As this could interest some persons, I'll copy here some notes about :
1) crossing the border with Haiti, just 9 days ago (my experience, at least), and
2) an alternative address not far from Petionville (near the capital) + general impression
======================================================
1)I travelled both ways with Caribe tours, returning last week and I cannot tell exactly how much were the taxes for both countries as they were included in the price of the tickets.
The return ticket from Sto Dgo was 101 $ and 50 pesos and at Petionville, I had to add 28 $ and 50 gourdes, which I had been told about in the DR. (return tickets are more economic). Meals were included but on the way back, we just got a sandwich with minced meat, and nothing for the vegetarians (I had not told in advance).
I found that it was much easier and faster to enter Haiti than to leave it, something that was confirmed by Swiss people living there that I met on the bus : no search when entering the country, but leaving it, our luggage was searched not only reentering into DR, but also leaving Haiti, which is uncommon I was told, but the day before an unattended luggage had been found inside the bus, full of cocaine...
Passports have to be given when checking into the bus and we were called one by one with all our belongings for search on the Haitian side. As I was one of the last to be called and as obviously I don't look too suspiscious, the customs officer gave up when he saw the inside of my back pack, full of souvenirs wrapped in plastic bags.
On the RD side, if it is true that they tend to be very slow if one does not encourage them with tips, I did not see any money handled ; as there were just behind me 2 young white Haitians with exotic French and English accents, who looked much more prosperous than I am, the officers waved me off without even asking me to unlock my luggage.
On the other hand, I saw food (or was it something else ??) wrapped in an alluminium folder, presented on a board, given by someone before me in the line, quickly passed to an outsider who took it outside the customs room and he could well have smuggled it easily back into the bus.
Also, it seemed that anyone could avoid the search completely in the agitation (many buses crossing in the same time), by leaving the line through the same open door where the suspicious alluminium wrapped tray had disappeared. This would be of course much easier for a person looking "local", without big bags... I also saw confiscated items from desperate travellers (only food, it seemed), so I guess it is a question of luck. There, were not called one by one as in the Haitian side.
On the whole, the travel back to the DR was much longer because of the long searches on both sides, because of the time difference = one hour earlier in Haiti, also because we left Petionville with a delay already and again, also because the driver seemed to have disappeared for a long while at the border, claiming after that it had taken him too long to get his paper in order with the authorities. We left Petionville at around 9:30 am and arrived at 6:30 pm at Sto Dgo, where there were huge traffic jams... (on the way up, we left at 11 am and arrived at 6:30 pm).
=================
... Just back from Haiti via the Dominican Republic, and as I discovered by chance on this forum the address of doa/bn (haititravels.org), in a very old thread (thank you Tropical Mix, it is possible that I would not have travelled there if I had not found this address !), I feel that it would be useful for future travellers to Haiti to know about this possibility. No spam intended, I?ll tell things as I experienced them, not omitting the lack of comfort, but telling of the charm of the place as well !
DOA/BN : their website is very comprehensive and explains plenty of things, but is maybe a little outdated. One thing that you should know, if you contact them, is that there are frequent power cuts in Haiti and also that their access to internet is sometimes limited, so they might not answer immediately ; don?t despair and wait, they?ll eventually reply?
Description of the place : they are based at Gros Jean, which is blessedly isolated, accessible via a steep, very dusty and bumpy unpaved road, about 20 minutes away by car from the route de Pernier, not far from Petionville. (Only 30 minutes by walk !).
For those of you who are attracted by life in a community and who are not in a hurry, this is a cool, relaxed place, far from the traffic jams and the pollution of Petionville.
Gros Jean is a little hamlet with lots of greenery, a small waterfall and a little stream, lush vegetation, big old trees that keep the temperature cooler than in Petionville, and there are 3 buildings inside the doa/bn compound, one of them being a very basic ? guesthouse ? :
? showers without hot water, which is OK to use in the middle of the day, and rather rustic toilets ; the whole sanitary block is open to the sky, which gives you a fantastic view at night on the stars. There is a private room and other ones connecting with each other in a sort of dormitory, the place being covered with corrugated iron, which can be quite hot in the middle of the day (Carla told me that in the future, they plan to build an covered, open on the sides sitting area on top of it, so it won?t be as hot) ; we are given oil lamps, very atmospheric at night.
