129897: the Grande Anse (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: jacqualine labrom <voyageslumiere@haitelonline.com>

Just to change the tone of the recent postings, I thought I would let you
know about a nearly 700 mile research trip I've just taken to the Grande
Anse area - Pestel, Corail, Jeremie, Anse du Clerc, Abricots, Dame Marie,
Les Irois. I wanted to see what there was to offer tourists and visitors and
I found loads of gorgeous places and came back with my head buzzing with
ideas!

If members of the list haven't yet been over there then I urge you to go -
its so beautiful and amazingly wooded - trees as far as the eye can see.
Even though there is plenty of evidence of charcoal making, the trees are
abundant. I have never seen an area so densely wooded. It seems that the
people making charcoal do not take the whole tree - just the branches and so
they grow again quite quickly.

Pestel is very picturesque and we stayed at the lovely Gingerbread hotel
Louis & Louise's - which nearly burned down when we were there - a leaking
gas tank got too near a naked flame and exploded, but the owner managed to
roll the tank outside of the hotel - in the process of which, burning
herself quite badly - fortunately only 1st degree burns, but that was
scarey. The hotel is all wood and would have gone up like a tinder box, so
thank God it didn't happen.

There is a cute little hotel with bungalows next to the beach at Anse du
Clerc - run by a very friendly Haitian/Canadian couple. (I'm going to
organise a weekend there over the Nov. 1-3 weekend). Abricots is so pretty
but with the worse road in all of Haiti (that I've seen) - even worse than
the Camp Perrin/Beaumont part of the road to Jeremie. Mica de Verteuil is
doing a wonderful work there both with schools in the mountain areas and
also with the wonderful artisanat which gets sold to fund the schools.

Travelling out from Jeremie to Dame Marie via Marfranc, Moron, Chambellan
was lovely - you follow the beautiful Grande Anse River and on the way back
we were treated to the view of the pipirit's carrying bananas from Dame
Marie to Marfranc for the market - it was such an evocative scene of my
first time in Haiti - I was thrilled. We went on a great wide dirt road from
Dame Marie right through Anse d'Hainault to Les Irois - just beautiful
countryside - was able to get some great photos for my next website section.

Jeremie is looking run down and the 'place' looked really bad, despite the
fact that it was the Fête St. Louis. But Anse d'Azure outside of Jeremie -
on the road to the airport was beautiful with sparkling turquoise water.

So when you complain of 'all' the trees in Haiti having been chopped down in
Haiti - go to the Grande Anse area and see for yourself this lovely part of
the country which is very green.

Jacqui Labrom


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