Restaurant – Les Jardins du Mupanah

 Behind the Musée du Panthéon National (MUPANAH, National Pantheon Museum) in Port au Prince (near the fallen palace) is the restaurant Les Jardins du Mupanah, on Av. de la Republique near the Palace of Finance being built.  The museum and restaurant both have their own parking lots.  The restaurant looks like a glass box and has a little water garden alongside it.  It is very open and inviting inside, with a bar and museum gift shop.  My 10 students and I used the restaurant as a transfer stop on our way to Furcy.  Our van from the central plateau dropped us off and while we waited for the van to Furcy, the students went to the museum while I waited with our gear that the staff let us pile in the corner of the restaurant.  We ordered lunch as soon as we arrived, and it was served on time when the students returned from the museum.  I drank my cherry juice while I waited with our gear and the waitress gave me some rolls and real butter.  The menu offers traditional Haitian food served in a fusion sort of way.  Being a vegetarian, I ordered the Aztec salad without chicken.  It was like a taco salad, with plantain chips instead of tortilla chips.  See photos of the menu below.  Salads and sandwiches were around $10US, while dinners were $10 - $15US.  Fruit juice was $3US.  Added to the bill was 10% tax and a 10% service fee that the waiter said was for the kitchen, not for him!  I have been to the museum twice and never knew this restaurant was behind it.  I will definitely go again if I can.

English menu

French menu

Navigating the Port au Prince airport

The PurJus stand

With only carry-on and my boarding pass printed at home, I made it through the airport in record time, from curb drop-off to American Airlines waiting area in only 10 minutes. Just walk in the front doors and keep to the left to get through security. A guy at the curb wanting to help me told me the line was very long, pointing to the line of people who were outside waiting for rides or something, not waiting to get into the airport.  There were only 3 people in front of me at both security check points, and an immigration booth was open when I got through first security point.  With time to spare I enjoyed a passion fruit-ginger juice and a spinach pate at the PurJus stand in the upstairs waiting area. The fresh juice was well worth $8US (bottled drinks cost just as much in the Miami airport).  Don't miss the Rebo stand for coffee and hot chocolate croissant!

Spinach pate and a juice

The Bon Voyage menu

La Fouchet restaurant Port au Prince Haiti

Magda with shrimp and fried plantains.

American friends of mine in Haiti occasionally talk about the ‘Embassy restaurant that has sushi.’  I finally got to go there, and was surprised at how close it is to the house I stay in when I fly in and out of Haiti.  Apparently the residents go there often, but had never mentioned it to me!  La Fouchet is located on Blvd. 15 Octobre, Tabarre 43, near the US Embassy and the large MSC construction store.  It is on the property of a hotel/apartment complex called Executive Villas.  Park and follow the sign back to the restaurant.  Seating is open air under a roof and by the pool.  The vegetarian Caterpillar Rolls were excellent (California roll with avocado, cream cheese, and tempura onion).  I also had passion fruit juice and flan for dessert.  My friend had a shrimp dish with fried plantain and ice cream.  They also have breakfast, steak, burgers, pizza, pasta, and some Mediterranean dishes (for the Jordanian UN?).  Prices were reasonable for a nice meal.  Service was fast for Haiti!  I would definitely go back, especially after almost 2 months of rice and beans.  

Look for the entrance on the corner.

Walk past the little apartments or hotel rooms.

Caterpillar roll and passion fruit juice with pool-side seating.

Flan

Sushi and dessert menu

The restaurant

Pool rules - what is the one above the wine glass?

The grocery stores of Port au Prince.

In 2008 in the Central Plateau we had to drive 3 hours to Hinche to go to a grocery store that was only 13 miles away (now that road is paved it takes less than an hour).

In 2012 I moved to Les Cayes, a large coastal city.  And they have grocery stores!

In 2013 I began spending more time in Port au Prince visiting a friend.  And their grocery stores have everything!  Even guinea fowl & duck.

Here’s a smattering of photos that probably are not impressive to those in the US, but to those of us not in Port it’s the promised land.  (while you are in the store and not outside where all the trash, pollution, traffic, and people are).

Guinea fowl (pintad)

 

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!

Transport Chic - bus between Les Cayes and Port

The bus in Les Cayes, with our luggage on top.

Last week we took the Transport Chic bus back to Port au Prince from Les Cayes.  The bus was great!  And air conditioned.  It stopped in Miragoane for a bathroom and food break at a restaurant/convenience store.  It dropped a couple people off at the towns closer to Port, so you could probably hop off anywhere along the way.  And the ticket was only $10.  You buy it at the bus station the day before.