The other buildings in that slopy, largish compound are Carla an Ron?s house, with a big common room upstairs which has a fantastic view on the plain, river and faraway lakes from the balcony, and below, Ari?s house, always full of people of all ages : many members from his extended family, coming from Cap Haitien live there and visitors are treated as family members, warmly embraced and kissed by everyone including the children.
There is (sometimes) power in some places of the building and also free access to internet, that is when there is electricity ; connections can be rather slow.
I was specially looking for a quiet accomodation and I found it there : lovely insect noises at night, sometimes late night services with ? a capella ? songs coming from a nearby protestant fundamentalist church, unintrusive salsa or meringue music when there is power, during the day distant human voices with often, striking bursting of laughs, something that I love to hear : Haitians have a good sense of humour and seem to laugh all the time.
Now, about costs : the ? full board ? does not cost much, specially if you compare with the prices of hotels : it is 35$ per day and per person (plus a symbolic $ per day per visitor for the Gros Jean neighbourhood), and we eat with the community ? one full meal everyday, generally at lunchtime, very filling and delicious IMO ; lunch can be served when you come back from an excursion, as late as 3pm.
For breakfast, Haitians eat often spaghettis, less often eggs, and fruits can be served as well ; dinners are often light and sweet, like sorts of porridge made of sweet corn or banana. Delicious fruit juices too and super coffee. One can join the preparation of the meals if interested, without feeling compelled to do so.
DOA/BN can also organise excursions and circuits, homestays, creole lesson and lectures about history, - how slavery affected the minds and continues to do so.
Because I was on my own and wanted to see things outside, I was often accompanied with a French and Creole speaking guide, Chantal, who is very professional (a tour guide, interpretor and translator, fluent in English as well) and because of the insecurity, we were also accompanied by a local guy who spoke some French ; travelled with a private tap tap ? the cost of all this, without the driver and the benzine is 150$ per day.
I could somehow negociate the price of my time there, spent 10 days and 9 nights in Haiti and paid 800$ and 235 euros, including 4 ? coordinated ? days and tap tap transportation as well ; this is certainly much more expensive than what I am used to pay for my travels (generally in Asia), but of course I was on my own and if one travels with friends or in group, the 150$ can be shared.
In the end I feel very happy to have returned to Haiti (where I had worked as a tour guide for 5 months in 1987) despite all the alarming reports that one can get about that country ; I felt very safe and I was touched by the kindness of everyone. Handicraft is striking, the country is superb and bursting with colours on buildings, tap taps and clothes ; weather was very nice.
The big problems that I noticed were the traffic jams, also in Petionville (and the lack of public transportation, many persons waiting for hours for a place in a tap tap) and the uncollected garbage, specially plastic bags, on the sides of many streets ; I was expecting to see much more misery but saw only healthy people (apart from very few handicaped ones, and did not see undernourished persons as I still can see in India) ; less beggars there than in neighbouring Dominican republic, where being overweight is much more common. The countryside was not as dry as I had imagined or remembered, but this was due I was told by late rains.
Many persons told me that they hoped to get more visitors in the future? They also assured me that it was only Port au Prince which was unsafe, but I heard of murders elsewhere on the radio while I was there, in Leog?ne precisely the day that we went through this city, also an isolated one in Petionville and other ones in the Gona?ves.
But as an African proverb says, ? when a tree is felt in the forest, it makes a lot of noise, but meanwhile the whole forest continues to grow in silence ? : apart from those isolated incidents and apart from Port au Prince, the country is OK to travel, specially if you are well accompanied. December 06 had been a specially bad month for Haiti in terms of kidnapping, but January 07 was much calmer.
There are a multitude of small ? borlettes ?, tiny shaks selling various kinds of lotery tickets ? I told myself that it was as unlikely that I would get caught in a street battle, as long as I kept outside of the reputed dangerous areas, as it was that I would be the big winner of their loto.
Still, taking photos can be problematic in some areas, as any passer by could object, hence the necessity to be accompanied with someone who speaks Creole and who understands the local sensitivities.
The next days, I?ll try to send a link with various pictures (street scenes etc) on the net, as I could not find enough pictures to satisfy my curiosity before starting my travel.
I also visited some local ? community schools ? supported by Aide et Action, an NGO that I sponsor, my first reason for visiting Haiti ? travelled with them in the Nippes area, above Miragoane and came back with a detour to Jacmel ; but this is another story, the country lacks schools and good teachers, specially in rural areas...
