EASTERN CANADA TRIP 2015

Over the years, we have been able to do a fair amount of traveling from our home in British Columbia. We have been to the US many times, to Florida, California, Hawaii, and of course, nearby Washington and Oregon. We spent a week in Puerto Rico, visited St Thomas and were married in Jamaica. We visited Haiti a number of times. But it wasn’t until Darlene’s health created issues with being able to get insurance coverage that we took a serious look at other options. A eureka moment, we could travel in Canada to places we’ve never been!

Neither of us had ever been beyond Montreal to the east or to the Maritimes. The question then became not if but when to go? Spring and early summer was out as I was working for the Abbotsford International Airshow then. Winter was never an option. So that left the fall. School is back in, most tourists have gone home or back to work and hey, what about October and the fall colours? So why not go then and try to cram four provinces into two weeks? We decided that we can do this. Brochures and maps were ordered from Quebec City, New Brunswick, PEI and Nova Scotia in August and the planning got underway. A stop at the thrift shop for a “new” suitcase and we were all set.

We started by booking the flights to and from Montreal and motels both there and Quebec City as well as a rental car with unlimited mileage for two weeks. The rest, we’d do on the fly.

I spent a month brushing up on my French for our time in Quebec – that was a complete waste of time. Parisian French and the Quebec version bear little relationship to each other and when the latter is spoken at a rate of 125 words per minute with gusts to 175, well………..

We caught a late Air Canada flight out of Vancouver on October 5^th arriving in Montreal around 1 am on the 6^th. We were traveling on Aeroplan points so didn’t have a lot of choices of flight times but can’t complain too much as the cost was just the airport fees and taxes

We overnighted at the Best Western in Dorval and left for Quebec City in our rented Hyundai Sonata. I promptly took a wrong turn (this became a theme oft repeated) and ended up on Highway 40 headed for Trois-Rivières instead of the Trans-Canada Highway south of the St Laurence River. However, this didn’t change the destination, just the routing, so not really any problem.

We pulled into Quebec City in the early afternoon and found our hotel for the next 3 nights with very little problem. We booked into the Hotel Manoir Victoria located in the heart of Old Quebec. A bit pricey but perfectly located within walking distance of many of the sites we wanted to see. We gave the car to the valet and never saw it again for the rest of our stay.

The next day, we booked a tour of the city on an open topped double decker bus and had an excellent if somewhat breezy ride around much of the old city. This gave us a good overview of the points of interest and we picked the sites that we wanted to see more of later.

Porte St Louis, Quebec City,           built in 1880

Restaurant meals were expensive but choices were unlimited. We ranged from MacDonald’s for egg Mc-Muffins to an expensive hotel breakfast buffet - for which I was billed $42.62 for 2 people.

We walked the city walls, took an underground tour, and visited the Museum of Civilization’s Egyptian magic exhibition (don’t ask). We went by the citadel but it was under renovation. Later we took a second bus trip, this time to see the Montmorency Falls. That made me face my fear of heights. The falls at 272 feet are higher than Niagara by almost 100 feet. To get to the top of the falls and the suspension bridge over them, we took the cable car rather than the stairs. The other option was a zip line but oh darn it all, it was closed.

Chateau Laurier, Quebec City

On Friday morning it was time to move on. Our next scheduled stop was Woodstock, New Brunswick. Due to Quebec’s almost none existent road signs, we missed an important turn off at Riviere-du-Loup and thus took secondary roads south into New Brunswick. Would have worked out ok except that area had severe rainstorms about 2 weeks earlier and several roads had been washed out and were still closed. That necessitated a backtracking detour that added about 3 hours driving to the day. Neat scenery and light snow.

On Saturday, we had an easy drive from Woodstock to Moncton, getting there by noon. We checked into our 3^rd Best Western and got directions to The Hopewell Rocks on the

Hopewell Rocks, New Brunswick at low tide

Bay of Fundy. It was a pretty 40 minute drive on secondary roads from Moncton to the park. The Bay of Fundy tide, which can be up to 46 feet was out and this gave us the opportunity to explore the rocks from the ocean floor. A truly spectacular attraction and a great photo op.

