Haiti came to the front page due to a most tragically earthquake. Seeing these pictures, it would be hard to imagine that Nature could be so destructive...
"HAITI - The name comes from Ayiti (land of high mountains), the Amerindian name for the mountainous western side of the island of Hispaniola"
"LABADEE is a port located in a peninsula on the northern coast of the island of Hispaniola, on the Haiti side of the island. It is a private tourist resort leased to Royal Caribbean International. Named after the Marquis de La Badie, a Frenchman who first settled the area in the 1600s, the resort has a new pier (to the right of the picture) capable of servicing the Oasis class ships, which transport roughly five thousand and four hundred passengers..."
"LABADEE FROM SEA - The tropical forest is impressive"
"LIBERTY AT HAITI - The Liberty of the Seas when there was no pier yet..."
"WELCOME TO LABADEE, HAITI"
"LAND AND WATER - Water Park and beaches: Barefoot and Columbus"
"COLUMBUS COVE CAFE"
"HANDCRAFTS - Attractions include the Artisan's Market and the Haitian flea market, where «naif» paintings, wood carvings, dolls, basketry, clothing, beads, jewellery and Haitian crafts can be purchased"
"BANDS AND TROUPES"
"DRAGON'S BEACH - And the impressive zip-line..."
"WE IN LABADEE"
"PARAPENTE - Why is the sea going up? ;)"
Posts
54 comments:
Hi Everybody! Haiti was in the news lately for the worst reasons: the terrible earthquake! Meanwhile, it seems that other problems have taken the front page and Haiti is no longer occupying the media, though there was a new earthquake there recently. I’ve never been to Port au Prince, but I’ve some pictures of a beautiful part of the country: the Labadee resort used by the Royal Caribbean ships... Hope you enjoy and have a great week!
I want to cruise!
Aloha, Friend
Comfort Spiral
Hi Gil! What spectacular photos and collages! Thanks for sharing these great views! I agree, seeing these serene pictures it would be hard to imagine that terrible catastrophe.
Have a very beautiful week!
superbe croisière que vous faites, j'aime beaucoup la dernière ;) une forme de clin d'oeil ;)
Beautiful,lovely and fantastic shots !! This is amazing !!
so much of blue, my fav colour..its so tragic to read abt the earthquake and its impact on the people out there..glad to see such beautiful pics
It is hard to beat the beauty of tropical islands. The colour of the sea against a backdrop of jungle green is so nice. It is sad to see what has happened there. Those ships look huge and a little out of place there.
Le tourisme Haiti en a besoin. J'aimerais avoir une de ces toiles chez moi, une amie m'a ramené un très joli petit tableau de Cuab, très coloré.
J'ai toutefois du mal à imaginer l'arrivée de telles flottilles avec tant de monde à bord en ces lieux paradisiaques.
Lors de la catastrophe récente un ami très cher à moitié haitien a perdu son demi-frère. Mon fils a deux amis qui travaillent là bas, l'un notamment dans la création de puits pour une ONG et ils sont indemnes tous les deux.
Tu es resté longtemps sans publier Gil...
Poor Haiti. It will never be the same.
That sea going up is a splendid photo! Fun!
I had no idea the beaches of Haiti are this beautiful. I guess I always thought that their side of the island was never really "taken care of" and their beaches may be a bit muddy...but these photos just proved my ignorance! I hope Haiti will be able to bounce back from the tragic events of late. It is a beautiful country worth exploring! I'd love to visit Haiti!
The sea is going up so you can ski without being pulled by a boat. I thought everybody knew that.
It is hard to imagine such terrible things happening in such a beautiful place. You've shown us lovely parts of Haiti and hopefully life will get better there soon for the people who have suffered so much.
Gorgeous Gil! The American people were very generpous with donations to Haiti after the earthquake and I hope that will continue, and that their government will allow that money to go towards helping the struggling people.
It looks so beautifully tropical there. Wonderful photos of you and the Mrs!
My!!!!!!!! I'm overwhelmed by the beauty of this wonderful place and to imagine that it is now in shambles is truly unimaginable!
Brilliant pictures, as always!
Lovely pics!
Fabulous shots. Your snaps are a treat to the eyes.
Looks like beautiful weather there. I'd love to look around at all the handcrafts and listen to the local music.
When the earthquake hit in Port au Prince we had a local realitor that was missing for a little while. He was already there helping out, not sure doing what. The family was finally able to locate him and he arrived home safely. They had a warm welcome for him when he arrived off of the plane.
