And I went to the beach last Sunday.
In fact the beach is not in Port-au-Prince but this one in particular was not too far away, about 1h drive from my friends' place, 1h more for me to get there because I'm up in the mountain where it's fresh and you hear the birds in the trees at the sunset and sunrise.
Normally I'm not much of a beach person, lying around one whole day, getting sunburnt, let alone a resort goer, but you gotta do with what you have and I we had a great time in the end!
Comments on the beach day before the pictures:
Besides the distance and the possible difficulty to get to the beach, most of them are not public, no not free of charge. Maybe it wouldn't be safe if the beach would be free... or if it would not be behind a restaurant most of the locals can't afford. But I wouldn't know and doubt that I will go to any public beach for the whole period of my stay here.
It was an all-included price. It was forty dollars. Versus zero when I go to the beach in Europe, it just doesn't make sense to me... 4-0 and in US dollars. The lady kindly converted them into Haitian gourds as we all have local cash. It included a meal, 3 drinks and, of course, the entrance to the beach and the swimming pool. Free water unlimited. And TV screen to watch the world cup final.
We didn't set foot on the pool because it was crowded soon after we arrived, but I think we got the best option - the beach was quieter and we could lay under the palm trees. The beach was unattended. Haha. They make us pay to enter and they don't even have a lifeguard to keep an eye on the swimmers, check the wind currents... But truth be told, there was about no current nor waves.
The water was, for a Portuguese, like soup. Temperature wise. It's way too easy to enter, no chill in the belly, we dive right into. Going back to the Atlantic won't be easy.
Despite the fact that there is lunch included, there are several beach merchants, selling from coconut water or lobsters to an array of decorative objects. They make instant friendship with you and politeness obliges you to say how pretty things are (even when they are not). I'm not usually the kind that gives tips for this even though you feel pressured when they tell you about the three kids home they need to feed. I got a free souvenir from one of them, made me feel even worse, but now I can say I own a shell spelling Haiti. 'Mesi anpil!' (Thank you very much!)
There are water taxis! And they cost 5 dollars for a ride along the coast (which we swam instead). They were getting more business than the lobster merchants too.
And now the long-awaited pictures :)
In fact the beach is not in Port-au-Prince but this one in particular was not too far away, about 1h drive from my friends' place, 1h more for me to get there because I'm up in the mountain where it's fresh and you hear the birds in the trees at the sunset and sunrise.
Normally I'm not much of a beach person, lying around one whole day, getting sunburnt, let alone a resort goer, but you gotta do with what you have and I we had a great time in the end!
Comments on the beach day before the pictures:
Besides the distance and the possible difficulty to get to the beach, most of them are not public, no not free of charge. Maybe it wouldn't be safe if the beach would be free... or if it would not be behind a restaurant most of the locals can't afford. But I wouldn't know and doubt that I will go to any public beach for the whole period of my stay here.
It was an all-included price. It was forty dollars. Versus zero when I go to the beach in Europe, it just doesn't make sense to me... 4-0 and in US dollars. The lady kindly converted them into Haitian gourds as we all have local cash. It included a meal, 3 drinks and, of course, the entrance to the beach and the swimming pool. Free water unlimited. And TV screen to watch the world cup final.
We didn't set foot on the pool because it was crowded soon after we arrived, but I think we got the best option - the beach was quieter and we could lay under the palm trees. The beach was unattended. Haha. They make us pay to enter and they don't even have a lifeguard to keep an eye on the swimmers, check the wind currents... But truth be told, there was about no current nor waves.
The water was, for a Portuguese, like soup. Temperature wise. It's way too easy to enter, no chill in the belly, we dive right into. Going back to the Atlantic won't be easy.
Despite the fact that there is lunch included, there are several beach merchants, selling from coconut water or lobsters to an array of decorative objects. They make instant friendship with you and politeness obliges you to say how pretty things are (even when they are not). I'm not usually the kind that gives tips for this even though you feel pressured when they tell you about the three kids home they need to feed. I got a free souvenir from one of them, made me feel even worse, but now I can say I own a shell spelling Haiti. 'Mesi anpil!' (Thank you very much!)
There are water taxis! And they cost 5 dollars for a ride along the coast (which we swam instead). They were getting more business than the lobster merchants too.
And now the long-awaited pictures :)
Nice! (but booh for the $40)
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