The next day, on Sunday morning we headed for PEI via the Confederation Bridge. This 13 km bridge is tolled but you only pay when leaving the island. We checked in for two nights and after a short driving tour of the city, we went for dinner at "Lobster on the Wharf " where I had, what else - lobster! Delicious!

On Monday morning we drove north to a provincial park with long sand dunes facing the Gulf of St Lawrence. It was cool and grey and just a few people walking on the sand. I dipped my shoe in the water so that I could say I did. We drove back to town via farm roads past potato fields with the reddest soil we had ever seen. A road construction site, red soil; a garden, red soil everywhere.  Back in Charlottetown, we spent an hour at the Confederation Museum, an interactive display with video screens and head sets. A quiet dinner, laundry and then to bed.

Off the island on Tuesday, by way of the bridge again and 20 minutes and $45, we were back in Nova Scotia, headed for Port Hawkesbury on Cape Breton Island.

Fall Colours in new Brunswick

Port Hawkesbury is a mill town with a few motels and fewer restaurants so on advice, we moved on to Baddeck for the afternoon to tour the Alexander Graham Bell Museum where we saw many of Bell’s original inventions; the early telephones, gramophones and of course a replica of the Silver Dart, the first aircraft to fly in Canada. Dinner was at a recommended Chinese-Canadian family restaurant appropriately named Wong’s, a 3^rd generation family business. We were able to make a reservation for the next night in Baddeck at, for me at least, the aptly named and very reasonably priced Silver Dart Motel. We then drove back the 85 km to Port Hawkesbury, only because of a guaranteed motel reservation that couldn’t be changed.

Neil's Harbour, Cape Breton Island, NS

On Wednesday morning after breakfast at the local A&W, we headed back towards Baddeck and started a clockwise drive around Cape Breton Island. We drove the circuit in about 5 ½ hours making numerous stops for pictures of lighthouses, fishing boats and the incredible autumn colours. The island is very mountainous and the road seems to have as many curves as the “Road to Hana” on Maui. A local later told us that she gets sick every time she drives there. As it was late in the season, a number of the tourist oriented businesses were closed but that did not impact our trip. Cape Breton is glorious.

By this time, we were getting more than a little tired of restaurant meals and Darlene located a “Co-Op” grocery store where we picked up some premade cold dinners and fruit and spent the evening in our room watching TV.

It’s now Thursday and we are once again on the road, this time working our way generally towards Montreal. But first we have a stop planned back in Moncton to see if we can find the “Magnetic Hill” and a covered bridge. We eventually found both. The magnetic hill is on the edge of the grounds of a huge theme park which was closed for the season. However, the public still has access to the illusion and indeed, that is what it is. We tried it both frontwards and backwards and either way, the car rolled up the hill!

The Budd Bridge on the Cocagne River, NB        built in 1913

Any equally lengthy search revealed a covered bridge northwest of Moncton. Located in a small river valley (where else?) surrounded by forest and farmland, we had an excellent opportunity for pictures.

Friday and back in the car and headed for Riviere-du-Loup in Quebec, we made a detour side trip off the main road to Edmundson to get a sense of back country New Brunswick. Lots of farm land and well maintained century homes. Good roads and beautiful scenery.

We arrived in Riviere-du-Loup to the 5^th of 6 Best Western Hotels on this trip to find a newish facility that didn’t seem quite sure that it wanted to be a Best Western. Very high end décor but little reference to the corporate plan. The complimentary breakfast wasn’t. In fact, it cost us $25 to buy the restaurant ‘pass’ when we could have eaten for less a-la-carte. I complained but doubt that anyone cared.

