Carmi's Theme-Travel #2

When I saw Carmi's theme yesterday, I hurriedly posted a photo from my days in Haiti that showed my traveling on a motorbike. I looked back through my files from Haiti and found these photos that also fit the theme. The truck seen above is very typical of public transportation in Haiti. There's no assigned seating. If you don't fit inside, you can go on top with the chickens and other livestock being transported.

Traveling by horseback, mule back, or more often on a donkey is very common. On market days, the "marchandes" (sales ladies) can be seen going to market on the back of the donkey which is also laden with baskets filled with goods to sell. I shared in one blogpost how, one day, when Jackie and I had gone to the airport (cow pasture) on my motorbike to greet some people flying in to visit, that on the way back, we sideswiped a donkey on the way back to town. My side mirror caught on one of the handles of the basket that was on the donkey. We were riding on a dirt road that had become heavily rutted from the rains. We were in a rut and couldn't just move over. I obviously thought that we had room to get by. Fortunately, we were none the worse for the wear.

Traveling by foot (a pied) is not necessarily the easiest or the most efficient, but it gets the job done. I never ceased to be amazed at the stamina of these ladies who made their way along, carrying their goods on their heads and walking over the rocky terrain in their bare feet.