Take Me Back to Jacmel

It almost took my breath away, that visit to Jacmel – it was nothing less than a great experience. A couple months ago, some friends and I went to Jacmel to experiment the place. The capital city of the department of Sud-Est is a nest for adventurers. Located less than 3 hours from Port-au-Prince the Haitian Capital city, Jacmel has amazing beaches, food, touristic sites and of course welcoming people. Let’s talk about how it went for my friends and me. The Jacmeliens will also tell you that Jacmel was the first city to have electricity in all Caribbean. 

Coming from Port-au-Prince it was nice to see how the road was full of trees and while we were coming at the beginning of the dawn the fresh air we were breathing by longing with speed these well-built roads was just amazing. The next morning led us to Bassin Bleu, an amazing waterfall with refreshing basins were you can dive and swim. Joe, a very friendly local, led us to that treasure and explained everything about the site. I could see in his eyes how he loved the place and was how proud he was to belong to it. He was so welcoming that I don’t think I will forget his name. My friends and I bathed in the basins, swam and had a wonderful time. 

Jacmel is also called City of Artists because they love art so much there that it has become a culture for them. They are the reference for “Papye Mache” – decoration items you will find in almost every hotel in the Port-au-Prince area. You will also find it a lot in their carnival which is held yearly. A colorful carnival, appealing, enchanting, is the one that they have every year and where a lot of the Haitian diaspora come back to reconnect with their roots and for tourists to come try something new. You might also have heard of Cine Institute, the only professional film school in Haiti as well as the Jacmel Film Festival held every year.

We also went to Raymond Les Bains – everybody loved it. They littoral is clean, sandy and you could see on the face of all the people how happy they were to take not only the advantage of the sun but also the cool water of a great beach. If you are somebody like me who is used to more calm water, I need to tell you that Raymond Les Bains’ water is rough. In fact all the beaches in Jacmel area are rough and they are the perfect place for someone who likes to surf. And of course the Jacmeliens care about our safety, they did put a long and strong cord in the water to let people who don’t know how to swim know where the limit is and to also hold it if ever the water was dragging them inside.

On our way back home, we were all dreaming about all the experiences we had over there. The things we did, the people we met – the overall experience – created a magnet that is just appealing us back to there. And as I think about it, what really brings back somewhere is the experience that you did have and the memories you keep from then. Haiti is indeed an enchanting place where everybody would want to visit. I am asking you as it is already the middle of the year, to take some time off from your job and to head to Haiti and come visit this amazing place called Jacmel and you will definitely love it like my friends and I did.

And come and tell me how your experience went…