On the road again (country & western song?) to Montreal on Route 20 south of the St Laurence. Light rain turned to light snow but not sticking. We stopped for lunch at a rest stop on the highway where there was about an inch of snow on the grass.

October 16 snow fall

Took some pictures just in case we don’t see any this winter.  Quebec’s poor highway signage bit us again. The signs for the tunnel under the river were once again too close to the turn to permit a safe exit. So we kept going east and finally getting across on an old steel road and rail bridge. That put us downtown with a myriad of twists and turns through construction sites and one-way streets and finally on to a freeway going north and west to Dorval. Aaargh!

Well since driving in Montreal is so much fun, let’s take the bus tomorrow. That way we don’t have to worry about getting lost or about finding parking, right?

The plan was to see as much of old Montreal as we could as neither of us had ever spent much time there.

 Getting the bus meant taking the hotel shuttle back to the airport and buying $10 day passes on the #747 express bus. Done. On the ½ hour ride down town we couldn’t see too much due to the seating arrangement and the heavily tinted windows. We got off at the end of the line and started walking down St Catherine’s Street.

Hmm, this end looks a lot like Vancouver’s downtown eastside. After a couple of blocks and a meeting of the minds, we moved down to the other main street where it was slightly less interesting. No strip joints, bars, SRO’s or shelters. But it was cold. Very cold as the wind blasted around the towers. After several blocks of this, enhanced by noise from the heavy construction, we sought shelter and solace in a Tim Horton’s. After a restroom and hot chocolate break, we determined that we weren’t dressed appropriately and were no longer interested in what downtown Montreal looked like. We just wanted to get back to our warm hotel and the sooner the better.

That turned out to be easier said than done. The construction had closed most of the bus stops in the downtown core and we had to hike another 6 blocks to find an active stop. Finally back at the hotel, we determined to stay in for the rest of the day.

While on the bus, we had spotted a Walmart near the hotel and figured that is was a good idea to drive there on Monday morning. So after getting directions, we set off. We drove around and around and around till lunch time with no success.

After lunch, I got on Google Maps and printed off the directions figuring that might be more successful. After all, I am a pilot and am supposed to know that kind of stuff, right?

Guess what, we finally found the place and could have walked there except for the three freeways in the way. In the interest of full disclosure, it did take two more tries. An early dinner in the mall and back to the motel to watch the election returns and the less said about that, the better.

Tuesday morning and it’s time to pack for home, return the rental car and see what shopping and edible delights that may be awaiting us in the airport terminal. After all, our flight doesn’t leave till 6:30 so we have most of the day to ……

The flight left on time and though seats 50A and C were probably noisiest on the aircraft, they were definitely the coldest. In spite of minor hypothermia, we got home on time.

Paid the parking fees and we were done.

HOOD RIVER, OREGON FLY IN   2015                              by Mike Davenport

It was early, real early. 5 am and the Oregon sky still full of stars but showing just a trace of light forming on the mountain tops to the east. The wind had been gusting all night, causing the tent to flap and interrupt my sleep.

A look at the large American flag on the north side of the hangers showed it to be straight out in a steady westerly wind. That meant that flying the gorge this morning would be a rough ride. I had planned to leave around 11 so maybe it would calm down by then.

An hour later after a shower but no coffee as it was still too early for the breakfast crew, it was daylight and that confirmed what I had feared; the westerly winds had pushed in the marine air from around Portland and had plugged the gorge from near the surface to about 4000 ft. OK, I’ve got lots of time to wait for it to clear. Local pilots tell me that it should be gone by 10 or 11, so I can probably leave then as planned.

Around 10:30, the clag in The Gorge had dissipated so I called for a weather briefing. Portland was clear and 4000. The Seattle area to the north was IFR but trending clearer as was most of the Puget Sound area. I figure with an 11:00 departure and a fuel stop in Chehalis, my route east of Seattle should be clear by 13:00.

11:10 and I’m just off runway 25 into a gusting 30 degree left cross wind. A quick call on Unicom to say thanks for the great weekend and I’m into the gorge.

