called 'kabrit', morsels of fried pork 'griot', poultry with a Creole sauce 'poulet creole', rice with wild mushroom 'du riz jonjon' are all wonderful and tasty dishes.

Along the coast fish, lobster and conch are readily available. Haiti has a very fine collection of fruit including guava, pineapple, mango (Haiti's most prized fruit), banana, melons, breadfruit, as well as mouth-watering sugarcane cut and peeled to order on the streets. Restaurants in the bigger cities provide safe and delicious meals, and precautions are taken with the food and water to keep things safe.


Drink

Haitian rum is well-known. 'Barbancourt 5 star' is a top-drawer drink. 'Clairin' is the local firewater made from sugarcane that can be bought on the street, often flavored with various herbs that can be seen stuffed into the bottle. 'Prestige' is the most popular beer, and is of good quality and excellent taste. Also be sure to try the 'Papye' drink, a sort of papaya milk shake that is deliciously refreshing beyond words on a hot day. Cremas is a tasty, creamy alcoholic beverage that is derived from coconut milk.


Sleep


There are many guest houses throughout Haiti. However, these are quite hard to find while overseas. Many of these guest houses run about 25 to 35 dollars a night and include 2 to 3 meals during the day.
Fondwa Guest House is at the bottom of the hill from Anbatonèl (a small village halfway between Léogâne and Jacmel).

Camping is a high-risk activity in certain parts of Haiti and is not recommended.


Stay safe

Since the earthquake on January 12, 2010, many people are still living on the streets in makeshift shelters. There have been a number of protests and an increase in criminal activity. Use proper judgment when traveling in Haiti. Overall, do exercise a heightened level of caution based on common sense. Do not carry huge loads of cash around, or walk late at night in dark streets.


Stay healthy

Drink bottled water only. Washing oneself with water from places such as creeks or lakes is not recommended due to the risk of water-borne diseases. Several diseases can cause dehydration, as can sweating a lot because of the hot climate. Hydration requirements can be fulfilled by preparing one of the many water purifying systems as if one were going camping, or by buying bottled water once in Haiti; it is widely available and inexpensive by western standards.


Respect

One thing a missionary or other visitor to Haiti learns very quickly is that Haitians are a very friendly and down to earth people, despite all they have had to endure. There are some beggars and peddlars in the cities, but they are the exception, not the rule. Expect no kow-towing. Impoverished Haitians will always accept gifts, but they will almost always stand straight, look you in the eye, and repay you with a sincere "Mesi" (thanks).

Haiti is a nation of fairly conservative norms. Modest dress when exploring Haiti's cities is advised, especially for women. The smart visitor should look people in the eye, wave hello, and treat them with friendship and respect, as equals, no matter how poor or desperate their living conditions may seem.

Try to learn some basic words of Haitian Creole.

Ask permission before taking pictures of locals (they often ask you for money). Never walk about sticking your camera in people's faces or taking pictures randomly. Do not solely take pictures of the piles of trash you may see in some of the bigger cities (such as Cap-Haïtien or Port-au-Prince) or anything else that Haitians are not proud of as it is offensive. However, people have no problem with foreigners taking pictures of beautiful scenery, cultural events or historical sites.