Hi everyone, I have an order for a documentary in Haiti. I'll be soon based in DR... How "safe" and convenient is it to cross the border a few times carrying quite expensive video devices...
You can cross the border into Haiti with all your equipment and avoiding taxes or any applied tariffs if you identify yourself as photo/video journalist carrying out a task.
The safety of your equipment in Haiti will have a lot to do with the Haitian chaperon you employ to tag along with you. There are certain areas in each town of Haiti which not even Police would be safe, let alone a foreigner full of expensive stuff.
The smartest thing to do is to have a base in the DR from where to launch your trips to Haiti from, keeping the volume of your bulky items there under safety. Keep in mind that the DR is just as dangerous as Haiti when it comes to burglary and street crimes, just not as wild in the right sense of the word.
Years back I carried out extensive work in Haiti for Grupo M at the border and well inside Haiti too. We had several photo/video professionals with us filming with a lot of stuff to carry out their editing and set ups. They always kept their equipment in the SUVs well covered and with a person always guarding the vehicles whilst we carry out the tasks at hand. Never faced any trouble then.
At the moment there's a lot of problems in Haiti, just yesterday the whole country had the streets emptied and business shut their doors as the President announced a press conference and addressing the state. They have serious democratic problems in terms of the political power struggles from the President to Parliament and I doubt is going to recede anytime soon.
Not the greatest of times to visit Haiti! Some assassination got carried out in plain daylight just these past weeks of high placed people with links to the past and present governments, leaders and what not.
The key for a safe and uneventful visit to Haiti is related to who's going to be your chaperon whilst there. The more the merrier. Forget the Haitian police or the Minustah forces. They have real problems and short on personnel as it is.
Vehicles crossing into Haiti need a special permit/pass from Santo Domingo. You'll need this permit for each vehicle, for each time it crosses the border. The best way is to hire a Haitian chaperon that speaks decent English and owns a reliable vehicle to do the task. There are plenty of them doing just that in the border crossings of Dajabon, Jimani, etc...
That will relieve you from the duty of getting the permits, since they get theirs directly and with ease from the Haitian side. Make sure the vehicle is an SUV with a good mechanical aspect.
Travel time in Haiti will consume over 50% of the time you need to carry out your tasks, more when the tasks involved travelling from one department of Haiti to another, as major routes don't follow the logic of the closest distances but easiest clearings to pass from one side to the other.
Water safety is a huge problem in Haiti, so try and keep your routine to the shortest time and pack well your schedule, so you can go back to the DR for lengthy baths and rests at least each 48 hours spent in Haiti.
Pack light foods, high in protein and little fiber. That will allow you to avoid having to spot an emergency and safe facility to evacuate... Food safety is one major concern in Haiti much due to the water problems...
Communication is great in Haiti always that you are not too far from the major towns, anything remote to them will have you incommunicado 100%. Pack your money well as ATMs are scarce as large trees in Haiti's deserted mountains...
Hotels are expensive for what you get, and the services are not that world apart from the same problems faced by the occasional B&B that are to be found around. A true western services basic hotel will run your tab a lot higher than the visit to a Ramada courtyard or equivalent in the common sense of the word. Those services like A/C, clean water, etc... are luxuries in most of Haiti.
Walk ins are the most expensive rates and pretty much anything with a good rapport is being less than 10% vacant due to the crazy amount of NGOs all over the country.
They key to a safe and fruitful trip/job in Haiti lies with the chaperon(s) you hire and the other 99% common sense when travelling into an unstable failed state...