It is rough from Hood River to well past Cascade Locks. The “g” meter bounces between “O” and plus “2’ and I can smell fuel spilling from what now are the too full tanks. Up until now, I thought there was no such thing as having too much fuel. 3500 feet in the centre of the gorge, the ride smooths out a bit but the ground speed varies between 69 and 90 mph, indicating gusting head winds of 20 to 41 mph!

Once around the corner of the valley and headed north towards Kelso, Washington, it is smooth flying all the way to Chehalis, my planned lunch and fuel stop. Listening out on the Unicom tells me that 16 is the active and I have a Cub ahead of me in the circuit and a Fairchild 24 behind me. I set up on downwind behind the Cub, staying wide to give her time to get down as she is on a full stop landing. My God, Cubs are slow in the air and even slower on the ground. So I over shoot as it was going to be too close for comfort.

The next try got me down after a 2 bounce arrival. Hope no one saw that.

Fuel and a quick lunch later, I’m back in the air heading east and notice that the GPS, my ever faithful Garmin has not started up – no satellites! Who knew? Well it eventually found enough of them to show me that I really was headed the right way. I need to stay out of Seattle’s class B air space as, after listening to Seattle Approach, I figure that they were way too busy to deal with a VFR Stinson today. A quick call to Seattle Radio opened my flight plan and generated the necessary transponder code for the border crossing.

The visibility and ceilings were good from Chehalis to Thun Field but started to drop by Crest Air Park.

North of Crest around the ridges at Issaquah, it hasn’t cleared quite as I had hoped. Note to self: “hope is not a plan”. So the further north I went, the lower the clouds were and my comfortable 3500 ft. of altitude is slowly eroded to a ceiling of about 1300. Still legal but not as comfortable. A check of the AWOS frequencies at Arlington and Bayview shows 4,000 and 10 miles so decide to persevere. Sure enough, I break out at Snohomish just as predicted. I climb back up to 3000 and once past Bayview, dial in the Abbotsford ATIS.

The wind is favouring 19 but it’s closed to landing aircraft as the Air Cadets are using it for glider training. Landings are on 25 with a gusting 30 degree left cross wind.

As I near the field I call in for landing expecting 25 as noted but was told to extend my base leg to the north of the centerline for a Convair on an instrument approach to 07. Hmm, downwind landings, OK for big airplanes, I guess.

So I did as requested and then doglegged back to 25 with a caution about turbulence from the Convair. After he departed, I touched down well short of where he had departed, bounced again twice – this is getting to be a habit – then got caught in a gust from the crosswind or turbulence from the Convair or something. I swerved hard right, yoke back, so much pressure on left rudder that my leg hurt for two days, swung equally hard to the left but on one wheel, rolled the width of the runway. Thank goodness for the 200ft width. No harm – no foul.

Cleared customs after a couple of aborted tries at dialing the phone; something to do with shaky hands.

Departed Abbotsford for Langley and again executed my by now “patented” two bounce landing with a complete lack of finesse. However, I did succeed in getting the airplane back in the hanger in a useable state.

Stinson Inn - Home away from home

Three days before, I had flown the reverse of that trip to the annual Hood River Fly In at the WAAAM Museum[1] located at the Hood River airport. If you care to look it up, the airport can been found on the Seattle chart and the proper name is the Ken Jernstedt Airfield and the identifier is 4S2. Hood River is a sleepy little city on the Oregon side of the Columbia River. It is noted for its vineyards, wineries and of course its access to the Columbia River Gorge for the wind surfing.

The museum, in its 8^th year of operation, has hosted a fly in each fall providing camping for several hundred fly in aircraft. This year a record 380 visiting aircraft were on site. While the museum’s focus is on antiques, all are welcome with homebuilts, classics and warbirds all vying for space on the manicured lawn. The overflow goes to a somewhat less manicured and dustier area.

