Day 7: Friday
the 2nd of December
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| Entering Labadee, Haiti |
After a night’s sailing from Puerto Rico the large
hulk of Hispaniola loomed up around 8am this morning and by 9 the ship was
alongside the dock at Labadee, Haiti, a ‘resort-beach-fantasy’ world leased by
Royal Caribbean, hidden and forbidden from the eyes of the local population in
a corner of the northwest part of the country. The location is named after Marquis de La'Badie, a Frenchman who first settled the area in the 17th century. The spelling was changed to "Labadee" to make it easier for English-speakers to pronounce (read Americans). The resort is completely tourist-oriented, guarded by a private security force, and fenced off from the surrounding area - we were not allowed to leave the property!
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| Free slave with a big knife! |
As it was considered a do-nothing day Marie and I spent the morning and early
afternoon at one of the beaches, a lagoon like sandy stretch of sand on the
other side of the ship which loomed a few hundred yards away. There was no surf
to speak of and the water was like a bath but it was pleasant enough with a
breeze and a view of the very green and rugged hills behind us. A reggae band
played a few feet away but couldn’t seem to attract much interest; I thought
they were pretty good though and felt sorry for the apathetic crowd they were
playing to. They even sang a few Christmas songs just to remind us it is December!
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| Reggae on the beach! |
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| French mermaid, Labadee, Haiti |
The ship put on a lunchtime BBQ for the passengers and it was quite
good - jerk chicken, ribs, hamburgers, salads, fruit and desserts, but a cold
beer would have been nice! They were selling rum drinks for $10 each so we made
do with ice which we let the hot sun melt for us. (We had to pay for water) It was disconcerting
to eat our lunch while a crowd of hungry children peered through the fence,
rubbing their stomachs and asking for food. I heard later that they end up getting some of the left over food. As well, armed Haitian police
roamed amongst us doing their best to look important. It was very hot after lunch and by 2pm we had had enough.
A controlled group of Haitian merchants are given sole rights to sell their merchandise and establish their businesses in the resort so, on our return to the ship, we picked up a wooden carving made locally to remind us of our magical day in Haiti! Back on board we headed to the pool where we cooled off to wait for the 5pm
sailing back to Florida. gws
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| Eating an apple, Navigator of the Seas in the background |