They strapped luggage to the top of the bus (you get to take one piece of luggage-on-top for free, and no one asked for a tip to put it up there or take it down).  The stop in Les Cayes is along the main road into downtown, Ave. des Quatre Chemins.  We had a 9am ticket for a bus that didn't leave until 10am.  But you want to be there in time to get on first so you don't end up with the little middle aisle seat that folds down.  And sitting up front might make you nervous - you'll see all the things that the bus is trying to pass, and all the traffic coming toward you.  We were oblivious to this in the back row, except for Don who could see right down the aisle.

The stop in Port is across from the stadium, at a very busy intersection.  The Transport Chic office building is painted purple.  We arrived at the terminal at 2:30pm, so it was a 4.5 hr ride, with about 20 minutes at the stop in Miragoane around noon.  We passed through Leogane around 12:30pm.

Here is someone else's post about it: http://sweethaiti.wordpress.com/2012/07/28/transport-chic-air-conditioned-mini-buses-to-les-cayes/ 

Inside the bus.

The blans had the back row to themselves.

The office in Port au Prince.

Looking at the stadium across the street from the Port au Prince office.

Taptaps of Port au Prince

Here's a sampling of the brightly colored public transportation in Haiti.  These buses are called taptaps.

Castro and Mandela, together again!

Navigating the airports - Part III - the Snack Bars upstairs

This is the final post about the airport in Port-au-Prince. Here's what you’ll find in the American Airlines waiting area at the airport (after the final security screen). You can grab a seat and wait, but you should really go upstairs to check out the snack bars. I’ve only eaten at the Rebo one and it’s very good. Mocha for $2.50, and other hot and cold coffee drinks. I get the three-cheese sandwich for $2.50. Order, pay, sit down at a table, and they’ll bring it to you. They grill the sandwiches on a little electric grill. They sell Rebo products – coffee, peanut butter, vanilla, and sell CDs too, including folk songs and more traditional music you can’t find in the gift shops. I suspect the Rebo products are cheaper than in the shops. The Bon Voyage place has French fries, hamburgers, and hotdogs. Another place makes smoothies ($8 I think). And there’s a bar. All sell cold drinks. It’s never been very crowded, and the people are mainly foreigners, so you can sit and try to figure out where everyone is from and what they’re doing in Haiti. From the tables you can see the waiting area below and the sign announcing the flight time, so sit back and relax! Bathrooms are at the back of the main waiting area and are very clean!

Navigating the airports - Part II - departure

This continues the previous post of how to navigate the airport coming into the country.

Now that you've enjoyed Haiti you'll have a greater appreciation of the landscape as you fly the domestic plane back to the capitol, and of the workers helping you at the airports. After MAF or whatever domestic airline you're on lands in P-au-P, the personnel will put all your stuff on a cart on the tarmac and you follow it or walk ahead and pick it up at the back entrance to the domestic airport. Inside, wait for your ride near the building exit by the MAF window (in photo). Don’t go outside! It will be hot in the sun and people will keep asking you if you need a ride. And you can’t get back in through that door, you'd have to go through the main security entrance. **Make sure you have the phone number for your ride in case he isn't there (or your host forgot to call him!).** Lots of people have cell phones and you can ask someone to call.

You'll meet your ride who will drive you the few blocks to the international airport and drop you off directly near the door of your airline (see photo). Be prepared! Tip your driver now before the confusion, and have a bunch of one dollar bills (American) easily accessible. A bunch of guys In matching shirts will be waiting to help you with your bags. I tried to refuse and a Haitian chastised me and said let them, it’s their job. So one wheeled my bag to the front door – I gave him $1 (it is nice when someone else lugs your bags around). At the front door is a security point – put your bags on the conveyor belt and show your passport. Another guy in a red shirt will thrust a tote bin at you to put your small items in and he will set it on the conveyor belt (even though you could have easily done this yourself). He'll ask for $5 or $10 but I give $1 and then wish I had given the bag lugger more. You don’t have to take shoes off or anything out of your bags here. This is the last place people help you for money.

This is the American Airlines terminal: Next you stand in line in the roped off area to get your tickets at the counter (difficult to tell where the opening is to the line). You’ll get all your tickets and drop off your checked luggage. Then go to the customs booth back where those ropes start. Give them that green card you saved from entry. Then you go through security again – this time like in the US – shoes off, computer out, liquids out. (Though I have forgotten to take out liquids and no one said anything). Then you are in the area with little gift shops. Very expensive compared to the gift shops in guests houses and elsewhere - $40 for a small painting! You can buy these for less than $20 elsewhere, probably less than $10 on the street. You can buy CDs and books though, coffee, rum, vanilla, etc. Then you go up the elevator and through yet another security check point just like the previous (and again they didn’t say anything about the liquids in my bag).

