Cayes and Chantal
Trip Start
Jan 31, 2005
1
5
7
Trip End
Feb 24, 2005
Les Cayes and Chantal, Haiti
Tuesday, February 8, 2005
I found a "woulib" or free ride down from Port au Prince to Les Cayes. It is only a 5 hour drive down then, if we stop for food. A couple from Texas arrived in Port au Prince, and they were supposed to fly down to Les Cayes, but they missed their flight, so now have to drive down. It is a good character building exercise. I do not like it, but it is a good way to see the country, up close, and rocky. Certain parts of the road are good, the other parts, well, where the river washed it away or left debris behind, they are not too good. At least there hasn't been any rain (which is not good) so the roads were passable this time. We drove past the part of the road where much soil has built up. The land is now higher than the road, where the land alongside the road used to be about 2 feet lower. Needless to say, the houses have been partially buried, so only the second floors show now.
About the lack of rain. Where I lived in Chantal, we usually had a fair amount of rain. There are three growing seasons and one starts about now. however, they have not had rain for nearly 6 months. Dust is terrible and the banana and coconut trees are turning yellow. My friends were happy to see me, but the situation I found them in was less than favorable, even for Haiti. The good news is that it is calm still down south. No murders or gun shots down in this area, they save all of that for Port Au Prince. Their problem is the no rain part. Even the stream across the street from where I used to live was dry and that rarely happens! Thankfullly, the spigot from the source up the mountain is still gushing it's precious cold water. yes, outside in the back yard, I enjoy looking up at the trees when I shower, making sure no little kids are up there before I shower! Since it is cool right now in the evenings, I have to shower in the afternoon, I already acquired a cold since arriving in Chantal, I don't want to make it worse.
More on my visit to Chantal later. Pray for rain for Haiti, they need it badly.
Peace.
