Driving in Haiti

Driving in Haiti: Driving in Haiti is as challenging as it is exhilarating. Fuel, both gasoline and diesel, is reliably available these days in all major cities. However in general, when driving around Haiti be prepared for rough roads and difficult conditions to go along with the stunning views.

Though significant improvements have been (and continue to be) made over the past three years, road conditions are generally poor. Travel between Port-au-Prince and Cap Haitien (Route Nationale #1) involves less than 300 Km, but can take seven hours. This is partly because part of the road winds through mountainous areas, and partly because of poor conditions particularly between St. Marc and Gonaives, where the asphalt is completely eroded. Drivers should watch out for "dos d'anes" or "sleeping policemen" (referred to in the U.S. as "speed bumps"), which are raised strips of concrete built across the road by local citizens to force drivers to slow down. These can appear in the middle of nowhere without warning and can be a real hazard. (Look around for the two old French colonial forts on the hills behind St. Marc as you pass through the town).

The repairs to Route Nationale #2, which connect Port-au-Prince to Jacmel, are now complete. The journey to Jacmel now takes about 2 hours, and to Les Cayes about three and a half hours. Both offer particularly beautiful sights once one is past the chaos and sorry conditions of Carrefour, on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince.

From Les Cayes northwards across the Southern Peninsula through the mountains to Jeremie is a beautiful but gruelling eight-hour experience, requiring persistence and a sturdy four-wheel-drive. (Make sure to bring a camera and many rolls of film as well as food and drink for the trip!) From Jeremie onwards to Dame Marie is also a beautiful ride, through basically muddy and rocky conditions. Interestingly, this winding journey, which takes four and a half bone-jarring hours, only takes 10 minutes by air if you dare land on Dame Marie's sloping earthen landing strip and if you can arrange to be picked up and brought to town.

When at Dame Marie and further down the coast in Anse d'Hainault, you get the distinct impression that you are at the end of the earth. And you are. Hiking outside these towns you are as remote and cut off from the digital world as you would be in Timbuktu.

We would be remiss to not mention the other drivers and vehicles on the road. We're sad to say that 65% of the vehicles one encounters at night have either no working headlights or only one working headlight. 75% have neither working tail lights nor break lights. This includes heavy trucks that tend to use the middle of the road, even when totally unlit and driving around a blind curve. Drivers tend to be reckless and the vehicles unroadworthy. These are mild statements.

Also, the traveler should know that there are no telephones and, with the exception of Leogane (on Route Nationale #2, heading South from Port-au-Prince), no hospitals along any of the highways.

A last word: as traveling anywhere in developing countries, it's wise to be as self-sufficient as possible. Bring along food and drink and basic medicines. And, of course, it's always a good idea to travel with a camera, plenty of film, and a partner. A hardy partner, with a sense of humor! (source: Island System Ltd).