sykkletur i haiti

peter lukas

after being bored in sosua in the dominican republic, very quickly i thought of going to explore haiti which seemed to be far more interesting. but that plan was not supported by anyone here - european residents told me i'd be killed, robbed, torn to pieces by voodoo priests and what not. dominicans were horrified just by the thought of going to the land of the black.

the haitians i met here were very careful, saying politely i shouldn't, not alone anyway and definitely not without a car. even though i hated it with every fibre of my body, i abandoned my plan, because i just cannot risk having my sweet little baby without her papa. just the day before i was going to change my plane ticket to go back to norway earlier, i happened to meet franz 1.

from vienna in a bar on the beach. as i mentioned haiti, he replied: oh, what a wonderful place, i just got back from there! so there i met a man who had been to hell, and he liked it! and since he was the only one of all the people who actually has been there, he overweight all the (surely well meant) warnings.

after discussing zen buddhism, franz provided me with some information of how to get there, and the very next morning at 5:15 am i sat in the bus via santo domingo to port?au-prince.

after arriving in p-au-p, the capital, in a five star air-conditioned bus (carribe-tours) i found myself a room downtown: auberge de port-au-prince. to call it poorly equipped would charm the place.

my room was one of many stalls in a bigger hall, 2 x 2 m, furnished with a bed and closed from the top with a steel fence. everything was covered with a film of grease and filth, one toilet to share with the rest of the floor, the shower a bare pipe sticking out from the wall.

it was late afternoon, and the streets were starting to empty. after a meal and some beers in a clean restaurant i stepped out into the street, now pitch black, no light whatsoever and abandoned of any life, so I thought. but as i searched my way back to the auberge, between piles of garbage that stank terribly, i saw children, cripples and beggars searching the garbage. some just lying in some corner apathetically and inbetween quiet men cleaning the streets of the remains of the busy day market.

I walked back to my room very quickly and determined! as i was out in the streets again at 5:30 am, i saw endless rows of beautiful, gracious women with unbelievable loads balanced seemingly effortless on their heads. it seemed everybody was on their way to sell something. during my whole stay in haiti i found both men and women very busy from sunrise to sunset. harvesting, cooking, carrying loads in the middle of nowhere, selling, repairing, begging. and still, this is one of the poorest countries in the world.

the land, furtile and to a large extent filled with forest only twenty years ago, is now mainly dead land. bare of trees which have been cut down to make cole. and the embargo set on the country a few years ago (for a year or two) finished the bit of infra structure there was.

the average worker, if employed at all, gets around hd 100.- a month (ca. US$ 25.-) . for me, as a low budget traveler, that lasts for 2-3 days.

anyway, to get on with my travels: friday before easter i got on a tap-tap (=people-carrier: a truck of any size carrying people and goods all across the country) . the only way of transportation if you don't have a car. before the tap-tap leaves, there's a big and loud argue, sometimes some slapping, to negotiate the price and who is sitting on the benches and who isn't and some more people being stuffed in and some more pushing and shouting, and in the midst of it all the chauffeur takes off when he feels like it. i admit, i haven't quite figured out the system if there is one.

just after we left, a girl standing in the middle of the tap-tap shaken by the rough road in the bright sun collapsed, in the next moment she peed on herself, so we all thought for a moment- until we realized there there was a birth to take place! the water had broken. at no time a woman sat down behind the girl and took her between her legs, another woman kneeled down in front of her, spreading her legs. everybody in the car gave a t-shirt or a rag or something to put under her and within half an hour a little baby girl was born. in the driving truck, in the crowd, with the help and hope of everybody on board. i cried. a woman with a baby gave the girl some baby cloths and then the young mother and her baby sat down on the passenger seat of the truck for the rest of the five hour trip.

this day i travelled as far as port salut in the very south west of haiti. a little idyllic place, fishermen bringing their poor catch in on their ancient boats carved out of one tree, palm trees, straw huts, the paradise. there i spent 9 days, busking in the sun, being fed wonderful meals by my friend joe. the variety was not so big, but throughout my whole time in haiti i ate excellent food.

i went fishing with the local fisherman, searched the beach for shells and hiked up in the mountains to a big waterfall to sit under it in the hottest time of the day.

then, sitting on the beach drinking rum, god came along and told me to buy a bicycle and ride it up to the north coast. it seemed a bit tiring to do such things, but ... two hours later i had an old mountain bike. two days later it was ready equipped with new tires, a new saddle, luggage carrier in the front and a frame for my back pack in the aft. and my machete strapped to side, ready to be pulled any time, which has proven to be completely unnecessarily, anyway. or maybe the fact that it was there, clearly visible, made it unnecessary.

anyway, i accompanied joe some way towards p?au-p on a tap-tap, the bike strapped to the side of the car. in this little 7-tonner i counted something like 55 people, plus whatever they had with them to bring to the market.

we spent that night in the hotel le marinier, in the afternoon i had my last test ride with the heavy loaded bike. then at 5:00 am i left joe to start crossing the country by bike.

i did feel a bit flimsy, not really knowing what to expect. one feels very vulnerable on a bike loaded with relative wealth in haiti. but yet the biggest danger, and that was a very realistic one, is the driving habits of haitians. when i saw how buses, tap-taps and private cars drove with full possible speed just centimeters by bikes and pedestrians, hands permanently on the horn, i decided to head for the ditch when i heard one of them coming. made my traveling a bit harder, but safer. flat tires: by now i can fix a flat tire in four minutes.

the first day i came 110 km, arrived at two in the afternoon in montrois and was too tired to carry on to st. marc. local people said i could probably sleep in the mission, and so they led me there. we came to a big steel gate, and since i am white (blanc is something they don't see to often in haiti these days) the gate opened for me: and there was a little paradise. sam from canada invited me to stay. all fenced in, there was a luxurious property on the beach with all the comforts and a respectable car park. hammock under palm trees, neat garden, clean straight houses mission possible, as they are called, doesn't provide a bad living standard to the missionaries. they were friendly, let me stay in their guest house for a night, and although i told them i have no god (except the one that told me to buy a bike!) i had to listen to their bible congregation before breakfast, a fair price for a good night's sleep. from there i fought my way up north, and over the mountains to cap haitian i really did fight for every meter! spent one night there, then made it to east for sosua.

after about 50 km the road, if one likes to call it such, became once more impossible for a bike and i took a tap-tap to the border. so, now i am back in sosua, had my first warm shower in weeks and enjoy the simple blessings of civilization. all together it was trip well worth it, exhausting, overwhelming, frightening at times and very interesting. now i have to make it back home quickly, luca has already said:papa very norty, because i left her for so long .

Bilder:
  

  




Nøkkelord:
lukas
peter
sykkel
haiti




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