Days 146 – 148 (03/10 – 12)

Saturday – This weekend is my in-country vacation. Linda and I and Mario and Spana are going to Jacmel.  Jacmel is on the Caribbean coast of Haiti, about 100 KM southwest of Port au Prince. It is the 6^th largest town in Haiti and one of the oldest. It was built in the French Colonial style and once was referred to as the New Orleans of the Caribbean. Unfortunately, like most things in Haiti, it has not been maintained and has fallen into serious disrepair.

The route to Jacmel took us along the Atlantic coast to Leogaine, a route that I seem to travel every week, but then cut due south over the mountains. It truly is a beautiful drive and Linda was oohing and ahhing the whole way. You ultimately come around a bend and there is Jacmel and the bay down below. Gorgeous. We went through Jacmel and drove east along the coast for another 20 minutes before coming to the Kabic Hotel. Our friend Jenn Rogan had made the reservations for us, so we didn’t know exactly what to expect. But, we weren’t disappointed. It was very nice. The rooms were nice with sliding glass doors overlooking the ocean and HOT water. It also had a very nice outdoor restaurant and a huge bull mastiff dog named Argus that thought he was a lap dog. Linda and I took the room and although the rooms weren’t expensive by U.S. standards, Mario and Spana decided to try and find something cheaper down the road. We got settled into our room; changed into swimsuits and went across the road to the beach. It was a beautiful, curving, sandy beach and the water was the perfect temperature. We swam and took a nap under some palm trees. Life is good.

Mario and Spana showed up late in the afternoon and said that they had found a place just down the road and were going to go back into Jacmel to get something to eat and check out the nightlife. We elected to stay where we were and try the food at the hotel. Right across the street from the hotel, on the beach, was a little restaurant/ bar that consisted of one little shack with a covered patio and 4 tables. As we were walking by, they served a couple 2 beautiful grilled lobsters. I asked the waiter how much they were and he said $11.00 U.S. He said they would be open until 10:00 PM, so I told him we would be back for some lobster. We took a quick dip in the little hotel pool; showered and changed and went back for dinner. Even though there was only one other couple at the tables, it still took the obligatory 30 minutes to take our order – which was, of course – lobster. Reply – drum roll – “We’re out of lobster.” Since we had our hearts set on lobster, we went back to the hotel restaurant and, for a few dollars more got our grilled lobster. The service was excellent and the food was great - so, all in all, a great ending to a great day.

Sunday – We woke up to another beautiful Caribbean day; went down to the restaurant for our complimentary continental breakfast and went for a walk up the road. It was very pretty, but was rapidly warming up and Linda was starting to fade, so we headed back to the hotel to wait for Mario and Spana. They arrived just before our noon check out time and Mario said that they would like to stay another day. He suggested that we check out the hotel that he and Spana were staying in because it was cheaper. So, not anxious to go home and working on a tight budget we checked it out. The Hotel L’Aimitie was right on the beach and Mario talked the owner into giving us a great room for half of what we were paying at the Kabic. Decision made. We’re staying another day. Swimming in the Caribbean; lying on the beach; eating great food – I could get used to this.

Monday – Linda and I went for an early morning swim then had our complimentary breakfast on the beach with Spana and Mario. We got cleaned up, packed and on the road back to Jacmel by 9:00 AM. I had read about some waterfalls somewhere around Jacmel and wanted to check them out. But, Mario, a native Haitian, had never heard of them. He did, however get directions from some of the locals. The road took us across a river (no bridge) and on to a 4 wheel drive road. We stopped and asked directions several times and finally arrived at Basin Bleu. (Side note: If you ask a Haitian for directions and he or she doesn’t answer right away and kind of looks up into the sky – don’t believe a word they say. They don’t have a clue.)

 Basin Bleu is a cluster of 4 or 5 houses up in the mountains behind Jacmel. It has 1 industry – the waterfalls. They charge 100 gourdes per person to park your truck or $10.00 for the 4 of us. You have to hike from there about a mile along some mountain trails to get to the falls – a series of 3. We discovered that 2 “Guides” had attached themselves to our foursome – one of them carrying a large rope. The trail wasn’t too bad – although a little rocky in places – making it hard for Linda in sandals. We came to the first large pond and found 3 or 4 Haitian women washing clothes, beating them on the rocks with wooden paddles. Our guide said that they lived way up in the mountains and came down here every week to do their laundry. We walked on to two more beautiful ponds fed by small waterfalls and then discovered what the rope was for. You had to scale down a rock face to get to the last pond and waterfall. The guide told us we had to take our shoes off to go down the rope. In the process, one of Linda’s sandals went over the edge into the pond below. Not to worry. One of the guides stripped down to his shorts and dove 30 feet into the pond and retrieved the sandal. The descent down the rock face wasn’t too far, but it was slippery. The guide made sure everyone got their foot into the right place before taking the next step. Needless to say, we all survived – and the journey was worth it. The last pond and falls were spectacular. The falls were about 100 feet high and cascaded into a large pond carved out of the volcanic rock. The water in all the ponds was a beautiful turquoise blue. It was the same color as the water you see in glacier ponds and lakes. Our 2 guides jumped in the water; swam across the pond; climbed over halfway up the cliff face and dove into the pond. They said the pond was 25 meters deep – over 80 feet. They asked if anyone wanted to go swimming. Linda really wanted to go but was unsure how to maintain her modesty in front of all the men until she realized that she had a change of clothes back in the truck. In she went clothes and all.  The men were very impressed.

We retraced our steps back to Basin Bleu, then back to Jacmel for a late lunch and a change of clothes for Linda. We arrived back at the Guest House just in time for dinner. What a great mini vacation.