haiti Tips anyone?

I will be traveling to Port-au-Prince and then into the central plateau of the country next week. Has anyone ever been? Any advice would be appreciated!

TIA!

Ooh I looked it up and damn, looks like a beautiful place. I'd love to go there too! -slightly jealous-

Don't have any tips or experiences for ya (doubt many people on here do), but enjoy the trip, you'll have a great time for sure!

You're brave. Good luck. I was keen on visiting Haiti a while back. Fascinating culture. After I did my homework, I backed out, due to the extreme state Haiti is in. Extreme poverty, violence, political volatility, sewage running down the street due to the absense of infrastructure, recent food riots. And I have little to offer in the way of skills to help them. I was just looking for a holiday.

But I'm no expert. All I can say is do your homework. Check out the country profile on the UN website, or the BBC country profile, or New Internationalist Country profile, then check out the lonely planet info on it for starters. And I'd possibly try to get in touch with the Haitian expat communities living in developed countries, and get some advice from them on how it is visiting there.

If you're black it will probably be easier as far as blending in goes. There is an episode of John Saffran vs God where he goes to Haiti, and in the filming they get a rock thrown at the car breaking the windshield because they have cameras. You might not want to go there without a trusted guide.

But this is all 2nd hand info. It might be easier to travel than I think, but definitely not a travel destination to take lightly. Good Luck

Yeah, definitely not the safest place to go. UN peace keepers are still deployed in the country as well. Though we'll be spending most of our time in the countryside in the highlands and not in the cities.

I'm going there for work though and not vacation. I'm going there to assess the feasibility of developing some irrigation projects. (Maybe I should wear a sign on my forehead that says this in creole while I'm there)

Bump!!!!!!

Bump x2!!

Hmmmmm, so no one out there has been there?

Hey Water..

What are you doing in Haiti? is this a pleasure trip? I don't recommend it especially right now. The charity i am involved with has an orphanage and hospital right near port au prince nad it's very unsafe there right now...there is so much political unrest etc. A few of our volunteers have been kidnapped and we have had to negotiate to get them back...so unless you have a specific purpose and organization to affiliate with i wouldn't recommend it at all...

I think you'd better read this U.S. Govt. travel advisory: link removed

Thanks. I'm pretty familiar with whats been going on there. we plan on spending as little time as possible in Port-au-Prince. Basically off the big plane and into a little one. Then off to the central plateau we go.

Its definitely not a pleasure trip, though I am looking forward to seeing the country. I'm going to look into the feasibility of developing a few irrigation projects in the general vicinity of Hinche.

I'm going as part of the UN Millennium Villages Project

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That's awesome. All the best