On site meals are provided by local service clubs. The Lion’s Club served a great pancake breakfast each day while the Awards Dinner was catered by the “West Side Volunteer Fire Department”. Several vendors also catered to pilots and looked after their aviation wants and needs. Spencer Aircraft of Puyallup, WA had a significant presence and display of parts and accessories. For the camper’s personal needs on field, showers and porta potties were provided. If you prefer a more luxurious accommodation than a tent, there are numerous, if somewhat pricey hotels and B & B’s nearby.

The entertainment on Friday night following the now traditional spaghetti dinner, was a well-attended movie projected on the hanger doors. This year’s choice was the eminently forgettable comedy, Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines starring Robert Morley.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  While the museum has some of their hundreds of airworthy aircraft on outside display, each year they feature one recent restoration in the flyby circuit. This year the museum declared “The Year of the Waco” and the highlight was a beautiful red Waco Taperwing that is featured on this year’s poster.

WAAAM's classic Taperwing Waco                                                            Mike Davenport Photo

On Saturday, there was plenty to keep one amused. There were book signings, gyrocopter and biplane rides, and seminars on fabric work, air traffic control and pilot medicals and of course, touring the museum itself. The largest hanger contains displays of aircraft, cars and trucks of all eras, military vehicles and small arms and models of all of the above. The complete front wall of Wally Olson’s hanger from the old Evergreen Airport[2] has been installed inside as the entrance to one of the many display areas.

Grand Champion Antique & Peoples Choice 1930 Stearman Speedmail Jr.        Tom Reeves Photo

On Saturday, the museum team of aircraft judges circulated around the field of 380 aircraft, selecting the winners of various classes to be awarded trophies at the dinner on Saturday night. Biplanes took the majority of the awards with a Stearman E-75 winning Best Warbird, a Waco INF Best Antique and another Waco winning Best Biplane, this time a YQC-6.The Grand champion and The People’s Choice Award both went to Ben Scott for his 1930 Stearman Speedmail Jr. Best Homebuilt went to a Carbon Cub. My personal favourite, a Luscombe 8A won Best Classic.

Classic Trophy Winning Luscombe              Tom Reeves Photo

This Luscombe is owned by Angelo Lombardo and is based at Fraser Lake Airpark, east of Monterey in central California. This aircraft, purchased by Angelo in 1978 and completely restored in 1990 has been lovingly maintained by him to show standards ever since.

Throughout the weekend, WAAAM had 130 hardworking volunteers doing all of the usual and necessary tasks to make the fly in the success that it was. They were parking cars and airplanes, cleaning showers, emptying garbage cans, setting up and tearing down fences, hosting forums and guiding visitors through the extensive museum facility. Without this dedicated group, it would not have happened. Congratulations and thanks to all who worked so hard. Mark your calendars, the 2016 Fly In is September 11 & 12. See you there?

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[1] The museum’s full name is Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum. See also their web site at WWW.WAAAMuseum.org

[2] Evergreen Airfield, Washington, long a favourite of west coast antiquers, closed in 2006 after 50 years of operation 

SANITATION IN SMALL TOWN HAITI ©

At home in Canada we are blessed to be able to take so much that we have for granted. We live in one of the wealthiest countries on the planet and many believe that all of the things we have around us are ours by right. We are entitled to have these things: electricity 24/7, potable water, universal health care, free schooling in the primary and secondary grades, paved roads and the rule of law. I could go on to include other things such as social welfare, meaningful employment, unemployment insurance, public housing, freedom of religion, solid financial institutions but I won’t.

So it comes as a shock to our first world sensibilities when we discover that most in the third world have few if any of these things that we “know” are our birth right.

There is one item in my home that I always took for granted. After all everyone needs one and therefore they have one, don’t they? In fact, I have three in my house and there are only two people living here. What am I going on about? A toilet, a commode, crapper, powder room, by whatever name, a lavatory or bathroom is a necessary part of all our lives.

