Sometimes a journey is more interesting then the destination.

All the reviews are wonderful but many things have happened to Haiti since and so I hope this review will be of interest to some.

I was in Santo Domingo for a business meeting last weekend and I flew in on Friday night. We were done by Sunday night and all the participants left on Monday except that I wanted to visit the Citadelle in Haiti. I had two days to do it as I have another appointment back in the US on Wednesday.

After a lot of preparation using the internet, I determined that there is a bus service from Santo Domingo to Cap Haitien. The bus company is Caribe Tours and so I booked a ticket for Monday morning.

When I called them on Saturday, they informed me that even though they are quite regular, they only go to Cap Haitien when there are enough passengers and they would let me know on Monday morning. That screwed up my plans and so I asked the concierge at the hotel to find me an alternative. She found me a tour company that was willing to provide a private transfer but at $US 370 which is 10X the bus fare. I had no choice at this point and coughed up the money.

We took off on Monday at 10am after I paid the fare and I sensed that this will be an interesting trip as the driver did not speak English and he has never been to Cap Haitien before. By 3pm we were at the border at Dabajon. This when it starts to get interesting. First the driver was told that the paper work on the van was incomplete and that the van could not leave DR. A lot of discussion later, with the help of a self appointed fixer who appeared on the scene, we went looking for a telephone company that can receive a fax from the tour company. Everything takes a long time and one and a half hours later, we were back at the border.

The next wrinkle was that the driver's passport is not in order and he cannot cross the border. It took another half hour for the fixer to fix the problem. In the meantime my passport went through several hands and $US 25 was taken from me for a $US 20 exit fee and $US 5 for the fixer.

Then as we were ready to drive across the one lane bridge, a dozen important looking individuals would surround the van asking all kinds of questions, looking at the documents and my passport. In the end the driver informed me that they wanted $US 120 to let the van cross the border. I told him that I was not prepared to pay and a lot of discussion ensued for 15 minutes. In the end they gave up and waved us on.

Once across the border, the fixer took my passport and got me an entry to Haiti for $US 1. All looked good before another half dozen individuals surrounded the van and indicated that the van was not authorized into Haiti. A lot of discussion goes on in French and the fixer indicated that everything can be solved for $US 30. I told him that this was the last straw and gave him the money. He pockets $US 10 and gives $US 20 to the head of the gang. They laugh and throws the money on the floor. Within 15 seconds, he changes his mind, picks up the money and waves us off.

All this has taken 2.5 hours and we are now in Haiti. There are no roads at the border except a dirt track. However after we entered the town, the roads were remarkably good to Cap Haitien.

Once we got into the city, there was no more road. The city is dirty, dusty and reminds me of being in Africa. Haiti is completely different from the rest of the Carribean.

The descriptions of the Citadelle are well documented with two additional impressions. The horse ride for the last 30 mins to the Citadelle was a lot of fun and the views on top of the ramparts were breath taking.

My exit from Haiti was uneventful. I took a commuter flight from Cap Haitien to Port-au-Prince on Tortug Air (book on-line) and then on to Miami. I suspect that if you do not want to go through my hassles, take the bus or go through P-au-P and avoid the border.

Cap Haitien was remarkably calm given the political situation, aftermath of the earthquake and cholera.