- Thread starter MBTS
- Start date
Haiti
Yes indeed,
Cigar Joe is correct - do not come to Haiti as they will put you in a pot and eat you at a VooDoo ceremony - happens every time I leave the house and is becomming a real nuisance since the abolition of tariffs on Worcestershire sauce.
On the other hand you can catch a flight from S.D. La Isabella airport to Port au Prince (310US$ return inc taxes) and take a 30US$ taxi ride up to Petionville, stay in decent hotels and have a rare old time.
Or if you are in the North you can catch a Caribetours bus from Santiago to Cap-Haitian for around 80US$ return (I cannot confirm this price)
While in Haiti it is a good idea not to get blind drunk and wander into a ghetto in Port au Prince wearing all your gold chains, shouting at the locals, "look at me, I am rich and drunk!!"
Apart from that, the hotels will tell you what is good to do and see and also what not to do and where not to go.
Haiti is an amazing and beautiful place. It tends to attract the more adventurous tourists.
Fly in, check it out, fly back to S.D.
Easy.
Cigar Joe is correct - do not come to Haiti as they will put you in a pot and eat you at a VooDoo ceremony - happens every time I leave the house and is becomming a real nuisance since the abolition of tariffs on Worcestershire sauce.
On the other hand you can catch a flight from S.D. La Isabella airport to Port au Prince (310US$ return inc taxes) and take a 30US$ taxi ride up to Petionville, stay in decent hotels and have a rare old time.
Or if you are in the North you can catch a Caribetours bus from Santiago to Cap-Haitian for around 80US$ return (I cannot confirm this price)
While in Haiti it is a good idea not to get blind drunk and wander into a ghetto in Port au Prince wearing all your gold chains, shouting at the locals, "look at me, I am rich and drunk!!"
Apart from that, the hotels will tell you what is good to do and see and also what not to do and where not to go.
Haiti is an amazing and beautiful place. It tends to attract the more adventurous tourists.
Fly in, check it out, fly back to S.D.
Easy.
Things have improved remarkably over the last 2 years.
Even back then it wasn't the perpetual war the in the streets that people perceived.
Anyway, as far as the OPs go - I think they certainly could come and experience Haiti and not ever be in serious peril.
Most of what you hear about Haiti is nonsense.
Note: By the way I do not work for the Haitian Tourist Board
Also;
It is fairly chilled out at the moment, although there may be a little manifestation brewing. in the next 4 weeks. But again, do not go to the manifestations and they almost never come to you.
Even back then it wasn't the perpetual war the in the streets that people perceived.
Anyway, as far as the OPs go - I think they certainly could come and experience Haiti and not ever be in serious peril.
Most of what you hear about Haiti is nonsense.
Note: By the way I do not work for the Haitian Tourist Board
Also;
It is fairly chilled out at the moment, although there may be a little manifestation brewing. in the next 4 weeks. But again, do not go to the manifestations and they almost never come to you.
I'm sure the US had a good reason to close down the American Embassy in POP and also the DEA radar site after finding agents dead on the sides of the streets. I know several Hatians and they explained that Bush has put alot of anti drug $$ into the area as well as the radar site which is a primary to evaluate boats and planes under the horizon radar. Some Hatians will tell you right to your face that they hate you if you're American. The country needs the "dirty" money as well as the DR thus explaining the corruptness on all government levels. I'm sure it has got better over the past 2 years but I think I'll leave the travel to the missionary people that are so willing to help out your country. As mentioned by the state dept, quote unquote
"there is NO safe place in Haiti"
"there is NO safe place in Haiti"
Close down the US embassy?? Wrong!
They just built a new one.
The Americans have arrested several known drug dealers. Several more await arrest. This is not a security issue unless you are wanted by the FBI, CIA, DEA etc.
Haitians love Americans - they want to be like, look like, sound like and live like Americans.
"there is no safe place in Haiti"
or
" I did not have sexual relations with that woman"
or
"Iraq has weapons of mass destruction"
or
"Bush won the election in Florida"
or
"Obama is a Muslim"
on I could go.
But I won't.
Haiti is great for a visit and it is safe unless you do something stupid to deliberately endanger yourself.
