The Citadel

Here's how we got to the Citadel, Haiti's impressive fortress built to fight off France in the early 1800s: Take a car into Okap. Catch a tap-tap (public pickup truck. Known for it's get-off signal: hitting the side of the truck). We pay a few extra gourdes to sit in the front seat. And because we're obviously tourists.

Tap-tap, photo from Wikipedia.

Take tap-tap to Milot, a charming valley town in the shadow of the Citadel. We meet our tourguide there, a man named Johny Remy. We pay for three horses, and ride them 7 miles to the Citadel, stopping for water and fruit breaks.

It's amazing the Citadel isn't more crowded. We saw few other people.

It's this historical gem that you can just roam around. You can touch the cannons, run your fingers along the walls, climb on the breaking stairways. If Haiti were to increase its tourism, this would be a place to invest in and protect.

 Fun for a rock-climber. Sitting on top of the Citadel. Nathan has more photos on his blog.

On the way down, we visited the ruins of Sans Sousi, a regal palace. Here, leader Henri Christophe had a printing press, among other luxuries (I sat on his running-water toilet! One of the first of its kind). Indiana University's Lilly Library has a book that was printed at Sans Sousi, and a few years ago, I put it on display for an exhibit I created for the Haitian Studies Association annual conference.  I loved seeing where it was printed, and how far it traveled.

Check Nathan's blog for more.