You are now in the waiting area. More in the next post...

Below - pictures of the drive between airports and why you need to be driven!

(And if you need to leave via the north port Cap Haitien - here's my story)

Navigating the airport - Part I - arrival

Here’s a blog tour of the International airport in P-au-P. Fill your water bottle before you get on the plane in Miami - it's your last chance to find water until you arrive at your destination for the night in Haiti. Upon arrival at PAP, have your passport, green customs form, baggage claim ticket, and a bunch of $1 bills at hand. You debark on the second story and walk down a hallway from which you can see the old airport and cracked windows (I assume from the quake). Then you go down an escalator – have $1 ready if the little band is playing and you want a photo or just like the music. Then everyone gets on a bus to go to another building that was a warehouse or something. (Dec. 2017 update - the bus is no longer needed as immigration is now in the building where you disembark).

When you get off the bus, go inside and get in line to show the customs guy your passport – save the detached part of the green card you filled out on the plane – you'll need it when you leave the country. The customs guy really wanted to know the address of where I was staying – all I knew was the neighborhood which of course he hadn’t heard of. Then you stand near the conveyor belt to wait for your bags. Workers remove the bags off of the far side of the belt, so look for yours there if you were way behind in the line. If you’re early wait near the front of the belt to grab your bags as they enter the building. Then you go by a guy at a little desk who may or may not look at your luggage claim ticket. If not, someone outside will look at it. Be prepared for the onslaught of people who want to help you! I’ve given in and let someone carry my big bag, since he knows if you need to show someone outside your claim ticket. If your ride is not waiting for you in the mob of people right there (see photo), the bag guy will lead you down an outdoor walk way to another waiting place. When you find your ride give the bag guy $2 – 3. He might ask for $10, and won’t have change. Your ride will take you to the MAF airport or other destination.

MAF – When you are dropped off at the little domestic airport, again a bunch of men will try to help you with your bags – let one help you put your bags through security and take them to the MAF window and give him $1 or $2. The security is right at the building entrance and you don’t have to take shoes off or anything out of your bag. Anyone can go in. Bathrooms are near this door (have toilet paper with you just in case). An old woman sits by the bathroom door and will expect $1 on the way out (not sure what she does).

Check in at the MAF window. You can pay in US cash or by check, and lately they’ve wanted payment for the return trip too. Keep your receipt for the return trip. All your bags and you will be weighed. Then your stuff is piled in the corner by the scale. One time a pipe or something was dripping water in the corner so I moved my stuff to a dry place. Keep your valuables on you because then you go and sit and wait (see photo). Kind of keep an eye on your stuff. The MAF guys are nice and will make sure you don’t miss the flight. There’s no food or drinks, but you can buy bottles of syrup.

When it’s time for the flight all your stuff gets loaded onto a cart, and you’re told to go stand by the departure door (to the left of the Tortuga booth). A man will come around from the outside and unlock the door and you walk out to the MAF plane. Have your camera and whatever else you want in hand because they put everything else under or in the back of the plane to distribute the weight. The flight to Pignon is about 20 minutes and might be a little bumpy, but gives a great view of Haiti. At the MAF airstrip your hosts will pick you up. Next post – departure.

Ti Zwazo Kote W A Prale - Kreyol bird book

My 1st day in Haiti and I found bird books in Kreyol! My guide Jehu (the brother-in-law of my hosts) took me on a tour of Port au Prince the capital & Petionville, and we stopped an office building that had bird books in Kreyol & French, so I bought some of both. One was the book I used last year that I bought from the author Florence Sergile who lives in Florida. But I gave them all away last year and she didn't have anymore in the US. I visited the Musee du Pantheon, a really nice museum that tells the history of Haiti. It even has the anchor from the Santa Maria. We went to another museum at a Baptist mission that had a hodgepodge of displays. It would be a great project for one of my KU museum studies classes! Here's an interesting blog about it. The museum did have a map of the mammals of Haiti, which was a good find since there aren't many mammals & not much popular information about them. There was also a sad little zoo with a monkey, 2 goats, a crocodile in a tiny cement enclosure, doves, and lots of rabbits with 2 guinea pigs. Here's a picture of Jehu and me at Fort Jacques, as well as scenes from the drive up to the fort. The cool mountainous air felt good! My schedule is off from traveling, I think I'll try to go back to bed. In the morning my hosts here in the capital, Michael & Karen Broyles, take me to the MAF airport where Michael is a missionary pilot. I'll meet up with Mike W. and we'll fly to Pignon and stay with JeanJean & Kristie!