For the Longest Time.... a simple 3 hour tour from Haiti to the Dominican Republic

Caveats for the following story...

1. Our primary reason for this trip was to participate in meal distribution in Barahona, D.R.
2. We had tried/planned/expected to leave Haiti the day before but were unable to for a number of reasons.... some of which will be clearer as the story unfolds.

June 23, 2011, was in fact the longest day on record in my life.  While you might hear a hint of anxiety or frustration in the tone of that first line, the truth is that our emotions ran the gamut between sadness, gladness, courage and intrepidation.

Mimi and I in the back of our Tap Tap!

At precisely 6:45 a.m. our Tap Tap (that is Haitian-Creole for crazy painted taxi) arrived to transport us to the Caribe Tours Bus Depot, with whom our coordinator in the states had just made special arrangements for our safe passage to Barahona.  Caribe Tours is a fleet of luxury bus lines that are complete with air conditioning, bathrooms, and private video monitors.  I even decided to wear a collared shirt so as to dress up a bit for our journey.  We were well prepared with Jimmy our translator, Oxidal, our navigator, and Eve, our driver.  All three Haitian helpers were certain they knew exactly where to go.  Their certainty should have been my first clue that we were headed for adventure of colossal proportions.

By 7:35 a.m., we arrived at Capital Coach Bus Tours. . . I want to remind you that we were set to ride Caribe Tours.  So after explaining this to our Haitian friends about 65 times, we then proceeded to go to another bus company down the street. . . also not Caribe Tours.  So our 3-4 hour trip to Barahona, Dominican Republic got off to a bumpy start to say the least.  By the way, our Caribe Tours bus was set to embark at 8:00 a.m.  When the second bus station informed us that they would not be willing/able to accommodate us, we headed back to Capital Coach, because Caribe Tours was on the entire other side of Port au Prince.  At precisely 8:15, we were informed that the 8:30 Capital Coach bus to Santo Domingo was full and that we would have to take the 10:00 a.m. bus.  By 8:25, we were informed that the bus would not stop at Barahona for any reason. . . and that in fact it was dangerous to do so.

Jimmy, our translator extraordinaire, then remembered that there was a local bus (notice Not tour bus), that would go directly to Barahona.  We said, “We’ll take it”.  Unfortunately, that would mean a drive through the capital to an unnamed bus station on the other side of town.  We arrived at 9:45 a.m. as the bus was loading for a 10:00 a.m. departure.  We paid way too much money to get on the bus, but were happy to be making progress and they agreed to drop us off at the Bus Depot in Barahona, which was more or less on the way to Santo Domingo, the bus' final destination.  I was informed that the fare would be $40 US per person.  Upon handing the man the $80, I saw him pocket one of the four $20, but was determined to get to Barahona no matter what it took.  We were just happy that someone was finally willing to take care of us.  For comfort Jimmy and Oxidal decided to ride with us back to Croix des Bouquets, where we started the whole day.  A little irony goes a long way on a day like this!  As we were leaving the bus depot, the bus “Mommi” prayed an earnest and spirited prayer for our safety and for getting through the border.  I thought at the time, “how nice that she would pray for us.”

An hour or more bus ride back through Port au Prince, which by the way is still a city in complete and utter disarray, and we arrived at Croix des Bouquets where my two friends disembarked and wished us well in our travels.  We did have to make a pitstop as three Haitian ladies had to answer the call of nature outside my window on the side of the bus.  That is an image I will not soon get out of my head!  I thought surely now, we will start making progress to Barahona.

About this time . . . and approximately 10 minutes outside Croix des Bouquets, we stopped for lunch.  Stopped for lunch, however, meant that someone got out of the bus at an outdoor food stand of sorts and ordered food for many of the people on the bus.  Mimi and I were incredulous.  “Are you serious?” I believe was Mimi’s response.  So now we’ve been on this trek for four hours and 35 minutes and have traveled approximately five miles towards our destination.  This would prove to be the norm rather than the exception on this particular journey. . . adventure. . . quest. . . thing (bone for Tolkien fans).

After everyone fed their faces we once again started on our way.  About an hour to an hour and a half later we arrived at the lake that serves as the primary Southern border crossing between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.  I was never so excited to see a third-world (looked like it was a war zone) border crossing in my life.  I had heard rumors that it might take an hour to get through customs and the road was supposedly under water in places, but the end was in sight . . . or so I thought. 

To be continued. . .