So what remains of the one they called the Pearl of the Antilles? A very tourist destination in the 1950s to 1970s, Haiti has since largely lost its attractive destination credits to its neighbours, the Dominican Republic and Cuba.


The descent into hell was triggered by several factors. Climate and geographical location are part of this. Haiti, a country in the Greater Antilles whose capital is Port-au-Prince, enjoys a tropical climate, with a hurricane season from June to November. Sometimes very deadly as witnessed by hurricane Jeanne which had literally devastated the country in September 2004, causing some 1160 deaths and even more missing. Located between two tectonic plates, the island is also in a particularly active seismic zone: everyone still remembers the images of the devastation caused by the January 2010 earthquake, the biggest to date..: The capital Port-au-Prince, like the neighbouring towns of Geisser (approximately 25,000 inhabitants) and Carrefour (334,000 inhabitants) to the west of Port-au-Prince or Léogane, have been particularly devastated and reconstruction work is under way. In total, there were nearly 200,000 dead and thousands homeless. A cholera epidemic, of which WHO was still seeing new cases in June 2011, then broke out, increasing the number of deaths on the island by more than 5,400 people. These repeated natural disasters also add to a particularly unstable political climate: after an American military occupation at the beginning of the 20th century, Haiti was then left to the clans and factions before coming under the control of the dictatorial power of François Duvalier in 1957: a regime of terror that would claim 30,000 victims and trigger a real brain drain. The movement continued under the presidency of Jean-Claude Duvalier, the son of the previous president until 1986, when a succession of military coups left the country bloodless and in a state of total anarchy. Today, Haiti has elected its new president, Michel Martelly, and the country is once again looking for hope. But insecurity reigns in this country where its French-speaking inhabitants are to be taken with a twinge. The absence of quality tourist infrastructures, or sometimes even simply infrastructures, does not facilitate the reception of many tourists. However, the island benefits from many aids, and not only international ones: the Foundation for the Development of Alternative Tourism in Haiti, a domestic structure, works on alternative tourism development projects in Haiti. Unfortunately, the country continues today to draw the disastrous consequences of the 2010 earthquake. A terrible waste for an island which nevertheless presents a certain number of assets: even if its beaches are not as beautiful as those of its neighbours in the Dominican Republic or Cuba, Haiti has pretty sites as well as very beautiful fishing villages. The island of Gonâve, which unfortunately does not have tourist infrastructures, can thus be proud of very beautiful sea beds. In a country where deforestation has also wreaked havoc, certain regions such as the Pic de la Selle, which rises to 2680 metres, still offer some original forests. The capital, now under reconstruction in Port-au-Prince, also seduces by its dynamism and its teeming crowd. In normal times, a country that certainly deserves the detour.

Art and culture in Haiti
Voodoo is deeply rooted in Haitian culture. This belief actually comes from the ancient kingdom of Dahomey in Africa from which it was exported to America and then to the Caribbean during the era of black slavery. Voodoo has strongly marked the history of Haiti at different periods of its history: President François Duvalier, nicknamed Papa Doc in power between 1957 and 1971, used this belief a lot to intimidate his people and force them to obey. Voodoo is also present in many Haitian art forms. Carnival also remains one of the events marked by this culture: Jacmel, for example, a small town in the east of the country.

What to visit in Haiti
Small sister tourist of the Dominican Republic, Haiti nevertheless has a certain number of attractions. It can boast the largest fortress in the West Indies, the Laferrière citadel, 900 metres high. During your holidays in Haiti, you can also go to Labadie, a private beach where the boats of the American cruise line Royal Caribbean dock during their stopovers in Haiti. Turtle Island, in the north, has this double advantage of having beautiful beaches and vestiges of the past coming straight from the history of the island.