Jakmèl (Yaquimel)
Trip Start
Oct 25, 2007
1
4
7
Trip End
Oct 28, 2007
Jacmel,
Haiti
Sunday, November 4, 2007
The hotel we stayed at, Cap Lamandou, was a good place despite the power outages each night. The food was great. I had delicious pumpkin stew for breakfast made by Mimi. The other foreigners there were UN police officers and Christian missionaries.
The swimming pool here too was clean and refreshing from the heat as the day touring was building up a sweat! The beach below was not a private beach, and as such, it was a bit polluted with organic matter, so we didn't go past ankle deep to feel the waters
Cap Lamandou hotel
. The interests in town included a colorful haitian funeral parlor, artist studios, steelpan drum masks and wall decor, tasty goat cuisine, and voudou temples. Because of our local escort Pascal, we were able to enter into these places and take few photos with permission. On the last night we were entertained by 4 musicians, as the lightning approached from the Dominican Republic. We were told of a forecast for rain that night. So I was hoping that at least the rain would hold off for our drive back to Port-au-Prince on Sunday, as mudslides are common.
The travel back was good - roads were clear. Not until I arrived back to New York City late that Sunday, did I catch on the news that this rain - was really forecasted as a tropical storm "Noel" - later to become a hurricane! Fortunately for me, my flight happened to be the last one out of Haiti. Hours later the airport was closed for days. I was relieved to hear my friends who stayed back there, survived the storm's mudslides. I made it to my first day at work as scheduled, but often thought about the people who died there, and how Kristina was now helping mudslide survivors.
