SnapshotJourneys.com for all your travel information

Menu:



Haiti Highway ~ Travel pictures and Information

To Cap-Haitien Haiti via Dajabon DR

I was heading along the Haiti highway into Cap-Haitien via Dajabon, DR, having started my journey from the beaches near Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. I had arranged with a Dominican tour operator to make the trip with one of their driver guides who spoke Creole, English and Spanish. From the Haiti side of the border at Dajabon, we took a gravel and mud highway about 70 km (43.5 miles) to Cap-Haitien, which is on Haiti's north coast. (More highway photos at Fort Liberté.) Buses (taptaps) go between Dajabon and Cap-Haitien, but check with a travel agency in the Dominican Republic for current conditions. Find Haiti travel information, and photos of Haiti art. See the village of Labadie (Labadee) and Haiti hotels. Read my story about this trip.
.


.

Haiti highway goes from Dajabon  DR to Cap-Haitien  Haiti Dajabon DR street

Dajabon is a typical small DR town, with flower baskets brightening the street, small shops, international banks. Not especially prosperous looking, but comfortable enough. From beaches at Sosua, DR, highway services were also typically Dominican -- service stations, convenience stores with bank machines and the like along the route that winds through a lush green landscape with mango trees ripe with fruit and flame trees in bloom. We stopped to buy food from roadside vendors who cook up spicy chickpea fritters and wafer thin strips of meat (beef?) in pans of boiling, clear oil. Cheap and delicious!

Summertime Haiti mountains and landscape with fields Summertime Haiti mountains and landscape

The main highway to Cap-Haitien from the border at Dajabon, DR, and Ouanaminthe, Haiti, passes through barren-looking land. Gone are the DR's lush fields and gardens, and flowering trees; these arid lands are fenced with hedges of tall, invasive cacti.

Haiti farms with cows Haiti farms with cows

From time to time, we saw a few cows foraging in sparse pastures. Trees were few and far between. For many miles, we saw no one, no buildings, no vehicles save the odd tap tap, those brightly-painted buses. The roadside amenities are few and far between on the Haiti side of the border; we carried spare gas and water cans for the van, and plenty of bottled water.

Haiti highway roadside settlements and vendors in stalls under trees Haiti highway settlements

The highway passes through small settlements, where vendors line the road, or await a ride to Cap-Haitien. The taptaps run from the border at Ouanaminthe to Cap-Haitien, and take about two and a half hours or more. Mangos were in season (August) and cost $2 US for several pounds. The interminable dust from the roads coated every surface, and yes, it was very hot. Along the way, children would be patching potholes with rakes and sticks, hoping passing drivers would give them a few gourdes for their efforts.

Haiti Promise Bank in stall along highway near cap-haitien Haiti Promise Bank

The shacks along the highway seemed to be small store fronts, though all we bought were the mangos, from a woman selling her gatherings from a pile under a dust-covered tree. Some of them were signed 'Promise Bank', which I thought quaint, and expressed surprise at seeing banks at all. My driver laughed at my misconception, saying these Promise Banks were lottery booths, offering the 'promise' of money; he bought several tickets for a few gourdes, and no, they did not win.

Mountains seen from Haiti highway show  deforestation Mountains in Haiti

Haiti has seven mountain ranges to complicate its agriculture issues. Mostly denuded of trees, the barren Haiti mountains are in stark contrast to the lush ones of the DR, making the border between the two countries is easily visible from the air. Deforestation makes easy work for heavy rains to set up landslides and flash floods.

Reed shack east of Cap-Haitien haiti near highway Reed shack east of Cap-Haitien



Images of its Caribbean roots, the tropical hut with reed walls. I later found similar construction used in Ethiopia.

Highway passes a Sugar cane processing Shack  making Haiti 'hooch' liquor making Sugar Shack Haiti 'hooch'

Tin roofs cover the distillery and cane pressing plant. The equipment is old, but does the job. Only once did we come across an obviously inebriated Haitian: Most simply do not have the money. My driver stopped here to buy sugar cane juice (not the alcohol) to take home to his family. A tethered goat nibbled grass outside, where we parked the van so the affable driver could renew old acquaintances. He pulled over often, to say hello to someone he knew. After one such conversation, in Creole, with one young woman, he told me that, when the tourists do come, she takes part in the 'Voodoo' ceremony that is staged for them; her role is to bite the head off a live chicken.

Haiti highway passes a Distillery making cane sugar liquor Haiti Cane Distillery

Right beside the highway, under the tin roof, an ancient distillery apparatus makes sugar cane into spirits, after pressing the cane into juice. A soda bottle's worth costs just a few gourdes. The fires were made with charcoal.

Haiti Community Well roadside stop on Haiti highway Haiti Community Well

There were community wells similar to this one at the sugar cane mill at various spots along the highway. The water is not treated at all. Usually there would be children, and women who'd come to fill their plastic jugs. Sometimes we would see them washing clothes in plastic buckets, the water slopping over and making mud from the powdery dirt. With our van overheating, the driver stopped every two hours to get water to cool off the radiator, so he could open it and add more.

In the cane field beside the highway in Haiti a man leads a horse past stacks of sugar cane. In the cane field

Past the sugar cane distillery and the stacks of canes: A few small goats were grazing on spiky grass. Don't let the cloudy skies fool you -- it was *very* hot.

More Haiti Travel Pictures and Travel Information

 




Got a question or a tip?

If you have any questions or would like to Comment on any page, please do so here. If you would like to be notified when your comment is online, please include your email name in your Comment.
Add A Comment

Add A Comment

This is a captcha-picture. It is used to prevent mass-access by robots. (see: www.captcha.net)
Code in the picture:
Your Name(*):
Email:
Website:
Comment(*):
 
  • February 18, 2008, 8:00 pm - Karen

    Dajabon - Haiti travel alert

    News reports today about the border area :

    "The Dominican Republic put its army on alert along the northwest border with Haiti on Sunday as residents of the two nations traded allegations of cross-border incursions, kidnapping and cattle rustling, local media reported.

    "Armed Haitians crossed into the Dominican Republic on Saturday near the community of Dajabon, 175 miles (280 km) northwest of Santo Domingo, and abducted two workmen who were dredging sand in the Massacre River, authorities said."

    See full story here:
    http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN2H644278