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Published: June 25th 2017
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June 10,2017-Cap Haitien Airport
I arrived in the airport around 12 o'clock noon.I paid 10 dollars as a tourist fee in the immigration desk as I leave the arrival lobby. From there, I took an airport taxi to take me to my first destination which is a Resort.You will notice a lot of taxi drivers waiting just outside the airport departure lobby and will approach you to offer their service persistently.It would be wise to bargain with them before agreeing to take you for a ride.I asked the desk officer in the tourism desk for assistance where to change my money and she walks with me outside and bring me to an old woman who changes dollar to Haitian gourd (Haiti currency).Having a gourd on your pocket will be handy for paying bills which are less than a dollar.You should also know the current exchange rate as a precaution.
June 10,2017-Cormier Plage Resort
It is a beach resort-hotel in the foot of the mountain. I went here to take my lunch and enjoy the beach for a while before I go to my hotel. The resort-hotel is equipped with a lot of facilities which visitors can
enjoy during their stay. There were souvenir shop, tennis court, volleyball court,an aviary, restaurant ,a bar,a turtle pond and a lot more. They also provide water recreations like snorkeling, etc.When you arrive, you have to proceed to the bar where you have to pay 5 dollars if you only wish to use the beach. Staff are nice and surely will offer you tasty food. I enjoyed staying in their restaurant. It is an open-air, rustically designed, type where you can see the beach while taking your meal or having some few drinks from their bar. The beach stretches along the resort's property. You will see palms along making the view more scenic. The both ends of the beach were abutted by huge rock-formations. While soaking up, I noticed rocks were already beneath as I go deeper until the water reached the level of my stomach. I hope it is not the same on the other part of the beach. I only stayed on some few spots anyway. I also notice campers during my stay.
I left the resort without knowing that how can I get to the town from here.I walked for a while outside the vicinity and luckily
bump into some moto taxi on my way.
June 10,2017-Cap-Haitien
I stayed in Habitation de Laurier during my stay in Cap-Haitien.What I really missed from this hotel is the agony of walking up to there.I prefer to do a lot of walking during my travel since I am seeing a lot of interesting things on the way. But going on this hotel, is actually a hike.
But this is the most interesting thing when you arrived. You will be literally staying on the top of the mountain with the view of overlooking Cap-Haitien.From there, you can plan your approach on how to explore the town.From there,you can see the Cathedral Notre Dame de Cap-Haitien which seemingly appears to be the heart of the town. An example of Colonial Architecture flourished with history.
The streets of Cap-Haitien are laid out on a grid pattern so navigating along would be easy. I would personally advise to download the Haiti Map Offline as I did. It really helps me a lot.
There were markets, convenience store and local stores around.So looking for items you need for your trip wouldn’t be that hard. Just bring
some few Creole language with you. Or download a Translator App would be helpful.
June 10,2017- Cathedral Notre Dame de Cap-Haitien
I walked around the town and I arrived eventually on this landmark. It is a catholic church standing since the time of the French, the country’s colonist. Just in front is a park where you can stay to take a rest, sits under a tree and eat with the local street foods they sell around.
June 10,2017- Boulevard Carenage
It is already late in the afternoon when I arrived in the Boulevard to look for somewhere to eat.
There were a lot of restaurants and resto bars situated on the area and walking along the boulevard while enjoying the breeze of the sea seems not to be a bad idea to do while in Cap-Haitien.
The food for one meal costs me around 500-700 gourd and it seems that their servings are for two people. You can ask the waiters to pack what you had left and bring it home with you and eat it for later.
June 11,2017-Cap-Haitien to Milot
I asked the manager of the hotel if he can
drop me on the tap-tap station since he is on his way to the airport that time and he agrees. Tap-Taps are pubic transport which looks like a modified pick-up truck where the rear part was used to contain passengers. The station was located before the bridge going to the airport, near a gasoline station and just on the side of the rotunda. You have to wait until the tap-tap is full until it leaves. The fare for the tap-tap is 50 gourd. The travel time between the tap-tap station to Milot is around 20-30 minutes.
June 11,2017-Citadelle Lafarrier and Sanc Souci Palace
I arrived in the tap-tap station in Milot.From there,a lot of moto taxis are eager to offer their service to bring you up in the tourism office prior to your hike to the Citadelle.I decided to take one.
In the Tourism office, you have to inquire how much you have to pay for your climb. An entry fee of 5 dollar is required but if you are going to avail for a horse and a guide, it will cost you around 45 dollars including the fee. I took a horse and a guide just to save time and spend most of it exploring the Citadelle.This was the highlight of my trip.
Citadelle Lafarriere is a large mountain top fortress. I remember reading this enormous structure in one of my architecture books during my study days. This might be one of the reason that drives me to be in this place- -my architectural bug. It was mystifying …like, “how they construct this structure during that time with their kind of tools? “how they transport the materials from the foot to the top of the mountain?” …. “did an alien help them to accomplished this?”. I was exploring above the clouds while being tormented of unanswerable question to myself. Good thing there was my guide to explain everything to me. Well I hope he is reliable. OR Wikipedia is more reliable. I got to check it for myself when I browse the internet soon.
Sans Souci Palace
After I explore the Citadelle Lafarriere, me and my guide went to another one historical site which the Citadel share the same history page with. It was the residence of the King who build the Citadel. The site is a ruin and what is left where only the remains of once a great palace built for a king. The site also serves as a community park.Just around the corner,you will find another interesting landmark, the Cathedral de Milot,a structure with a taste of Islamic architecture.
Around 2-3 hours,I finished my trip.The guide with the moto taxi drive me to the tap-tap station.It is the same tap-tap station where I arrived earlier.
Citadelle Lafarriere and Sanc Souci are both UNESCO heritage sites. It is worthy to pay a visit.
Tips.
-There were hotels who can arrange a guide and a transportation to bring you in the tourism office to your way to Citadel. It would be nice to arrange with them to minimize the hassle of picking a random guide and the hassle of negotiating with the locals. For the locals/guides, you are a tourist, and will try extra hard to get a tip from you.
June 12,2017-Cap-Haitien Airport
Departure. The hotel gave me a ride to the airport as a part of their service. If you worrying about souvenir stuff. You will find one kiosk in the departure lobby.
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