Well I have arrived in the Dominican Republic this morning after crossing the whole Pacific and then the North American Continent followed by a little escapade down south to the Carribean. The highlight of the long travel was being told just before landing in LA that the All Whites had drawn with Italy. The whole plane cheered when the pilot announced the result.
Travelling all that way will in the end have been quicker than going across the border to Haiti.
Let me explain. I arrived at 11.00am expecting to be picked up by Ruben a friend of Robyn's.Unfortunately he fell into the claws of the local constabulary and was taken to the police station because he had a missing rear vision mirror. He had to get it replaced, pay a fine of 50$ and return to the station so that they could check that it was fixed. By that stage most of the day had vanished.
As Ruben wasn't at the airport when I arrived I waited for a few hours and tried to contact Robyn. However my cellphone didn't work and anyway I didn't have her phone number. However I had the numbers of one of her friends so I bought a cheap local cellphone (18$) and tried to ring. Well when you get a new cellphone it is difficult at the start to navigate around until you get used to it and you can image what it would be like if it is all in Spanish! In the end after the advice, in fast Spanish, from quite a number of locals things didn't work out and I gave up.
I waited for about 3 hours and then decided to get a taxi and book into a hotel in town. Well to my surprise they had free WIFI and so I was able to contact Robyn by email. After a series of email exchanges I was told that Ruben had been delayed and that he would contact me at the hotel. By the time he reached the hotel it was to late to leave for Haiti. He told me the story and we had a good laugh.
Now the plan is to leave tomorrow morning at 7.00 am.
So by the time we reach Cap Haitien more than 24 hours will have passed which is more than the flying time from Dunedin.
Now it's time to put my feet up and have an early night.
Travelling all that way will in the end have been quicker than going across the border to Haiti.
Let me explain. I arrived at 11.00am expecting to be picked up by Ruben a friend of Robyn's.Unfortunately he fell into the claws of the local constabulary and was taken to the police station because he had a missing rear vision mirror. He had to get it replaced, pay a fine of 50$ and return to the station so that they could check that it was fixed. By that stage most of the day had vanished.
As Ruben wasn't at the airport when I arrived I waited for a few hours and tried to contact Robyn. However my cellphone didn't work and anyway I didn't have her phone number. However I had the numbers of one of her friends so I bought a cheap local cellphone (18$) and tried to ring. Well when you get a new cellphone it is difficult at the start to navigate around until you get used to it and you can image what it would be like if it is all in Spanish! In the end after the advice, in fast Spanish, from quite a number of locals things didn't work out and I gave up.
I waited for about 3 hours and then decided to get a taxi and book into a hotel in town. Well to my surprise they had free WIFI and so I was able to contact Robyn by email. After a series of email exchanges I was told that Ruben had been delayed and that he would contact me at the hotel. By the time he reached the hotel it was to late to leave for Haiti. He told me the story and we had a good laugh.
Now the plan is to leave tomorrow morning at 7.00 am.
So by the time we reach Cap Haitien more than 24 hours will have passed which is more than the flying time from Dunedin.
Now it's time to put my feet up and have an early night.
Hi Jean-Claude,
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to say i thoroughly enjoyed your Blog during your time in Haiti.
it would be great to see all your photo's and have a chat about how Johnson and Johnson may be able to help the Hospital provide healthcare solutions into the future.
There is clearly a need for this and if I can I would like to investigate how we as a company can help.
I would love to go with you sometime on one of these trips, although clearly I need to stay away from motorbikes and fruit trees !
Good to have you back.
Catch up soon.
Cheers
Tim O'Loughlin.