This is part II to the last blog entry: The Epic Journey (which can be found just below this entry). If you haven’t read it yet, I recommend reading it before reading this one.
Ok, so where did I leave off? Oh yes, Liz, Stefanie, and I arrived at our hotel in Jacmel Wednesday night around 7:30pm after our 12 hour hike from Kenscoff. I was sore, filthy, and exhausted. After practically falling asleep in my dinner, I showered and collapsed into bed. Thursday was a day of rest. We ate, swam, and napped throughout the day. But by Friday, we were all rested and raring to go. We decided to go downtown Jacmel to shop a little and browse in some of the art galleries.
Jacmel is my favorite city here in Haiti, thus far. It is a beautiful coastal town that was once a center for tourism here in Haiti- when tourism still existed. The city is full of old colonial architecture and is rich in Haitian culture. The people who live in Jacmel are friendly and welcoming. In addition to beautiful beaches, the city is full of art, live music, dancing, and good food. We typically stay at Hotel Cyvadier, which is a small, simple hotel located on the coast. The hotel is located on a cliff overlooking a picturesque cove beach surrounded by rocks. The rooms are comfortable, yet simple, and the food is very good. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to come and visit!
So back to Friday: It was Friday morning and we decided to venture downtown. It was a hot, sunny day and we were dressed in shorts and tank tops. We jumped on the back of some motorcycles taxis and headed downtown. Just when we reached the downtown area, we noticed that some of the streets were blocked off and there were hundreds of people out and about who appeared to be dressed in their Sunday best. We decided to get off the motos and walk a little way to see what the hype was all about. Liz, Stefanie, and I started to make our way through the crowd. All of a sudden, there was Haitian Jesus, right in front of my face, walking down the sidewalk carrying a wooden cross. Haitian Mary was walking alongside him and weeping. It was at that moment that I remembered it was Good Friday, and the Haitians were performing live Stations of the Cross down Main Street. Many of the onlookers turned to glare at us. We were definitely out of place and far from being dressed appropriately for the occasion. We hightailed it out of there pretty quickly. We soon realized that all of the stores and galleries were closed for the holiday. So much for our downtown experience! We went back to the hotel where we relaxed for the rest of the afternoon.
On Saturday morning, we were joined by two more of our friends who came to meet us in Jacmel for the remainder of the weekend. We had no plans for Saturday and considered going to the public beach where they often have live bands on the weekends. While we were eating breakfast that morning, Christophe, the manager of the hotel, approached us and asked us if we were interested in going on a boat ride. Christophe knows us from our prior stays at Cyvadier and is always very accommodating when we go there. He told us that he has a friend with a boat who was wondering if we would be interested in going for a ride. We agreed, but we didn’t know what to expect. Would it be a little wooden Haitian boat? Oh well, we figured, it would be an adventure if nothing else. So we waited around all morning for the boat to come. First they said it would be there around 10:00, then 11:00, and finally at 12:30, the man from the front desk at the hotel came to our room to tell us that the boat had arrived. We walked down to the hotel beach and there it was… The boat was amazing. It was a big yacht-like fishing boat equipped with a sound system and everything! How did we get this lucky? The group of us consisted of the owner of the boat with his brother and cousin, as well as an Italian couple that was also staying at Cyvadier, plus the five of us. We all got on the boat and Christophe’s friend took us to a private beach where we could swim. They cooked a lunch of fish and lobster over a fire right on the beach. Then some friends of the boat owner showed up with jet skis and water skis! We couldn’t believe this was really happening. All we could think was: are we really here or did we die somewhere along the way and end up in heaven??!! Take a look for yourself:
We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the ocean and the sunshine and then they dropped us off back at the hotel.
Saturday night was a big night in downtown Jacmel because it was the night before Easter. Many people dress up in eccentric, colorful clothes and parade down the streets forming rara bands. Rara bands are large groups of people that play horns, drums, and other homemade instruments. The rara bands are most prominent around special occasions and big events/holidays in Haiti. They are very popular around Mardi Gras and apparently the night before Easter as well. We went out to an outdoor restaurant/bar on Saturday to get a glimpse of the celebration. We met up with all the others who had been out with us on the boat that day. It was so neat to see all the people out on the streets celebrating. It was a representation of the “real” Haiti, illustrating the rich culture of the Haitian people that is so present in everyday life here.
On Sunday, before heading home, we decided to stop at Bassin Bleu. Bassin Bleu is a well known waterfall here in Haiti. I had the opportunity to visit Bassin Bleu on my first trip to Haiti in 2007 but had not been back since. In order to reach the waterfall, it is possible to drive part of the way, but then you must hike for the last little bit. The waterfall is spectacular. We arrived there and basically had the place to ourselves, so we swam for quite a while. The pictures don’t begin to do it justice, but here’s a glimpse:
The whole weekend turned out to be an experience of a lifetime. I don’t think that we could have planned it even if we tried, and I’m glad that we didn’t. Often times, when you try to plan something, it never works out the way you want it to. Moral of the story: Take risks. Take advantage of every opportunity and experience that comes your way…You never know what may be in store!
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