1) crossing the border with Haiti, just 9 days ago (my experience, at least), and
2) an alternative address not far from Petionville (near the capital) + general impression
======================================================
1)I travelled both ways with Caribe tours, returning last week and I cannot tell exactly how much were the taxes for both countries as they were included in the price of the tickets.
The return ticket from Sto Dgo was 101 $ and 50 pesos and at Petionville, I had to add 28 $ and 50 gourdes, which I had been told about in the DR. (return tickets are more economic). Meals were included but on the way back, we just got a sandwich with minced meat, and nothing for the vegetarians (I had not told in advance).
I found that it was much easier and faster to enter Haiti than to leave it, something that was confirmed by Swiss people living there that I met on the bus : no search when entering the country, but leaving it, our luggage was searched not only reentering into DR, but also leaving Haiti, which is uncommon I was told, but the day before an unattended luggage had been found inside the bus, full of cocaine...
Passports have to be given when checking into the bus and we were called one by one with all our belongings for search on the Haitian side. As I was one of the last to be called and as obviously I don't look too suspiscious, the customs officer gave up when he saw the inside of my back pack, full of souvenirs wrapped in plastic bags.
On the RD side, if it is true that they tend to be very slow if one does not encourage them with tips, I did not see any money handled ; as there were just behind me 2 young white Haitians with exotic French and English accents, who looked much more prosperous than I am, the officers waved me off without even asking me to unlock my luggage.
On the other hand, I saw food (or was it something else ??) wrapped in an alluminium folder, presented on a board, given by someone before me in the line, quickly passed to an outsider who took it outside the customs room and he could well have smuggled it easily back into the bus.
Also, it seemed that anyone could avoid the search completely in the agitation (many buses crossing in the same time), by leaving the line through the same open door where the suspicious alluminium wrapped tray had disappeared. This would be of course much easier for a person looking "local", without big bags... I also saw confiscated items from desperate travellers (only food, it seemed), so I guess it is a question of luck. There, were not called one by one as in the Haitian side.
On the whole, the travel back to the DR was much longer because of the long searches on both sides, because of the time difference = one hour earlier in Haiti, also because we left Petionville with a delay already and again, also because the driver seemed to have disappeared for a long while at the border, claiming after that it had taken him too long to get his paper in order with the authorities. We left Petionville at around 9:30 am and arrived at 6:30 pm at Sto Dgo, where there were huge traffic jams... (on the way up, we left at 11 am and arrived at 6:30 pm).
=================
... Just back from Haiti via the Dominican Republic, and as I discovered by chance on this forum the address of doa/bn (haititravels.org), in a very old thread (thank you Tropical Mix, it is possible that I would not have travelled there if I had not found this address !), I feel that it would be useful for future travellers to Haiti to know about this possibility. No spam intended, I?ll tell things as I experienced them, not omitting the lack of comfort, but telling of the charm of the place as well !
DOA/BN : their website is very comprehensive and explains plenty of things, but is maybe a little outdated. One thing that you should know, if you contact them, is that there are frequent power cuts in Haiti and also that their access to internet is sometimes limited, so they might not answer immediately ; don?t despair and wait, they?ll eventually reply?
Description of the place : they are based at Gros Jean, which is blessedly isolated, accessible via a steep, very dusty and bumpy unpaved road, about 20 minutes away by car from the route de Pernier, not far from Petionville. (Only 30 minutes by walk !).
For those of you who are attracted by life in a community and who are not in a hurry, this is a cool, relaxed place, far from the traffic jams and the pollution of Petionville.
Gros Jean is a little hamlet with lots of greenery, a small waterfall and a little stream, lush vegetation, big old trees that keep the temperature cooler than in Petionville, and there are 3 buildings inside the doa/bn compound, one of them being a very basic ? guesthouse ? :
? showers without hot water, which is OK to use in the middle of the day, and rather rustic toilets ; the whole sanitary block is open to the sky, which gives you a fantastic view at night on the stars. There is a private room and other ones connecting with each other in a sort of dormitory, the place being covered with corrugated iron, which can be quite hot in the middle of the day (Carla told me that in the future, they plan to build an covered, open on the sides sitting area on top of it, so it won?t be as hot) ; we are given oil lamps, very atmospheric at night.
