not for the faint of heart

Traveling to and from Anse-a-Pitres last week was quite the adventure. From our house to the small coastal town is only a 90 mile stretch, but the journey itself took a little more than 9 hours each way. I wanted to document a few pieces of our adventure, but it's turned out to be a long post. So, if you're interested in the crazy details, click the link below! Mothers, you've been warned...

Let me preface this post by saying this is not a complaint or "woe is me" kind of post. I'm not looking for people to feel bad for us. I think it's wild how complicated it is to travel throughout Haiti, which is something so foreign to us in the U.S.  It's not just that the roads are bad or non-existent, but also that the forms of transportation are so unreliable and so dependent on other factors. 

We first took a moto from our house to Croix-de-Bouquets, which is a town on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. We hopped on a tap-tap, which in itself took about 20 minutes to catch because there were so many people waiting that any time one would drive up, there would be a stampede of people jumping onto it before it even completely came to a stop! We were squished with literally 18 people in the back of the tap-tap, sitting in traffic in the sun for a good amount of time, before some passengers let us know we were at our stop.

So, then, the fun part... We boarded a giant truck, almost like a garbage truck (similar to this), with metal bars on the sides. At first, we were the only ones, and we're thinking "this isn't too bad!" The truck just sits there and waits. And waits. Waiting for more people to get on, so that they can have a full truck and make more money. Also, people are loading boxes and bags and all sorts of cargo. So after 2 hours of literally just sitting and waiting, the truck finally takes off. I count 80 people stuffed in the back of this truck. 80! Plus tons of giant boxes stacked all over. The gravel road twists and turns through the mountains, and several times I thought we were going to tip over, or get robbed and not be able to drive away fast enough, or that we would hit a big bump and I would go flying out. The entire trip I prayed over and over, "God, please forgive us for being so stupid and be gracious on us and let us not die." After 3 hours of holding onto a tiny rope for dear life, in a totally awkward position, we decided we had had enough. The truck made many stops during the drive, so when it stopped at a market, we jumped out and started negotiating with motos to find a ride to the town we were trying to get to, Thiotte. 

Andrew snapped this picture of me climbing out of the truck. That bar is where we sat the whole trip. Also, I got the worst sunburn/farmer's tan I think I have ever gotten, from which my shoulder is currently peeling and looks diseased. At least the trip only cost us $4...

After much negotiating, we finally get a moto to take us to Thiotte for about $10. They assured us it was only a 45 minute drive, but it ended up taking almost 2 hours. Again, we are driving through twists and turns and with each turn around the mountain I am envisioning a giant truck coming around at the same time and smashing into us. Or an angry mob of Haitians chasing us to rob us. Or the moto slipping on the gravel and we tumble down the mountain. I have a very active imagination. Andrew, on the other hand, later shared that he had experienced none of these wild scenarios in his mind. All he could think about was how squished his giant legs were in this tiny space.

The ride to Thiotte was actually at times chilly, and we passed through a forest of evergreens and it almost felt like home. Once we made it to Thiotte, we had to get another moto to take us to our final destination, Anse-a-Pitres, about an hour drive. Our driver didn't have a horn (a must have in Haiti. they use their horn at. all. times. for any and every reason), so he made a beeping sound with his voice whenever a horn-appropriate moment came our way. Ha! At one point we drove through a funeral procession, dozens of people walking across the street following a pickup truck carrying a casket, and yes, he did "honk" his way through the hymn-singing crowd.

On the way back, we decided there was no way we were ever going on one of those mega-truck tap-taps again. Our first moto from Anse-a-Pitres to Thiotte, which should have taken an hour, took 3 hours. We got 3 flat tires. Ay.

By the third flat tire, I decided to find a rock and have a snack (a banana we bought off the street) and enjoy the view.

We considered taking a van from Thiotte to Croix-de-Bouquets, but after waiting an hour, only one had driven by- and a stampede of people swarmed it to force their way on. So, we found an okay deal and decided on a moto. A few minutes after we set out, it began to storm. We pulled over and huddled together on the porch of a tiny little shack that I am assuming belonged to the driver's close friends or family. Naturally, I was scared of being robbed or kidnapped (what's new). Thankfully the storm quickly passed and we didn't have to hide out for long. Still a better choice than the giant truck, but 3 hours on a tiny motorcycle with three people and a giant duffle bag- not so comfortable. Again, beautiful views, but man was I on edge!

this lake sits on the Haitian-Dominican border

Of course once we got to Croix-de-Bouquets, the driver asked for more money and other drivers heckled us as we walked down the street for us to have them take us to our house. We know how to say a firm no, but it also takes a lot of self-control to continue to "let your gentleness be evident to all" (Philippians 4:5) and not want to smack someone :) We had to take 3 different tap-taps to get home, and the 7 mile stretch took about an hour and a half due to traffic. 

These words can still not even do justice to the craziness of this trip. We were absolutely exhausted and covered in a grey layer of dust. I can't wait to be in a car in America (3 weeks from today!!) in A/C, drive down a stretch of highway with other normal cars, not see groups of people (or trash, or animals) on the sides of the road, go faster than 30mph (consistently), and the smoothness of the roads?! No pot-holes?! What's it like?? Wow, that all seems like such a dream :) This trip was quite the adventure, but it is such a fun story and memory for us to laugh about. And even the Haitians we tell this experience to look at us with wide eyes and laughter. So we think we earned some street-cred ;)

Mothers (and fathers), please rest peacefully. We promise we are safe and in good health and always try to chose the safest decision possible. This was a learning experience for us, and a funny story we will be telling for a long time. We feel like we have experienced a whole new side of Haiti, and I, for one, feel even more ready for a break in exactly 21 days :) And I also can't wait to get my hands on a fountain soda Dr. Pepper and all the fruits and veggies I can find!