Of course all this looks fantastic, beuatiful ... but I'm a bit worried about the thousands of co-passengers. (How do you get a place at the Captain's Table?) :-)
I wonder if that still looks the same after this terrible earthquake.
Wow. Awesome and beautiful Caribbean cruise.
The cruise towel art origami looks so familiar:). I actually missing it:)
I truly enjoy your photos Trotter.
Thank you for sharing.
I'm following now so I will not miss your post.
Cheers and regards!
What a timely post! There is a section of earth that no earthquake can eradicate its beauty. This should be one of it!
To see these photos of wonderful nature, the blue sea and the white beaches gives me a very strange feeling. This is not Haiti, it's tourist's Haiti. The real Haiti, that's unbelievable poverty, corruption, diseases, etc. (I hope you don't mind my critical view on that tourist resort).
Now it is a paradise lost and I'm sad, these are beautiful Gil.
Difficile de s'imaginer une telle beauté dans une situation aussi tragique!
Les nouvelles continuent de tomber pourtant: hier NPR (une station de radio publique) dénonçait toute la corruption qui s'installe petit à petit.
Une stabilisation qui aura du mal à s'établir sans une poigne de fer...
Beautiful place, I hope it will look the same again some day...
Dear Gil Trotter,
You were asking where I am,hmm well I am in HOlland right now and busy with familymatters (not too serious) , but NOT to busy to visit you, I wish I wish I could visit Haiti,company you and your wife.... or visit another sunny countrie, thanks for showing my friend, You are making my day with your sunny phototo's, thanks for letteing me see the sea and pleasre, Take care , and when I do not have the time (sometimes) I am never ever desin de-interested, in travelling and your blog:)
Greetings from a cold Holland/JoAnn
Hi Gil, boy that looks so beautiful - the deep blue of the sea and the green of the tropical forest.
I wish the people there all the best....
Beautiful.
Wishing you a good weekend.
Paz
Shalom Gil. I'm glad to see the happy side of Haiti.
Your new blog has a nice new layout.
Those cruise ships are just so huge, sort of overwhelming (to see from outside, anyway).
I was thinking of you as I posted about the Israeli Supreme Court all week, thinking I should send you a special invitation. Glad you found it. If you are ever in this country, do take a guided tour of the building. So full of symbolism.
Don't work too hard (haha!).
Here I am... thanks for passing by my blog Gil!
Hig Gil, all these photos are really wonderful, yet it makes me feeling sad knowing what happened to the people of Haiti and in what horrible conditions live the rest of the population after the earthquake.
Oh wow! These are beautiful shots! Pity about the earthquake and what the poor people are going through...
Thank you Gil for posting all this beauty... Now these photos have a bit of historical value, I guess, but I hope that a lot of things can be restored.
Greetings from wintery Stockholm...
OOOOhh...would love a ride on that zip line! And I like seeing the ship from the beach. It's really really big. Glad you showed these Haiti photos Gil. What a terrible thing to happen.
Lovely, simply divine photographs!
Joyce
wow so gorgeous. Thoughts and prayers are with the people of Haiti!
Your post set the whole earthquake and its consequences in perspective in more ways than one.
A beautiful place - I hope the locals once will get to enjoy this pearl as it should be enjoyed.
So beautiful, I've been to Port au Prince once before.
You are right, there's almost no boundary on where the sea ends and the sky starts. Cleverly taken. Your cruise ship look mighty big in the sea landscape. Hope Haiti recovers fast.
Hi, Trotter...good to see you marching across my pages.
Now, then? What's it really like on one of those ships? They worry me; but you decided to test one out.
Absolutely marvellous pictures. I liked the first and last picture specially as the different shades of blue can be seen. Wonderful photography.
Looks like a beautiful place. I hope it still is!
I did a blog on Royal Caribbean's contributions in Haiti because many people were horrified that the company continued to send ships there after the earthquake:
http://rnsane.blogspot.com/2010/01/efforts-of-royal-caribbean-cruise-line_26.html
they were asked to do so by the Haitian government as they are the largest provider of tourist dollars to the country which desperately needed that income following the disaster. As a cruiser with 77 Royal Caribbean sailings in the last 15 years
( most not in the Caribbean,
though ), I was glad to learn of their humanitarian efforts in Haiti long before the earthquake!
Hi Gil and Mrs. Trotter.
These photos are pristine. So hard to imagine the recent earthquake. It seems natural disasters are attracted to natural beauty!
Wishing each of you well.
xox
Constance
Replies, Part Two:
Eye,
Sometimes earthquakes even destroy beauty...
