In Haïti, with an eye to history, the present takes a new meaning
For the attentive traveler, beyond the conventional clichés of western media headlines, a trip to Haïti is a most unforgettable experience in a gorgeously lively destination, inhabited by a buoyant people, blessed with great food, and a breathtaking landscape that includes steep mountains and sandy Caribbean beaches. As if that is not enough, Haïti is home to a fascinating and proud history unlike any other in the region.
From the streets of Port-au-Prince to the beaches of l’île à vaches, the sunny smiles and inviting aromas of food are enough to make you want to extend your stay.
You won’t regret it as it might be an opportunity to learn a thing or two, such as the fascinating history of the country.
Among other facts, you are most likely to learn that in 1804, enslaved Africans on the island then known as Hispaniola launched a revolution the world is yet to pay sufficient attention to, even in this era of wokeness, over two centuries later.
Indeed, much more than the French or American revolutions which preceded it by a few short years, the Haitian revolution was a momentous turn in the history of the world.
It marked the first time an enslaved people rose in revolt and wrestled power from its proclaimed masters over an entire country, radically starting the long and painful uprooting of the dreadful institution of slavery in the Americas.
Once you would have visited the imposing Citadel, built by Haitians to protect their hard-earned freedom from the French and others, the Palais sans-souci, once home of the famed Roi Christophe, and the monument to heroes who fought and won against all odds and against France’s Napoleon army at Vertières, a dip in the ocean, from one of the many gorgeous beaches, would be well deserved.
Today, from the streets of Port-au-Prince, the country’s busy capital city, to those of Cap Haïtien, in the North, statues and ruins tell that proud history.
So would be, for good measure, a glass (or a bottle) of rhum Barbancourt. Mezanmi!
Photos: Muna Moto
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