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This is a diary of my photo-documentary of Haiti:
Port au Prince, Jacmel, Carrefour, Leogagne, The Massif de la Selle region,
Mt. Jacmel, Sacre Ceour and Petionville.

Hugeaux is an artist and photographer. He is the creator of ARTE MECCO.

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Day #2 / Part #2


The Haitian Diaries
August 16 - 19, 2009
By Hugeaux
www.Hugeaux.com

This is the revision of the 34 page original manuscript.
Revised by Hugeaux

Haiti is one hour behind Eastern Standard Time.

August 17, 2009
Monday / Lundi

This morning I awoke early to take a walk around the Capital: Port au Prince. I first wanted to photograph the botanical garden which is the interior of the beautiful La Plaza Hotel. It is like a tropical rain forest with wild flowers, terra cotta and singing birds. There are Haitian painting all around the hotel an in every room. It was a pleasure to learn that the night receptionist did speak in Spanish. I don’t speak much Creole, however my Spanish is much better. So we talked in Spanish and I got much information. I decided to photograph The Capital. What a wonder. The stream / fog from the mountains was everywhere. My camera lens fogged up several times. It was a very beautiful sight. I saw people jogging around and a group of about 30 women exercising on La Plaza near the Dessaline monument. I photographed them. The people are very physical fit. The Capital of Haiti is full of much history. Monuments are everywhere. I stumbled on a large Catholic Cathedral: Notre Dame de L’Assomption and attended a morning chanting mass, hundreds of people in the morning for worship. I continued walking The Capital, every turn was breathtaking. The people wake up early in The Capital. I made it back for the continental breakfast and had breakfast with a friend from Haiti who has a bread factory here, but he lives in New York City.

(1:00pm)
Jacmel, The mountain region and Massif de la Selle region, Haiti

I am writing this entry while on the beach in Jacmel, Haiti. I took a swim in the Caribbean sea to refresh my senses. The Caribbean sea is very warm. The black sandy beaches are beautiful here. The mountains surround the sea, and you can still see the stream / fog from the mountains. The 3 hour drive from Port au Prince to Jacmel is full of some of the most beautiful scenery. Haiti is truly an ecological paradise. It was an adventure winding through the mountains, at one I thought I was going to fall off the cliff. Every turn is a picture. At the beginning of the climb, the standard shift car kept stalling. It wouldn’t crank, it stalled and wouldn’t crank. After I got the hang of driving through the mountains, I felt as if I was sailing. There are wild & domestic goats, cows, donkeys and pigs, etc. all along the mountain side.

(5:00pm)
The entire trip from Port au Prince to Jacmel took me 6 hours round trip. I spent one and a half hours in Jacmel. Haiti is truly an untold paradise. The people are so well fit. They are strong and healthy. Their skin is the color of the sun and earth. As I was driving through the mountains in the south of Haiti, I couldn’t help but notice, how the country people cultivated their crops. The crops are so well cultivated that the mountains look as if they have corn rows on them. I saw many ox driven carts and many donkey burden with straw and wood. I saw many women and men carrying buckets of supplies on their heads with perfect balance. The air is so fresh and clean, that one may become dizzy. The county people walk these mountains, so that is why they are in good physical health. This morning to Jacmel truly made up for not going to Cap Haitien (La Citadell, Palais and Sans Souci). On my way back from Jacmel I noticed a guave tree growing very tall, with green fruit. I stopped, photographed it and ate the fruit. One of the most exciting things that happened on the beach in Jacmel, was a elderly local wood sculptor approached me with buying his wooden sculpture. It is a very heavy wooden sculpture of a black man smoking a pipe and holding a machete, with the inscription Jacmel Haiti. It looks like the Haitian countrymen whom I saw earlier. We haggled over the price and I gave him my haggle price, which he accepted. The irony behind this is that Haiti is a country of negotiating. No man leaves until a solution is set. This is typical by it market filled streets. I have seen countrymen selling their crops, Haitian rhum and real French champagne on the streets in Port au Prince. A person mentioned to me why Port au Prince, is so congested is because it is a place for all to meet and socialize. The tap-taps (buses) are filled with people coming to the city from the countryside. I got to see Carre Four and Leogagne, other cities in southern Haiti, because I had to drive through them. I got out and photographed the Caribbean sea at Carre Four. There are many other small towns throughout the mountains, but I can’t remember their names. They are like villages, about 30 - 50 people. I noticed all the unfinished mansions, that were along the mountains. They are very huge structures, whose construction came to a stop and the countrymen use them for many functions. I heard donkey braying, goats naying and cows mooing all along the mountains, and while in the valley you could hear their echoes. The people are very beautiful. They appear to glisten in the sun. Their smiles are pure white and many of the countrymen seem well at ease. I am glad I took this journey to Jacmel by myself, because I would never had enjoyed myself if I had hired a companion. Tomorrow I shall visit the wealthiest side of Haiti: Petionville. Petionville is the home of the Haitian millionaires. I was not hungry, so I didn’t dine in the restaurant……Good Night and my God Bless…Hugeaux.

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