Citadelle 2020 Part 2 - The views

Here are some photos from the excursion to the Citadelle! It was overcast with low clouds at the Citadelle, but full sun at the Palace.

Palace San Souci, from the road above.

Citadelle 2020 part 1 - the road there and payment

Too many people trying to help!

On a Monday in February 2020 I took a visitor to the Citadelle! Rather my Haitian friend took us and helped us navigate not only the road there but payment. Let your Haitian friend take charge of all payments! (I didn’t and overpaid the horse guides). Here is what we did. Hope it saves others from confusion! And you need a really good truck with good motor and clutch to go up and down the mountain.

The drive: 7 hour round trip! Left UCNH in Haute-Limbe at 6:45a. Go earlier if you want to go birding. From Rt 1 we turned south onto the nice road through Akul, then went south through Bois Rouge and popped out on the main paved road that goes south to Milot. 8am arrive at the tourist payment building at Palace San Souci, after we picked up a guide who was standing on the street outside a nice gate/walled area. He had a badge and rode with us in the truck bed. FYI he spoke Creole, French, and Spanish, but very little English. My friend ended up translating. 9 am arrive at Citadelle parking lot. 9:40a arrive at Citadelle whether you rode a horse or walked. 10:30a left Citadelle. Noon back in truck at tourism building and left. We returned on the road that runs along the south edge of the Cap airport. 1pm arrive at Rt1 out of Cap. 2pm pull into UCNH.

At the tourism building: They give you the list of prices (see photo below). We only paid the entrance fee of 2300 gds for 2 foreigners and 3 Haitians. They couldn’t make change! The guide exchanged smaller bills with us. Supposedly you can pay for all services there and not be charged later in the main parking lot right below the Citadelle. At the tourism booth they charge $15US (1500 gds) for a horse (then you tip your 2 horse guides). But it’s cheaper to hire a horse on your own at the parking lot above. Which I didn’t know, and paid 2000 gds and told the 2 guides to split the extra 500. Didn’t know my friend had negotiated 1000 gds for a horse. At the end we gave the guide 3000gd. And I paid for gas and use of my friend’s truck.

Souvenir sellers: Be prepared for all the art and souvenir sellers in both parking lots. I put a predetermined amount of cash in my pocket, small US bills. And spent only that. They will ask $10US for a wood bowl. Then when you get in your car to leave, they will say you can have 2 bowls for $5US! I had to roll up the window and close the door, they are very assertive.

The horse ride up: Choose only horses that have the hibiscus logo branded into the horse. My vet friend trains the horse owners to care for the horses and gives the brand to those who passed. I took a horse (Tako) so I wouldn’t be so tired at the top, but it’s not a bad walk. Steep but smooth stones. The horse is too bumpy for bird watching and they didn’t stop much.

See part 2 for some photos!

The building where you pay the entrance fee for Palace San Souci and Citadelle.

The hibiscus brand on horses managed by people who received training in horse care.

Belly Beach bird hike

Fort Belly

The real reason I wanted to stay overnight at Belly Beach was to go birding. Get up early and head up the stairs to a rocky road that sits above the bay. There are unique rock formations, a nice view of the bay, and a little fort my guide called Labadee Fort, and google maps labeled Fort Belly. There are typical birds – kingbirds, Antillean mangos, warblers. And also white-crowned pigeons which I have only seen once in Haiti, in the south.

Lichen

Walk up the stairs from the hotel

Rocky road

Spanish moss

Cruise ship at Labadee

Hotel Rival, Cap Haitien

Steps to the beach are to the right of the gate.

I learned about Hotel Rival from Paul Clammer’s Bradt Haiti guide. I wanted to go to Fort Picolet so stayed in the hotel closest so I could walk. It is a clean hotel with a great view of the ocean and a nice pool. The bar area has nice ocean view seating. Ask for room #2 to get a large corner room with 2 balconies. The property, tucked into the hillside, shares a gated road with houses, so you have a quiet road to walk and see birds. The road to get to the hotel is a bit rough, but passes a small fort (Etienne-Magny) that I didn’t notice was a fort until I passed it later on a moto and saw the canons. The Crammer guide mentions a second fort that might have been what formed the wall along the road at the hotel gate.