Do not beleive everything you read on the internet, my friend - especially from people with a vested interest in whatever it is they are talking about.
Your right, the American Embassy was not closed, it was closed several times and are now allowing non emergency personel to return. Not sure where you live in Haiti, but would think you would have better information that you posted here.
Haiti - Travel Warning
Have a good day.
Haiti - Travel Warning
Have a good day.
Cigarjoe - more effort required
Dude,
nice travel warning. I see that at he top of the page it says that this information is still valid - yet the warning was from 2004 -
How in hell's name can advice about a rapidly changing situation still be valid 5 years down the line?
Stop being lazy and do some research.
I know Haiti as I live here.
I am telling you the truth.
You are just culling out of date info from the internet.
Anyway - give me a specific example of why you should not travel to Haiti today.
I want place names, dangers and I want it to be up to date.
Examples are out there if you have either the brains or the language / comprehension skills to find them.
Otherwise accept information from someone who is better informed than you.
I have Traveled to Germany and japan - it all seems O.K. there now...or should be ware of Nazis and Ninjas?
Dude,
nice travel warning. I see that at he top of the page it says that this information is still valid - yet the warning was from 2004 -
How in hell's name can advice about a rapidly changing situation still be valid 5 years down the line?
Stop being lazy and do some research.
I know Haiti as I live here.
I am telling you the truth.
You are just culling out of date info from the internet.
Anyway - give me a specific example of why you should not travel to Haiti today.
I want place names, dangers and I want it to be up to date.
Examples are out there if you have either the brains or the language / comprehension skills to find them.
Otherwise accept information from someone who is better informed than you.
I have Traveled to Germany and japan - it all seems O.K. there now...or should be ware of Nazis and Ninjas?
Pedro, I'm not going to get into a ****ing contest with you. I have indeed done my homework and nothing has changed since 04 as far as the State Dept warnings go. It's clearly listed in the documents I enclosed. I guess it's all up to the OP or other travelers. Also have a place in Otra Banda, I've been in Haiti and am aware of the past and present conditions....or dangers.
Again, Have a good day.
Again, Have a good day.
Middle Ground
I think that you are both right, actually.
Here is the latest US government advisory for Haiti:Haiti
Now, having established that the place is a bit edgy-- Nevertheless, it does have some of the finest restaurants, hotels, beaches, and sights on the entire island.....
For the upscale tourist, there is little in the DR that can compare. The hotels are small. The service is -well- French. The cooking is also mostly from French-influence and delicious. Hold on, just a moment, I can still taste that lamb!
The beaches at the few resort hotels are pristine and blissfully quiet and empty (try Kaliko Beach on the North Coast or Ile A Vache).. Contact Jaqui Labrum or the hotel for travel arrangements:
Jacqualine Labrom is at voyageslumierehaiti@gmail.com
Petionville, where the upper class Haitians live, is filled with elegant restuarants hotels, gorgeous architecture, beautiful tree lined streets.
There is also a beautiful hotel in the mountains of Kenscoff, overlooking the City.
And the art that you will find in Haiti - is indeed- the real thing... not the mass produced copies that you see on the streets here. Don't miss the market at Croix de Bouquet.
Go. Please. Inhale it. You may actually discover why so many people have fallen in love with the place, despite its poverty, despite its deforestation, despite despite despite...
Don't miss Sunday afternoons on the porch of the Hotel Olaffson, where you may have the privilege of being included in discussions with Cuban doctors, Haitian journalists, foreign academics, and the Haitian American owner, Richard Morse.
It will probably cost you more money than traveling about here unless you are really an intrepid traveler and can get about by Tap Tap -- and want to stay at some of the hostals run by missionaries...
Although I know of at least two secluded beach places for under $30 a night.
You are never going to know what you are missing if you don't go.
I adore Haiti, personally. I live here because it is about half the price and offers twice the convenience. But this island - the two nations combined- provides a vacation experience second to none.
If you have no French or Kreyole, it would be best to contact Jaqui for your first visit.
Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.
I think that you are both right, actually.