The other buildings in that slopy, largish compound are Carla an Ron?s house, with a big common room upstairs which has a fantastic view on the plain, river and faraway lakes from the balcony, and below, Ari?s house, always full of people of all ages : many members from his extended family, coming from Cap Haitien live there and visitors are treated as family members, warmly embraced and kissed by everyone including the children.
There is (sometimes) power in some places of the building and also free access to internet, that is when there is electricity ; connections can be rather slow.
I was specially looking for a quiet accomodation and I found it there : lovely insect noises at night, sometimes late night services with ? a capella ? songs coming from a nearby protestant fundamentalist church, unintrusive salsa or meringue music when there is power, during the day distant human voices with often, striking bursting of laughs, something that I love to hear : Haitians have a good sense of humour and seem to laugh all the time.
Now, about costs : the ? full board ? does not cost much, specially if you compare with the prices of hotels : it is 35$ per day and per person (plus a symbolic $ per day per visitor for the Gros Jean neighbourhood), and we eat with the community ? one full meal everyday, generally at lunchtime, very filling and delicious IMO ; lunch can be served when you come back from an excursion, as late as 3pm.
For breakfast, Haitians eat often spaghettis, less often eggs, and fruits can be served as well ; dinners are often light and sweet, like sorts of porridge made of sweet corn or banana. Delicious fruit juices too and super coffee. One can join the preparation of the meals if interested, without feeling compelled to do so.
DOA/BN can also organise excursions and circuits, homestays, creole lesson and lectures about history, - how slavery affected the minds and continues to do so.
Because I was on my own and wanted to see things outside, I was often accompanied with a French and Creole speaking guide, Chantal, who is very professional (a tour guide, interpretor and translator, fluent in English as well) and because of the insecurity, we were also accompanied by a local guy who spoke some French ; travelled with a private tap tap ? the cost of all this, without the driver and the benzine is 150$ per day.
I could somehow negociate the price of my time there, spent 10 days and 9 nights in Haiti and paid 800$ and 235 euros, including 4 ? coordinated ? days and tap tap transportation as well ; this is certainly much more expensive than what I am used to pay for my travels (generally in Asia), but of course I was on my own and if one travels with friends or in group, the 150$ can be shared.
In the end I feel very happy to have returned to Haiti (where I had worked as a tour guide for 5 months in 1987) despite all the alarming reports that one can get about that country ; I felt very safe and I was touched by the kindness of everyone. Handicraft is striking, the country is superb and bursting with colours on buildings, tap taps and clothes ; weather was very nice.
The big problems that I noticed were the traffic jams, also in Petionville (and the lack of public transportation, many persons waiting for hours for a place in a tap tap) and the uncollected garbage, specially plastic bags, on the sides of many streets ; I was expecting to see much more misery but saw only healthy people (apart from very few handicaped ones, and did not see undernourished persons as I still can see in India) ; less beggars there than in neighbouring Dominican republic, where being overweight is much more common. The countryside was not as dry as I had imagined or remembered, but this was due I was told by late rains.
Many persons told me that they hoped to get more visitors in the future? They also assured me that it was only Port au Prince which was unsafe, but I heard of murders elsewhere on the radio while I was there, in Leog?ne precisely the day that we went through this city, also an isolated one in Petionville and other ones in the Gona?ves.
But as an African proverb says, ? when a tree is felt in the forest, it makes a lot of noise, but meanwhile the whole forest continues to grow in silence ? : apart from those isolated incidents and apart from Port au Prince, the country is OK to travel, specially if you are well accompanied. December 06 had been a specially bad month for Haiti in terms of kidnapping, but January 07 was much calmer.
There are a multitude of small ? borlettes ?, tiny shaks selling various kinds of lotery tickets ? I told myself that it was as unlikely that I would get caught in a street battle, as long as I kept outside of the reputed dangerous areas, as it was that I would be the big winner of their loto.
Still, taking photos can be problematic in some areas, as any passer by could object, hence the necessity to be accompanied with someone who speaks Creole and who understands the local sensitivities.
The next days, I?ll try to send a link with various pictures (street scenes etc) on the net, as I could not find enough pictures to satisfy my curiosity before starting my travel.
I also visited some local ? community schools ? supported by Aide et Action, an NGO that I sponsor, my first reason for visiting Haiti ? travelled with them in the Nippes area, above Miragoane and came back with a detour to Jacmel ; but this is another story, the country lacks schools and good teachers, specially in rural areas...
