HAITI - There is another life high in the countryside mountaintops

After the Gonaives Carnaval, I decided to go with a friend to re-visit Les Cayes... Except this time, we chose not to stay in the city but go high in the mountains near the commune of Chantal... Deep inside Torbeck... To visit my friend's grand parents... I had to leave my car behind and walk uphill nearly an hour... Beyond the treacherous walk is a paradise that most Haitian city slickers know nothing about...

Haitians in Port-au-Prince often talk about Boutilier and Montagne Noir as the oasis where rich people live; however, they forget that Haiti is a very mountainous place and these mountain tops are all over the country.

But... Unfortunately... Only a single Route Nationale cuts through the Republic Of Haiti at any given point... Though you can see mountaintops behind mountaintops on both sides of the road, you don't even realize that people do live in these mountains.

I left the Route Nationale pavement near Torbeck, I drove on a rocky road to a city called Chantal. I left Chantal behind on a tiny little road, drove carefully as far as my SUV could go. Then we left the in somebody's yard in 'Duperon'-- since the mud pile in the middle of the road would not allow us to continue further -- and continued on foot.

I started going uphill heading to an area near Fond Palmiste called 'Rue-Paix'... I wont be shy to tell you that I stopped about 20 times going up the mountain wondering how much longer before I make it to the little house that i could see nearly a mile away, up up up in the sky...

Finally... I made it... I pretended not to be tired but my heart was racing... I was sweating like crazy and my feet was hurting... It was a record mountain-climb for me... LOL...

There's life up there... The mountains you see from a distance when you are driving down the road... People live there... They talk about facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp... There's Internet Access up there... Hell i am writing this from way up there...

It's beautiful... It is a perilous walk for people like myself who does not walk further then across the parking lot to get in the car but it is worth it...

When you sit there for a day, when you look at all this "etendu du territoire nationale" where only a few hundred families live, you realize... Haiti is not as small as one might think...

This morning, I walked past the tiny kitchen to glimpse at the back of the mountain... There is an whole entire life back there with other mountain even taller then the one i am standing on...

As i sit here looking at the city of from a distance, I invite you to experience this at least once in your life... Visit Haiti way beyond the pavement and appreciate what NATURE really feels like from a Haitian mountaintop...

M'ale...

I will share all the photos soon at BelPoz.com

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Robert says...

Moncher, mwem pap baw manti, le ou chita sou yon tet morne andeyo Haiti se reyelman yon paradi terreste.

Epi bagay yo rele insekirite a, se nan Potoprens sa

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