Haiti excursions

2LeftFeet

Bronze
Dec 1, 2006
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I'm curious why was it a bad experience? Was the bus ride bad? The country experience bad? The whole thing bad?
 
Haiti is a poverty-stricken land of overpopulation, denuded hillsides and a people suffering the wounds of civil strife and oppression, guns everywhere we turned. The roads are appalling and beggars on the roadside in every little filthy village were not a nice site. Go if you like but the place is not for me.
 

Mirador

On Permanent Vacation!
Apr 15, 2004
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check out Martin at Isaira Tours - Dominican Republic

I am not sure if he still does a Haiti excursion.
I did a quite few years back, never again and would not recommend it.

There's a growing market niche in the tourist industry for what is known as 'slum tours', designed for voyeurs who relish looking at misery and despair through the panoramic windows of their air-conditioned Pullman bus. Go ahead, google for 'slum tours', and you will find, example, that one of the main tourist attractions in India is the Bombay slum tour. Why not, a Cit? Soleil slum tour of Port au Prince, Haiti!
 

aegap

Silver
Mar 19, 2005
2,505
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Have a look at Haiti's two most productive businesses

Haiti is a poverty-stricken land of overpopulation, denuded hillsides and a people suffering the wounds of civil strife and oppression, guns everywhere we turned. The roads are appalling and beggars on the roadside in every little filthy village were not a nice site. Go if you like but the place is not for me.



getting international donations and kidnappings, ...

Washington Post Wednesday's (02-21-07) front page story:


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In Haiti, Abductions Hold Nation Hostage;
Despite U.N. Troop Presence, Much of Capital Controlled by Gangs


The kidnapping plague, which began in 2004 after the ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and peaked during the past six months, is the latest horror in a long history of upheaval that has sealed Haiti's position as the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation. A hip destination for the adventurous rich in the 1970s -- a place where Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones hung out and where tourists lounged at the Club Med -- Haiti is now a barely functioning country, dependent on the largess of international donors for two-thirds of its budget. The United States, which provides $200 million a year, is Haiti's largest bilateral donor.

...

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Despite the presence of thousands of U.N. troops and a new military offensive to root out gangs, armed thugs still rule much of this hilly capital, where many of the 2 million residents live in tin or cinder-block shacks. A swarm of recent kidnappings is terrorizing residents and scaring away foreign investment.
Dozens of schools closed in December after students were kidnapped in a series of incidents and a school bus was hijacked. That month, at least 100 people were reported kidnapped, the most since August, when 115 were abducted. Victim advocates say the real numbers may be much higher; once freed, people often are afraid to go to the police
 

NALs

Economist by Profession
Jan 20, 2003
13,368
3,150
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There's a growing market niche in the tourist industry for what is known as 'slum tours', designed for voyeurs who relish looking at misery and despair through the panoramic windows of their air-conditioned Pullman bus. Go ahead, google for 'slum tours', and you will find, example, that one of the main tourist attractions in India is the Bombay slum tour. Why not, a Cit? Soleil slum tour of Port au Prince, Haiti!
Some people from first world countries have a tendency to think that because they have seen with their own eyes the poverty that they never see in their homeland (although, I'm pretty sure their grandparents probably lived it.... I recently looked at some historic photos of NYC (late 1800s, early 1900s) and the slums looked as bad as any in the developing world) that it makes them understand the world or the realities of the world at a level they feel others never will.

It must be similar to the attitude I have seen from SOME Americans who visit a country in Latin America or anywhere, and then they feel that they know that country simply because they vacationed there for two weeks! At times they even challenge natives from such countries!

BTW, it's MUMBAY not Bombay. Bombay is what the British called it, the Indians renamed most of their city to a more "Indian" name. Personally, I don't see the point since they all still sound the same. For example, Culcutta is now Kolkata, but it still sounds like its old colonial name. Oh well...

-NALs:confused:
 

aegap

Silver
Mar 19, 2005
2,505
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Actually, most people I know that like "slumming it" actually do it for reasons good to the host country. i.e. taking business tothe most impovirish, as oppose to the wealthy; family vacation to get the kids acquainted with the fact not everyone is previlege, and so that they can hopefully care for those not ad advantaged as them once they grow up, etc.
 

Squat

Tropical geek in Las Terrenas
Jan 1, 2002
2,239
168
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The Cap-Haitien region is a very nice area to visit, but i'll recommend at least a week to enjoy it. Yes, poverty is there, but I don't think vacationing there makes it any worst.

I encourage you to go to Haiti. The only thing is to have a reliable guide on your first visit, as it is very disorganised.
 

aegap

Silver
Mar 19, 2005
2,505
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The Cap-Haitien region is a very nice area to visit, but i'll recommend at least a week to enjoy it. Yes, poverty is there, but I don't think vacationing there makes it any worst.

I encourage you to go to Haiti. The only thing is to have a reliable guide on your first visit, as it is very disorganised.

Labadie is in that area, and it's very close to the DR border.

Discover Haiti: Sights and Travel Page

_______________________

Here's an recent, interesting article:


"While Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica each have tens of thousands of hotel rooms, Haiti has just 850, down from about 4,000 a quarter of a century ago."

Amid the Woe, a Haitian Paradise Beckons - New York Times
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
17,850
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Labadie is west of Cap-Haitien - until they fix the road from the frontier to Cap it is a long and uncomfortable ride. Once you're doing that, the main attraction in the area is the Citadelle.