So it comes as a shock to discover, that ain’t necessarily so.

If you live in a one or two room hut made of branches, palm leafs and scrap metal and cook over a couple of rocks in the alley outside of your door, you probably don’t have a facility for you know what. Many in Haiti live just so.

So what do they do you ask, after all we all must do daily. A five gallon plastic pail with a plastic bag inside is the most common in our village. But what do you do with the bag? It’s not as if you can just throw it over the fence or into the river or the ocean. Oh right, that’s exactly what happens. In fact in one nearby village, the people there bypass the pail and bag and go direct to the nearby dry riverbed. One has to be careful walking on that popular shortcut.

It doesn’t require a membership in Mensa to figure out the need; a latrine would come in handy here.

Our good friend Nixon Gabriel and de facto mayor of the village had the answer but like most people in Haiti, no money to do anything about it. If he had the money he would build a number of latrines to help the poorest of the poor. Each latrine would be divided into sections for 4 families, each with a door and a lock for privacy. This would provide the necessary and restore some dignity to their lives. He required money for cement blocks to line the pit and for the exterior walls, wood for doors and sheet metal for the roof. The recipients of the latrine would dig the hole for the cost of a meal. A local mason and his helper would lay the block and a carpenter and his helper would install the roof and doors and four families would finally be able to do what must be done, in privacy. All materials and labour could be found in the community so such a project would be an all-round winner for everyone. Locations would be selected by Nixon in consultation with the residents who had to agree on the site and also agree to dig the pit.

Note the antenna doubling as a ladder

While the wood, sheet metal and hardware all have to be brought in from the city, the blocks are made right in the village. Each block is hand made in a steel mold using a mixture of sand and cement. Generally, there is too much sand and not enough cement and this results in a block that is not as sound or strong as it should be but for our purposes they are ok. The sand and cement are mixed together with water using a shovel as they don’t have a cement mixer. This mixture is packed into the mold and pounded with the back of the shovel to compact it. Then the mold is shaken out and the newly formed block is set in the sun to dry and harden. At this site perhaps 150 to 200 blocks are made each day, generally in the mornings as it becomes too hot late

Interior and exterior walls laid out on the floor 

r in the day to work in the sun. Nixon would purchase the block for the pit and they would be delivered along with sand and cement for the mortar.

Community Builders International  agreed to fund the construction of the first two units and Nixon was requested to select the sites.

Walls are up ready for the carpenter

Once the first sites were selected, the work began. Each pit was dug approximately 20 feet deep and 6 feet square. When the required depth was reached, the mason and his helper line the pit with blocks up to ground level. Some pits are easy dig and others are very difficult, depending on the soil. Sand or clay is shoveled rapidly and extracted from the pit by buckets at the end of a rope while others are more difficult as the site

 
might be solid limestone. Those pits took many days of hard labour using sledge hammers and chisels. Next came the floor also of block and rebar and once that had cured for a day, the exterior and interior walls were built on that.  Now it was the turn of the carpenter and his helper to build and install the roof and doors from wood and corrugated sheet metal. Now the latrine was finished and keys for the doors were given to each of the 4 families involved. A happy day for all.

Nixon Gabriel and a new latrine in MacDonald, Haiti

 Over the next three years with funds raised in Canada the village got latrines for 48 families. Unfortunately the costs escalated from $500 US to almost $1000 each as the materials increased in cost, whether from inflation or greed or some combination of both still remains to be determined.

There is a need for more latrines and of course, with that, the need to raise the funds. So if you are feeling “flush” – pun intended, donations marked “Latrines in Haiti” can be sent to:

Community Builders International Group, 404-999 Canada Place Way, Vancouver, BC V6C 3E2

Tel 604-879-4645

Email: info@community builders.ca

Or check us out at http://www.communitybuilders.ca/

Receipts for income tax purposes will be sent for all donations over $10.00. 100% of all donations marked “latrines” in Haiti will be used in the construction of latrines in the village of MacDonald.