It wasn’t the case here, as this portion of the country wasn’t directly hit by the quake...
Ingrid,
Tourist’s Haiti is part of real Haiti, as real Haiti is made out of everything that is actually there. Like Tourist’s Germany is part of real Germany, including immigrants’ Germany and everything else... The idea of splitting is not always precise...
I don’t mind at all on critical views on tourist resorts; just find them bluntly inaccurate... ;)). Hope you don’t mind you the dissimilar views...
Betty,
It wasn’t lost; this part, at least...
Thérèse,
Vraiment l’idée que la corruption «s’installe» petit à petit est drôle, car elle n’a jamais laissé d’être là ; peut-être un peu bouleversé pendant la période des «after chocs», mais surement enraciné dans les traditions locales… ;)
Juka,
It looks like that already… Or maybe better, as they have made a fifty million dollar investment to accommodate the huge Oasis of the Seas... ;)
JoAnn,
Hope your family matters aren’t keeping you so busy and concerned to drive you out of our company at the blogosphere...
It would be our pleasure to have your company in one of the trips. By the way, why don’t you make a trip back to warmer Portugal... ;)
Paul,
Blue and green was fascinating, as you’ll see in the next post...
Paz,
Even more than that...
Dina,
There is an even larger ship now at sea: the Oasis of the Seas! An incredible floating city... ;)
As for the Supreme Court posts, I loved to see them: maybe there is a chance that I visit it one day. For the time being, no invitation has yet arrived... ;))
99,
Great to see you here, as always!!
MedaM,
It’s true that life of the almost three hundred Haitians that work at the resort and the two hundred who sell their handcrafts there has no comparison with the life of other Haitians, namely those directly hit by the earthquake!
Yvonne,
Hopefully there will be help for everybody...
Andrea,
Great to have you back here! Hope you had a great concert last night!!
Not at all. This part wasn’t hit by the quake, so the place would probably be looking quite like on these pictures!!
Winter also in Lisbon, but at least this morning the sun shines... ;)
Lynn,
The zip was definitely the most exciting of the entertainments there; no wonder you would love to take it... ;))
Huge that ship! I imagine how the Oasis would look like from the very same beach... ;)
Joyce,
Thanks!!
Mariposa,
Warm soul you have!!
Rune,
Sometimes things go better implicit, and that is probably more effective than putting them bluntly explicitly...
It’s hard to anticipate what locals actually can get to enjoy!!
Rhonda,
You’re the second person I «know» that has been to Port au Prince; the first was my neighbour in the 8th floor... Amazing! ;)
Leo,
It’s always tricky at the horizon line... ;))
Stuart,
Great to see you back with us!! Hope you have full recovered, or at least are in the process of full recovery!!
You know, cruises have a great advantage: you only unpack and pack once... the hotel travels with you. And at a certain point in life (ageing...) that’s a very convenient perspective... Furthermore it’s like living in a small city: for instance, I’ve seen my fellow companions of the dinner table only at dinner time during the whole week... Amazing isn’t it? ;)
Babli,
Different shades of blue are my special treat... ;)
Tinsie,
This part of the country remained the same...
Carmen,
I fully agree with your views on the continuation of the cruises in Labadee; it was definitely the right decision and some opposite views and arguments seemed a bit hypocrite, to say the least...
Constance,
You’re right: natural disasters are hitting beautiful places... or, at least, they are more noticeable there...
xoxo
Très belle série de photos qui ne présageait rien de la catastrophe à arriver. Rien de pareil au Chili, ni même sur les côtes françaises plus récemment.
Hélène,
Et tu oublies ce qui c'est passé en Madère il y a une semaine... Afrreux tout ça...
Hi Gil,
Wow no words to the pic u hav shot...
Haiti is very awesome...
The sea looks very beautiful n blue...
Kven.
Kven,
That's a truly Caribbean Sea...
gorgeous place . Tragic about the earthquake killing so many.
Now they have turberculosis on the island which they say will spread over seas. They said it will take three years to clear all the rubble before they can begin to rebuild properly.
Lady,
They always had hard times on that island; it seems that they will keep having the same for the next years...
Hello dear trotter!!! Long time no see. Sorry for my absence, I'm a busy bee lately ;)
Your pics are amazing! What an amazing place, it's so sad though, 200, 000 victims, it breaks my heart.
I wish you the best, thanks for visiting my blog.
Dana,
Wow! Great to read you back here!
It was a terrible tragedy; like in the Boxing Day earthquake, the number of victims will always involve some mystery...
The blues however are awesome!
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