Here is the latest US government advisory for Haiti:Haiti
Now, having established that the place is a bit edgy-- Nevertheless, it does have some of the finest restaurants, hotels, beaches, and sights on the entire island.....
For the upscale tourist, there is little in the DR that can compare. The hotels are small. The service is -well- French. The cooking is also mostly from French-influence and delicious. Hold on, just a moment, I can still taste that lamb!
The beaches at the few resort hotels are pristine and blissfully quiet and empty (try Kaliko Beach on the North Coast or Ile A Vache).. Contact Jaqui Labrum or the hotel for travel arrangements:
Jacqualine Labrom is at voyageslumierehaiti@gmail.com
Petionville, where the upper class Haitians live, is filled with elegant restuarants hotels, gorgeous architecture, beautiful tree lined streets.
There is also a beautiful hotel in the mountains of Kenscoff, overlooking the City.
And the art that you will find in Haiti - is indeed- the real thing... not the mass produced copies that you see on the streets here. Don't miss the market at Croix de Bouquet.
Go. Please. Inhale it. You may actually discover why so many people have fallen in love with the place, despite its poverty, despite its deforestation, despite despite despite...
Don't miss Sunday afternoons on the porch of the Hotel Olaffson, where you may have the privilege of being included in discussions with Cuban doctors, Haitian journalists, foreign academics, and the Haitian American owner, Richard Morse.
It will probably cost you more money than traveling about here unless you are really an intrepid traveler and can get about by Tap Tap -- and want to stay at some of the hostals run by missionaries...
Although I know of at least two secluded beach places for under $30 a night.
You are never going to know what you are missing if you don't go.
I adore Haiti, personally. I live here because it is about half the price and offers twice the convenience. But this island - the two nations combined- provides a vacation experience second to none.
If you have no French or Kreyole, it would be best to contact Jaqui for your first visit.
Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.
Last edited:
Annie I agree with your post, it is a beautiful country, I've been in POP and the extreme north and south in 2004 and 2006, but looking at the flip side of the coin, because of Haitis past and present problems, which we won't even get into, is the reason they have no tourism per say.After all they are on the top 10 list and other than missionaries, curious travlers from the DR, and occasional backpackers looking for cheap travel, tourism barely exsists, and in a country that needs it the most. From many of the posts, people think they can just rent a car in the DR and go exploring the country. Alot of misconceptions for some that have no clue what's been going on there. I feel bad for the people, but not the government, and it really won't improve until some of the corruptness goes away. The upper governmental offices to the cop on the streets are infested with it. Granted the State Dept does tend to overdue their warnings, but it's also the first place a potential traveler would look if doing their homework. With so much to choose from in the Caribbean why would someone want to take a chance.
I wish you and your country the best.
I wish you and your country the best.
Well, I hope that we are trying to help the OP make a decision on whether or not he should include Haiti in his travels, right? Perhaps he is one of those adventurous backpackers? Maybe he does indeed know what has been going on there and was only asking for travel info from the DR. We don't know.
Just for the record, one cannot take a rental car from the DR across the border. If you have only a week's vacation, then certainly flying is your best bet. There is another thread which has information on flights. Just remember to reserve $25 US to pay the exit fee in Haiti and $10 US to pay the entry back into the US since neither country wants pesos or gourdes for that fee.
And certainly Haiti is unique. As, of course, is the DR. Some people just go traveling for the experience of seeing the differences.
For the record, I am not Haitian, but from the US. Although Haiti has held a piece of my heart since I lived there 30 years ago. I know more than one person who is here, in the DR, because they cannot be there. I guess that is an exile's exile?
You are right that it is dangerous there, and desolate, and the poverty is crushing- but it also has extreme beauty and some astonishing people and worth a trip, in my view.
Every time I go, I wish I had the money to live there - I would just move into the Olaffson -- take up residence in Mick Jagger's bungalow and write poetry.
It helps if people go there. It helps Haiti, which needs every bit of change that it can get, and it helps the people who go, for I don't know of anyone who has been there who has not been profoundly affected, perhaps even transformed.
Haiti has been declared "dead on its feet" for I don't know how many years- certainly as long as I remember. But somehow, those people just keep on living.
