Ecotour in Haiti

This month as a representative of the Audubon Center of Les Cayes I had the pleasure of leading a 4-day ecotour on the southern coast of Haiti for 2 visitors from the US.  One visitor came exclusively to see the gray-crowned palm tanager which lives only on Haiti’s southern peninsula.  The other visitor came along to enjoy the tour and to learn more about the hydrology of Haiti.  Day 1 was birding in a place known to have the tanager.  Day 2 was a trip to a cave.  Day 3 was a trip to a waterfall to swim, bird, and explore the river.  Day 4 was a trip up in elevation to the town of Duchity to bird and see what we could see along the way.  We had an excellent driver, and many recommendations about places to visit from Haitian and American birders who have lived in the area for a number of years.  

Our trip to Les Cayes was a tour in itself.  After flying into Port au Prince and staying at Matthew 25 guest house for the night, we took the 7am Capital Coach to Les Cayes.  The bus ride took only an hour longer than usual (see post about this bus).  We were detoured from the main road to Carrefour and the driver manipulated the bus along the tight streets that ran along the back side of the Iron Market.  Then when it seemed we were on our way we came to a road block set up by school children!  They were protesting that their teachers have not been paid for three months.  I think it is a sign of more anti-Martelly protests to come, as he promised free education for all children.  We arrived in Les Cayes and our driver Sonny took us to us to our guest house about 5 minutes from the bus stop.  Lunch was soon ready and my birding visitor had his first truly Haitian meal.

Stay tuned for posts about each day.  If you would like to schedule a tour, contact me at naturesphoto at hotmail.com.