I have just returned from eight days in Haiti Cap-Haitien and surrounding areas. The following is some information that you might find helpful if planning a trip to that region:.
You will find many women offering the same products at little sidewalk stands. Expect some loiterers and playful catcalls from locals while you are taking pictures of the well-preserved mortars. If the wood-metal gate is closed, squeeze into the site on the side in between the cactus plant and bamboo poles.
Stone walls with cannons on the ground. Waves crash on the shore and run-up, so expect wet shoes! A soft-spoken and friendly caretaker will follow you around the site, hoping for a tip before you leave. Cannons on the ground and well-preserved stone walls and staircases. A popular Voudou site; look for bamboo pole construction and paint on nearby cave entrances. Also, an old and abandoned lighthouse a tall metal structure built in is just behind this Fort.
I paid Gourdes for a performance of Mikaelle Aimee Cartright. Expect to be approached by horse handlers, guides, and souvenir salespeople in the parking lot. I paid Gourdes each for two assistants who carried my water and helped me up to the Citadelle when my guide decided to go briefly off-road.
Keep your ticket after you leave the Citadelle to show the gatekeeper for entry into the Sans Souci Palace. He will show you around the site whether you agreed to this or not and hopes for a tip at the end I gave him Gourdes and he was very thankful. Looks like it was originally the water collection storage well for the Fort. We used a gentleman who lived in a large house at the start of the path in Dirac and paid him 45 Gourdes for his help.