Cap Haitien

CAP HAITIEN - Northern Haiti

MacDonald and the Bay of St Marc, Haiti

On Dec 5, 2011 we left St Marc for a two day trip to tour part of the north. We wanted to take a break from our mission work and see part of the country and learn more about Haiti. Barb McLeod joined us on this trip as while she had been in Haiti for years, she had not been to the north. We all welcomed her company and her ability to speak Creole; in fact the trip would not have been possible without her. We planned to visit not only Cap Haitien but to visit two important historic sites on the north coast, Sans Souci and the Citadelle la Ferriere.

Cap Haitien is located on the north coast of Haiti facing the Atlantic Ocean, originally built by the French in 1670 as Cap Francois. Once considered the jewel of the Caribbean, it has suffered through destruction by fire and earthquake, disruption by revolution and perhaps worst of all, neglect by Haiti’s governments since 1820. It underwent many name changes over the years, first as Cap Francois, Cap Français, Cap Haitien, Cap Henri and finally, once again Cap Haitien. Even today, Haitians know it as "Au Cap".

The road from St Marc to the city of Gonaives had been rebuilt recently and was in excellent condition. The one hour drive included a brief delay at an accident scene; there had been a fatal motorcycle accident. Accidents like this are far too common on Haitian roads as drivers do pretty much as they please with little or no regard for the rules of the road. Drivers seem to understand that the larger vehicle automatically has the right-of-way regardless of where it is on the road – including head-on in what you thought was your lane. An important survival technique is to always yield to the larger vehicle. In the cities, the streets are jammed with cars, trucks, buses, tap-taps and motorcycles. The tap-tap is a small imported pickup with a canopy and benches on either side of the box. I have counted up to 15 passengers jammed into one of these. The tap-taps are independently owned and follow a route between towns or villages all over the country with people getting on and off when and where they wish for a small fee paid to an attendant on the back of the vehicle. Buses follow a more formal route with designated stops and a schedule. People cram on filling every space with no thought or concern about personal space. When the inside is full, the overflow moves onto the roof rack with the baggage.  Safety issues don’t seem to be a concern in spite of the fact that when an accident does happen, fatalities often number in the 50’s. On every visit to Haiti, I have seen at least one fatal accident.

The city of Gonaives has played an important part in Haitian history both in the distant and recent past. Gonaives was where Dessalines declared independence from France in 1804 and where plots to overthrow a number of subsequent governments have been formulated. The city of 300,000 was almost destroyed in the floods that followed hurricanes and tropical storms in 2004 and 2008. High water marks can still be seen just under the eaves on many houses. The road into the city has since been built up on a virtual dike so that future flooding will not cause the residents to be cut off from the rest of the country.

After Gonaives, the next 60 miles of road to the north coast was in very poor condition, winding and narrow, twisting up and down through the steep mountain passes and very much in need of significant repair work. It was heavily rutted with deep pot holes reducing our average speed to about 15 miles per hour. A busy highway with many large trucks and the ubiquitous buses but few cars. On occasion we had to stop and pull off the road to allow a large truck or bus room to pass.  We rarely went over 25 mph to avoid damage to the car and to limit the discomfort of the passengers, one of whom got car sick anyway.

We got into the city Cap Haitien by mid-afternoon and began the search for a room. We looked at 4 or 5 mid to upper priced hotels and rejected them all due to high room rates. These rates were 2 to 3 times higher than what was quoted in our 2 year old tour guide. This we blamed on the opportunism of the hotel owners taking advantage of the sudden influx of aid workers and UN personnel due to the earthquake who are willing and able to pay whatever is demanded. After much group discussion, we selected a modestly price hotel that turned out to be even more modest than we had thought. The electrical system sole source of power was a large diesel generator whose exhaust was pointed directly at our room so noise and fumes came with the lights. The windows that wouldn't close, showers that wouldn't work, tap handles that fell off when touched, air conditioners that hadn't been cleaned since installation years before and toilets that leaked are all the stuff that legends are made of.