Just for the record, one cannot take a rental car from the DR across the border. If you have only a week's vacation, then certainly flying is your best bet. There is another thread which has information on flights. Just remember to reserve $25 US to pay the exit fee in Haiti and $10 US to pay the entry back into the US since neither country wants pesos or gourdes for that fee.
And certainly Haiti is unique. As, of course, is the DR. Some people just go traveling for the experience of seeing the differences.
For the record, I am not Haitian, but from the US. Although Haiti has held a piece of my heart since I lived there 30 years ago. I know more than one person who is here, in the DR, because they cannot be there. I guess that is an exile's exile?
You are right that it is dangerous there, and desolate, and the poverty is crushing- but it also has extreme beauty and some astonishing people and worth a trip, in my view.
Every time I go, I wish I had the money to live there - I would just move into the Olaffson -- take up residence in Mick Jagger's bungalow and write poetry.
It helps if people go there. It helps Haiti, which needs every bit of change that it can get, and it helps the people who go, for I don't know of anyone who has been there who has not been profoundly affected, perhaps even transformed.
Haiti has been declared "dead on its feet" for I don't know how many years- certainly as long as I remember. But somehow, those people just keep on living.
And Pedro was right, also, keep posted on the elections and the news -- because, well, election time would probably not be a good time to be in PauP.
The OP was asking about trip to Haiti.
You said that they should not go for a bunch of spurious reasons.
I gave more accurate and up to date info -that is all.
You are correct, you do not want to get into a pxxxing contest with me as, unlike you, I can Pxxx standing up.
A couple of trips a few years back and a quick browse of a US website does not constitute knowledge.
Even if you can see Haiti from your house, it is no substitute for living there.
I need to keep myself and my family safe and I do it well here. So can a traveler to Haiti.
Have a nice day, yourself.
You said that they should not go for a bunch of spurious reasons.
I gave more accurate and up to date info -that is all.
You are correct, you do not want to get into a pxxxing contest with me as, unlike you, I can Pxxx standing up.
A couple of trips a few years back and a quick browse of a US website does not constitute knowledge.
Even if you can see Haiti from your house, it is no substitute for living there.
I need to keep myself and my family safe and I do it well here. So can a traveler to Haiti.
Have a nice day, yourself.
The NYC company I used to work for had a factory in Haiti where we manufactured woven wood blinds with Haitian cotton - I had to travel there to oversee the finances. I always stayed at the Royal Haitian Hotel where my husband had several friends from Santo Domingo working in the casino, and they were my guardian angels and tour guides. I went all over the place, but never alone. Took tap taps around the capital [boy did *I* get some looks of amazement in the tap taps, haha]. Went up the mountains in private cars. I never felt afraid anywhere I went, but then I'm very accustomed to the DR, and I was raised in NYC. That being said, I personally don't believe there is anything in Haiti superior - or even equal - to what the DR has to offer. If there's a choice in destinations, IMHO it's clearly the DR.
Well said alterego. I'm guessing that there is a reason why so many Hatians are trying to get into the DR, willing to walk for hours just to cut cana, a job the Dominicans don't want, and are showing up in droves at the hotel properties for work, green card or not. Last visit to PC, immigration was doing raids at the hotels on the strip, seems the Dominicans don't want them taking the few jobs that are available. Also funny how you don't hear much anymore about what some call the civil war that has been going on for some time between the people on the border. Seems I read in one of the newspapers that houses were being set afire, and lynchings of the Haiti people.....litterly.
Ya, I think the DR is not only safer, but obviously has much more to offer.
Ya, I think the DR is not only safer, but obviously has much more to offer.
Well,
I had better let this go as it has all been said a thousand times before in this site.
Also, it would not be fair to have the discourse in Cigarjoe's second language.
To the O.P. - read what 3 of 4 posters have said here - Haiti is not to be feared in any great way.
Enjoy it.
I had better let this go as it has all been said a thousand times before in this site.
Also, it would not be fair to have the discourse in Cigarjoe's second language.
To the O.P. - read what 3 of 4 posters have said here - Haiti is not to be feared in any great way.
Enjoy it.