Day 3 – St. Marc and Ti Rivye

With Larmier's son in front of his art studio.

(Day 3 of this mini-tour of Haiti)  After leaving the plantation museum around noon, we continued along the coast to St. Marc.  The grocery store mentioned in the Bradt Haiti guide had gone out of business, but we found another on the town square.  We stocked up on some snacks for lunch, then continued to Ti Rivye to visit the bird artist Larimer and his art studio which sits along the highway near the west edge of town.  I have mentioned him in these posts.  If you are interested in his bird art contact me.  It was great to see him again and see where he lives. 

 

Baby goats at the fort.

Larimer and some friends took us for a tour of the local historic sights: Palace of 365 Doors and Fort Crete-a-Pierrot.  A high school social studies teacher was with us and explained the history of these places.  The palace was built in 1816 by Henri Christophe and is being restored (we had to find a man who had to find a key to let us in).  The fort was attacked by Napoleon’s army in 1802.  The Haitians were holed up there for 20 days and used voodoo to fight off the French.  We stopped at a hotel* on the west edge just to see what it was like – another one is nearby.  Contact me if you would like guided tours of this area and we can track down the social studies teacher.  

We continued through the Artibonite Valley to pick up a friend of Rhoda’s who needed a ride to Port, passing the turn to the famous Saut d'Eau waterfall and also the new Partners in Health hospital in Mirebalais, the town where the cholera outbreak started.  Finally meeting up with National Highway 3 and taking it south back to Port.  We ended our journey around 8pm at home in Tabarre.  

Palace of 365 Doors.

Fort Crete-a-Pierrot

View from the fort of the Artibonite River.

Common sight in the valley - rice drying by the side of the road.

*La Piscina Hotel disclaimer – I don’t know the owner and didn’t stay at this hotel.  I just want to let travelers know it is an option if you are in Ti Rivye.  There is another hotel, d’Ossieau nearby.

La Piscina Parc Hotel near the west side of Ti Rivye.

Entrance to the hotel (pink building) as seen from the highway.

The pool at the hotel.

Port au Prince and Artibonite Valley in 3 days

I recently took a mini-vacation to see my friend Rhoda in Port au Prince and we took a road trip up the south coast of the north peninsula, and back down through the Artibonite Valley, Haiti’s rice basket.  I’ll blog about each place we stopped so others can visit these places.  Paul Clammer’s Bradt Haiti guide was a great help providing background information about the places we saw.

Saturday Day 1 – Lunch at Epi D’Or, stop at the Apparent Project gift shop (which should be added to the guide book), spend the afternoon at the Art Fair at the Parc Historique de la Canne a Sucre (Sugar Cane Museum), followed by grocery shopping in awe at the things the store carries (stores where I live in Cayes have fewer choices).  Wonderful dinner at home.

Sunday Day 2 – Leave Port at 2pm to begin our road trip.  Arrive at the beach hotel Moulin Sur de Mer at 4pm.  Spend the night.  

Monday Day 3 – Check out at 10 am and visit the plantation museum Musee Colonial Ogier-Fombrun next door.  Hit the road around 11am, stop at the St. Marc’s grocery store for lunch, arrive at Petit Riviere around 1pm to visit the bird artist Larimer.  Spend the afternoon visiting Larimer’s studio, the Palais de 365 Portes (Palace of 365 Doors built in 1816), Fort Crete-a-Pierrot that Napoleon’s army attacked in 1802, and a hotel (for potential visitors).  Hit the road around 5pm, visit a friend of Rhoda and pick up another friend, arrive home in Port at 9:30pm.

An extra day could be built into the trip to visit the waterfall Saut D’Eau and find a birding spot.

Stay tuned for details and more photos!