It was odd that I seemed to be the only guest, and the staff weren’t at the front desk much, mostly saw them hanging out upstairs near the bar looking at their phones. I ordered a drink, they couldn’t make change for my $20US bill, so I gave them my remaining small bills and didn’t have any left for a tip. The room didn’t have electricity part of the time. The bathroom didn’t have amenities except towels and a bar of soap. I forgot to see if the shower had hot water since I’m not used to having any! According to the Crammer guide there is a restaurant, which must have been the bar area, but there was no indication they served food until I went up the next morning for the complimentary breakfast which was really good - an omelet, bread, butter, jelly, juice and coffee. Someone else was eating there so I must not have been the only guest.

Don't get excited about swimming at the beach. You can access it from stairs outside the hotel gate (the start of the route to Fort Picolet), but is a bit trashy (including a syringe - don't go barefoot, but I've seen worse). Knowing what runs off into the bay from Cap made me leery of going in the water. Plus people literally bathing there, and groups of men standing around watching, made me uncomfortable about being the only foreigner.

I am a low key traveler with electricity only part of the time at home, so the sparseness and partial no electricity was ok with me, but if you expect the amenities of the Roi Christophe or Mont Joli you might be disappointed. It is not within walking distance of anything except the forts. That and the ocean view was the only thing that made it worth $100 for one night. I think if they charged $70/night they'd have more guests, and thus could improve the service! So enjoy Hotel Rival for the view, pool, and access to forts!

Yummy breakfast and great view!

All rooms seem to face the ocean.

Nice pool!

Large room!

One of the balconies on room #2.

Fort Picolet, Cap Haitien

Thanks to Paul Clammer’s Bradt Haiti guide, I learned about Fort Picolet and stayed in the nearby Hotel Rival to go on an early morning hike to explore the fort. The 'path' to the fort starts outside the gate to the hotel, go down the stairs to the beach. And keep following the shore at the base of the hill. Wear sturdy shoes that you can get wet (there's medical and other trash on the beach - don't go barefooted). We departed about an hour before high tide and didn’t have to walk through water, but have heard that at high tide water might be up to your knees.

Clammer describes the walk as involving 'a bit of scrambling' which must be British for you need to walk over loose rocks of all sizes and hang onto your surefooted friend to get up and down the big rocks and steps along the shore. See the photos for how high you need to scramble. Would be difficult for someone with bad knees or unsteady in walking.

Once at the fort just climb the stairs and explore! The guide book says this is a French fort built around 1740. There are still canons there. Be sure to go up the little set of stairs on the wall they sit along, and down the other side, and you'll get a good view the waves crashing into the rocks below. On the other side of the fort is a metal structure that must have been a light house.

We started the hike at 6:30a and were back at the hotel at 8am. There are paths to follow if you want to explore more of the hillside. There was no one at the fort, and no one along the way harassed us. There are signs of recent Vodou practice at the fort, even a peristyle, and people were praying with candles at a huge rock that is on the way to the fort.

It is well worth the walk! And look for the cool crabs and snails on the way.

The view from the start of the walk near Hotel Rival

Climb up and over the rocks!

A big step up!

The steps from the beach up to the fort.

At the fort, looking back at Hotel Rival

The peristyle

A lighthouse?

The Citadelle in Haiti

I finally got to visit Haiti’s famous Citadelle, the fort built on top of a mountain by Henri Christophe in 1820.  It is near Cap Haitien which now has international flights, and the road is paved, so is easy to get to.  From Cap Haitien drive south on National Route 3 to the town of Milot.  Drive through town, and past the Palace Sans Souci (Perhaps first visit this palace since the Citadelle is grander.  Don’t buy all your souvenirs here, there’s more at the Citadelle).  The road to the Citadelle is paved with rocks and is steep.  You’ll eventually come to the parking lot where there are flush toilets and sinks, souvenir booths, a police station, and what seems to be a new visitor center.

