A little bit of this and that …
… and anything else in between …
The weekly photo challenge, ‘Forces of Nature’, reminded me of this.
A backstreet in Port-au-Prince, Haiti …
Even as man attempts to find a way to make life easier with a more direct route, nature has its way …
Humans will need to find a way around nature … This tree is going to stay where it is …
Yes, I did a double-take … leaned towards the window and looked very hard …
Was that what I thought it was?
Yes … it was … two grand turkeys with front row seats …
Looking through my Haiti files, I realize I still had a lot of photos that spoke to me …
Outside of Port-au-Prince and off the main roads, the people still had far to walk to and from their houses …
I don’t know how far still they had to walk …
… up and down mountains …
… on the other side of walls …
Everybody walks …
They wanted to show me one of the luxury hotels in Haiti. After a drive through winding roads up the mountains, we arrived at Hotel Ibo-Lele.
I don’t know if it was the only luxury hotel in Haiti, or one of the nicer ones to stay in. For those expatriates living in Haiti, staying here also served as a weekend retreat. I was a little indifferent to it that day, not sure why. Certainly the views were nice, which I think is its main selling point. Oh, and that it was up in the mountains and cooler up there with no dirt and dust to deal with.
I think it was because I couldn’t reconcile the two extremes – from driving through and seeing the rubble, dirt, dust, poverty out on the roads, and then to enter a gated compound that is worlds apart from the one outside the gates. It was that way at The Lodge in Kenscoff as well, and I suppose with all the other gated compounds. But it bothered me at some level, for these two worlds to exist in the same corner, and nobody seems to care to do anything about it, or that it should change, and so it remains that way. Perhaps I will get used to it as well, if I stayed there longer and saw it everyday, and accept it as being the way it is. But enough of this … on to the tour of the Ibo-Lele …
Out on the balcony, one can see the city of Port-au-Prince below.
On a lower level, the views from the swimming pool also looks out over the city.
There were huge wall murals everywhere …
… and of course, huge paintings on the walls …
The restaurant had a big vase with an orchid display inside. Unfortunately, it was closed, and looked like was not in use, with tables and chairs covered up.
… the requisite souvenir stand …
… and halls and doorways …
I really liked this white hallway, and a little annoyed at the air-conditioning unit that spoiled the photo.
Ibo-Lele .. a world apart.
As we parked, a flash of orange caught my eye from across the road …
Clay pots on the trees! Although I see that someone has used a couple of the pots to deposit their trash in it ..
Looks like this was a corner sidewalk vendor, and his storefront.
We didn’t have time to walk around this time, but next time, we’ll go over and take a look.
I still like the pot decorations, snaking up the trees …
Art covers the roads of Port-au-Prince.
Not just on the bright and colourful tap-taps, but drawings and paintings, painted wall murals, posters, billboards of course … There’s colour everywhere.
I liked seeing these painted wall murals in the town and market areas …
They have a distinct style – their portrayal of people are all similar, with simple shapes, but distinctly human.
I was wondering if they also bought any paintings for their home, or if these were all just displayed for the tourist. Well, I came upon this man walking with a painting, so maybe they do buy it for themselves too.
They set them up in the morning … and take them down at night … every day …
Yes, life can still be colourful, amid the dust and rubbles.
I hadn’t seen the fuchsia flower so much, since I first discovered it in Nepal. Amazing, isn’t it? Or maybe I don’t notice it as much here, but I’m sure that I would have noticed those brilliant colours.
They had several pots of the fuchsia plant, on the steps. And so I sat myself on a step, and had my fill of taking photos of the flowers. I was sure that I could take one more photo better than the one that I just took. Actually, it was more of the photo not coming out the way I liked, because that particular bloom that I was taking a picture of was at an angle I couldn’t quite reach …
Anyway, here they are, in full bloom …
Aren’t they gorgeous?
My colours, definitely.
