By 1pm we were ready for the walk down. Well, not so much ready for the walk but ready for lunch which was in our trucks at the midway point, three miles down.
Despite pleading to be able to walk down instead of riding down, we loaded up on our respective “horses” and began the slow move down the mountain. Now you have to realize that to provide stability on the way up we had to lean forward a bit so what does that mean for the way down . . . yep, you guessed it, we had to lean back, way back. Not so easy to do on a Haitian saddle.
Thankfully Dad walked with me the whole way down. I was feeling very insecure and needed the company. Jeff was with us too but was walking ahead to take some pictures, including this one of me. Each horse had a guide leading them (blue shirt) and our tour guide, Charlie (white shirt).
We finally arrived at the midway parking lot and were able to leave the horses behind. We loaded up in the truck and headed back down to the Sans Souci Palace (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sans-Souci_Palace).
The gates are newly restored as well as the statue of Henri Christophe. The rest of the complex is in ruins but is still so impressive. The palace was visited by so of the elite of the day and there are many from other countries who visited the palace.
To the left and outside the gates is a church and guardhouse. I am not sure when these were built in relation to when the palace was built but they are rather unique and interesting
H. Christophe and his wife, Marie-Louise lived in separate palaces within the complex. Apparently this was common practice in those days. You can still see the ruins of her palace too. While not as opulent as H. Christophe, it was still very expansive. They had a garrison for the soldiers that was just below the Queen’s Palace where you can still see the remnants of the stables. The back of the main palace is where the gardens were and you can still see the main fountain in the center. They also had a swimming pool back there. You can still see some of the yellow and black paint that was used over the whole complex.
Between the main palace and the Queen’s palace is what is famously called the “Justice Tree”. H. Christophe had quiet a reputation for meting out justice promptly. Many were hanged from this tree and it is still standing, over 200 years later. H. Christophe was a brutal leader but he was the driving factor the construction of a complex of buildings that are very impressive. It is said that his reign, while cruel, was one of wealthiest periods for the Northern portion of Haiti. (Queen's palace in the background)
We left the complex and made a pit stop at our guesthouse before we decided to take a drive around Cape Haitian. We drove around a bit with no particular destination. We passed the Cape Haitian harbor where those French ships were. s we dove abandoned and the cannons then “borrowed” for transport to the Citadelle. As we drove through the streets, we saw the dome of a popular site in Cape Haitian postcards so after wandering for a few blocks trying to locate it, we came upon the complex. I have not idea what it used to be but it is now something for the local Red Cross organization.
The postcards traditionally show the dome, a bit of the city and in the distance you can see the mountain tops where the Citadelle is located. After Karen, James and Jeff spent some time snapping pictures for all of us, we returned to our beautiful guesthouse and sweltering rooms in time for supper. We were so hot and tired after the day spent climbing to the Citadelle that we figured we would all sleep through the night. . . . but nope, I think none of us slept much. In fact it felt hotter that night than the night before!
The building above is the Catholic Church for Cap-Haitian. As is common the local Catholic Church sits on the town's main square.
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