Statue of King Christophe in the gardens of the hotel named for him

Once we had selected the hotel for the night, secure in the fact that we at least had a room, such as it was, it was time to look around this historic city.

The city is laid out in a grid pattern, at least in the old core of the town making it easy to find our way around. The streets are narrow and crowded and the buildings are built in a 19^th century French colonial style with shuttered windows and high wooden doors. None are more than 4 stories high and all seem to lean and appear to need their neighbours help just to stay up. We visited two of three nearby 19^th century forts on the east end of the city, both in almost complete disrepair. Little effort has been made to preserve and present these obvious tourist attractions. In fact, over time, most have been plundered as a source of building materials. All that remain are the stone walls, some rusted cannons and cannon balls, all too heavy to move and of little use as building materials.

Restored 17th Century mortars

We picked up some food at a grocery store and returned to our hotel early in order to be off the streets before it got dark. It is never a good idea to drive at night in Haiti for any number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that many vehicles have few if any functioning lights, street lights are rare and dark skinned people wearing dark clothes – well, you get the picture.

That night’s rest wasn’t. Noise from the generator, smells from the bad plumbing and rodents scratching around the room all added to the charm of our room.

Early the next morning after a breakfast of crackers and water, we checked out of the hotel and headed east into the mountains to the village of Milot and the Citadel and San Souci.

From Milot, a roughly paved road and a decent 4x4 will take you to the parking lot at the tourist centre next to the Palace of Sans Souci.

Remains of Sans Souci

The palace was completed by King Christophe in 1813 not only as his home but also as the administrative centre of his kingdom. Its splendour was said to rival that of Versailles in France.  It was complete with gardens and orchards, barracks for his palace guard, a hospital and even a school. Destroyed by an earthquake in 1842, it lay abandoned until the grounds were reopened as a park. From the grounds, you can see some remaining statuary and portions of the barracks and gardens.

Here we paid a small fee that covered entrance to both sites and hired our tour guide. Then we were back in the car to drive to the end of the road, roughly 20 minutes from Sans Souci.

From there you still have a 45 minute hike up a steep mountain trail to the Citadelle. An option would be to hire a mule or horse and ride up but that looked like more work than walking.

The Citadelle atop 3000 ft Pic la Ferriere

The Citadelle is a UNESCO world heritage site. Once there a truly spectacular 360 degree view of Cap Haitian and the mountain valleys is spread out in front of you.

The fortress was completed in 1820 after 15 years of construction by over 20,000 people and remains largely intact even today. It was designed to house 5,000 people with food and water for up to a year. It has over 160 cannons still in place and an estimated 50,000 cannon balls, all of which had to be carried by hand from the coast to the mountain top. The cannons, a variety of styles and sizes, some iron and some bronze were captured by the Haitians in various battles with the French, Spanish and the English.

Original cannon on a restored carriage

A replica of the original officer’s quarters was recently built on the edge of the parade square. These quarters look over the parade square and a large rock located in the centre. Under that rock, it is told that Christophe’s remains were buried in quick lime. This method of burial was to prevent his remains from being desecrated by Voodoo practitioners.

Restored Officer's Quarters

The tour guide that we had hired when we paid the entry fee at the tourist centre  was very helpful throughout the tour, both up at the Citadelle and later at Sans Souci. When we returned to our car, chaos ensued as a large number of vendors assertively attempted to sell us souvenirs, none of which related to the Citadel.
As our guide was encouraging us to “get out of Dodge” some of the people were getting quite aggressive and he was concerned for our well being.

We were able to complete our tours by noon, paid our guide and returned to Cap Haitien for lunch. A quick bite and we hit the road for home. This trip was a repeat of the beating that we had taken the day before with Barb getting car sick and the rest of us just plain tired of the whole thing. We got back to St Marc just at dark, exhausted and ready for bed.