Citadelle & Palais Sans-Souci

Checking in from Port-Salut!  Spent a night in Mirebalais with friends, which was a nice last-minute addition to our itinerary.  We also spent a night with Guy and Dorine back in Petionville, who then graciously took us to the bus station.  It was so good seeing them again - it felt like it had been ages!

Our bus trip to Port-Salut was pretty exciting.  We were driving along on the highway when we came upon a line of boulders blocking half of the road.  As soon as we saw this (Adam and I were sitting in the front of the bus) we knew what was happening - someone was going to try to hijack the bus.  Bus drivers here are trained for this, so our guy whipped into reverse with the other buses that were following.  After a few minutes, he decided to make a go at it, with local Haitians approving this decisions.  "Just go fast!" they all yelled, all the while complaining about the bone-heads who were trying to do this.  Sure enough, we barreled through the first section and a young kid came out from the trees hurling rocks.  Pity for him, as someone had already called the cops, who showed up quickly and took control.  Then away we went.  Gotta love Haiti!

*EDITOR'S NOTE* For everyone out there panicking now, bus hijacking is normally a manifestation, or a way for the locals to get the government's attention.  They typically don't hurt anyone or steal much - they just want the bus to block the road.  We were absolutely fine.

In the meantime, this post is dedicated to our last few days in Cap, including our visit to the Citadelle.

I'm going to go back to enjoying my ocean-front guest house here in Port-Salut with incredibly turquoise waters....actually it's really ugly here you would probably hate it... :)

Group shot (minus Chad, our photographer) before we entered Palais Sans-Souci

 

 

 

 

 

Chad and Linda moved to Mirebalais last year and so far love living in Haiti!

 

Looking back at the Palace.

 

A forty-five minute hike to Citadelle was tiring but worth it!
I felt like I was in England looking at an old castle.

 

Baby cannons at the entrance of Citadelle.

 

 

Adam posing with pyramids of cannon balls.

 

More incredible views of Haiti.

 

 

 

There are a number of beautiful cannons preserved that were gifts from the British,

 

 

A well preserved cannon, complete with wheels.

All in all, the Citadelle was impressive, and definitely lived up to the hype.  Saying good-bye to Cap was tough, and frankly with only two weeks left of our trip, it's easy to get a little sappy while reminiscing.  Haiti is an incredible and frustrating country. 

Now I'm going to go back and enjoy this really rough part of Haiti with its ugly beaches... :)