My Highview Church of God team
from Lancaster, Pa. was scheduled to depart at 2:25 pm yesterday. Normally if teams are at the Borel campus and they have an afternoon flight we drive directly from here for the 2.5 hour trip. If their flight is in the morning we take them to Pierre Payen the night before. Our plan was to have a leisure breakfast then hit the road at about 9:00 am so we could arrive at the airport at around noon.
Up here in the Valley people like to protest about whatever is their latest problem. Yesterday it was the lack of electricity. We have a hydro electric plant about 6 miles down the road on one of the canals . So the locals put rocks across the road to make a blockade , not just one row but about 20 rows in a one mile stretch, to prevent employees getting to the power plant. After determining that it would be impossible to get through I decided to take the longer route I had always wanted to try up and over the mountains.
Route Verettes the road that passes through Borel climbs up through the Le Artibonite valley following the meandering river into Mirebalais. This is a very scenic route with the road curving and climbing the grade to a higher elevation. Clear mountain streams rush down from the surrounding mountains to join up with the muddy river water headed for the coast.
Once the road gets to Mirebalais you get on route 3 that crosses the Central Plateau going from port up to Mirebalais, Hinche and on to Cap Haitien. We headed East on 3 which is a several thousand foot climb by switchbacks up over the mountain range ringing the Plateau area. As we curved around the last switchback and crested the summit we could gaze down on the Plaine de Cul , the flat lands surrounding Port au Prince.
The traffic as always was bumper to bumper as we took route 1 through the suburbs of Bon Repon and Cazale to the airport. Having a patient attitude and air conditioning helps , I had the first but not the second. Anyway we pulled into the airport at 12:00 on schedule and met up with one of our drivers who brought in the rest of the team luggage from our other compound at Pierre Payen. I think most of the team were awe struck by the beauty of this route through the mountains and captured it on camera to share with others back home. I know I will be passing this way again maybe not to take teams to the airport but just to enjoy the beauty of Haiti. SJM
from Lancaster, Pa. was scheduled to depart at 2:25 pm yesterday. Normally if teams are at the Borel campus and they have an afternoon flight we drive directly from here for the 2.5 hour trip. If their flight is in the morning we take them to Pierre Payen the night before. Our plan was to have a leisure breakfast then hit the road at about 9:00 am so we could arrive at the airport at around noon.
Up here in the Valley people like to protest about whatever is their latest problem. Yesterday it was the lack of electricity. We have a hydro electric plant about 6 miles down the road on one of the canals . So the locals put rocks across the road to make a blockade , not just one row but about 20 rows in a one mile stretch, to prevent employees getting to the power plant. After determining that it would be impossible to get through I decided to take the longer route I had always wanted to try up and over the mountains.
Route Verettes the road that passes through Borel climbs up through the Le Artibonite valley following the meandering river into Mirebalais. This is a very scenic route with the road curving and climbing the grade to a higher elevation. Clear mountain streams rush down from the surrounding mountains to join up with the muddy river water headed for the coast.
Once the road gets to Mirebalais you get on route 3 that crosses the Central Plateau going from port up to Mirebalais, Hinche and on to Cap Haitien. We headed East on 3 which is a several thousand foot climb by switchbacks up over the mountain range ringing the Plateau area. As we curved around the last switchback and crested the summit we could gaze down on the Plaine de Cul , the flat lands surrounding Port au Prince.
The traffic as always was bumper to bumper as we took route 1 through the suburbs of Bon Repon and Cazale to the airport. Having a patient attitude and air conditioning helps , I had the first but not the second. Anyway we pulled into the airport at 12:00 on schedule and met up with one of our drivers who brought in the rest of the team luggage from our other compound at Pierre Payen. I think most of the team were awe struck by the beauty of this route through the mountains and captured it on camera to share with others back home. I know I will be passing this way again maybe not to take teams to the airport but just to enjoy the beauty of Haiti. SJM
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