“Deye mon gen mon” is a Haitian proverb that translates as "beyond the mountains, there are more mountains'. It’s only when we started to travel around Haiti that we discovered this is definitely true and the Haitians have used this landscape to their advantage.
Construction of the Citadelle la Ferrière was started in 1804 and it is perched on top of a mountain 900m above sea level. It was part of a grand plan to protect Haiti from invasion.
When we arrived, we were given the option of riding a horse or walking the 45 minutes to the entrance gate. We opted to walk and started our ascent. It’s always the way when you are struggling up a hill that a local person will come past you carrying a huge load and seem to be barely exerting themselves. In this case, we met “Chocolat” who not only walked with us but played the National Anthem on his flute at the same time!
As we walked up, we started to get tantalising views of the Citadelle and some 40 minutes later we arrived at the top with a certain sense of achievement. The views from the Citadelle were amazing and, after an excellent guided tour, it was soon time to leave.
As we walked down the hill, accompanied by Chocolat and his repertoire of flute music, I kept looking over my shoulder for one last glimpse of a very special and largely undiscovered place.
Operations Manager Craig recently returned from a recce trip to Haiti. Wild Frontiers is running a new Haiti: The Undiscovered Caribbean group tour in 2015.