You can either walk or ride horses.  Going up took about 40 minutes on horseback.  A friend is working with the horse guides and owners to get better saddles and treatment for the horses and much improvement has been made, so I didn’t feel badly about riding a horse.  A guide will lead the horse up the trail, and occasionally take pictures for you.  But also other people will come along coaxing the horse or ‘helping’ you and expecting a tip!

At the Citadelle you dismount and tell the horse guy if you’ll walk or ride back.  There are also women here selling cold pop and water and snacks (bring small bills to pay them).  Then a guide will take you all over the Citadelle explaining what everything is.  Near the end of the 2 hour tour is a modern bathroom (leave some money for the lady who cleans it).  There is also a new museum with lots of cannons, and a restaurant is being built.

The walk back down to the parking lot is easy and only about 40 minutes.  There is also a short cut near the little building right before the Citadelle.  The path isn’t any faster than walking the paved road, but you see cool rocks and are amongst the trees.  It is tricky to navigate since you are going down over rocks.  The guide will help you. 

The visit cost $25.  Because someone else made all the arrangements, including paying the guides and driving, my group and I were free from the hassle of many people trying to be our guides, and hangers-on wanting tips for ‘helping.’ The women selling souvenirs were really pushy, you just have to say no and walk on.  At the very end when we were in the truck about to leave, a bunch came over offering their wares for super cheap, so I got two of the bird carvings I had been eyeing for $5 total!  The lady had asked for $15 each when I was in her booth.

After the trip read the historical fiction about this time period, The Kingdom of this World by Alejo Carpentier.  Here is someone else's blog about his Citadelle visit.

The road through Milot. The dome is on a church that is next to Palace Sans Souci.

The road to the Citadelle, coming from Milot.

The parking lot and where you get on the horses.

The ride up to the Citadelle.

Start of the shortcut down.

Steep shortcut.

Walking down from the Citadelle.

Ecotour – Day 1 Birding and Fort Oliver

 We started the day with a 6am pick up by our driver Sonny who took us to a property that is known to have the gray-crowned palm tanager (Phaenicophilus poliocephalus), Haiti’s only endemic bird which lives only on the southern peninsula.  Our guest came to Haiti specifically to see this bird, and another was along for the adventure.  The property lies in a small patch of scrub forest overlooking the ocean between St. Louis du Sud and Aquin.  During our 2 hours of searching for the bird in the gray misty rain I caught a glimpse of it but my visitors didn't.  Then the sun came out, warblers got busy looking for insects and defending territory, and finally we all clearly saw 2 tanagers.  We stayed a bit longer while the visiting birder taught us how to distinguish warblers.

Access – Easy.  Contact me for property owner information.  Park at the gate or drive up the inclined driveway.  It is an easy walk around the flat property or you can take steeper paths up into the shrub which is where we saw the bird.  Wear long pants and closed shoes as the scrub is thorny.

After seeing the birds we then went to Fort Oliver, a French fort at the tip of a peninsula on the west side of St. Louis du Sud.  You can read about the history of this fort in the Clammer/Bradt Haiti guide.  The drive on the short peninsula provided a picturesque view of life along the ocean.  After we parked people came out of the woodwork to greet and help us.  One man did most of the talking about the history of the fort, while another chimed in now and again.  We gave them $7 and $5 respectively, as well as a couple dollars to an old man who helped me navigate the stones across the shallow water surrounding the fort.  The fort is made of limestone and coral that I assume were gathered from the area, along with bricks brought from France.  The fort consists of several rooms and one room was once full slate and has a tunnel that goes to the hillside across the highway.  There is also a fort on the island in the bay which one of the guides offered to take us to.  We passed, wanting to be better prepared for swimming etc. on the island.

Navigating the steep steps at Fort Oliver.

Access – You must walk across shallow water, then up very deep and steep crumbling steps to reach the top of the fort, which has a great view of the bay.  Even if you can’t make the stones or steps, you can still walk around the base of the fort after wading through the shallow water.  

Limestone and brick wall.  The main guide in purple.

Limestone wall of Fort Oliver.

Coral embedded in the wall.