Hike in Kenscoff

Yesterday I woke up with the worst stomach issues ever and had to miss a pretty awesome nursing opportunity. I haven't mentioned anything about this yet, because I wanted to check it out and I have been praying for direction on it. Luckily for me, the clinic was canceled and we are rescheduling for next week. I slept for most of the day yesterday and only got out of my room around 3pm to get some fresh air and try and keep down some water and crackers. By the time Holly got home (6:30 ish pm) I thought I was feeling better. We needed a few things from the grocery store and since it rains every night now, Pierre picked us up and took us to the grocery. Word of Advise- do not attempt to go anywhere in Haiti with a weak stomach, especially in a vehicle on these not so smooth roads. The ride home was less than pleasant, and I will not be making that mistake again. 

I had this hike planned for a few days, and to my surprise I woke up feeling ok, and after missing yesterday I wasn't going to let my nauseated stomach ruin another day. I slowly got ready, ate a few crackers, and headed out the gate. So I have been here for over 2 months now, and this morning was my first solo walk! I had no issues- not that I thought I would, but ya never know. Erica and her driver Junior picked me and her sister Meredith up at the park (now this is not a park like you are thinking of, no green mountains of grass or anything, but they do have swings, and some newly installed gym equipment) and off we went to Kenscoff for our hike. 

I first met Erica about a month ago at Kyle's going away dinner. Kyle was a preschool teacher here in Haiti for the last 3 years, and recently accepted a job in Japan, so she left in the middle of March for her new adventure. Erica and I shared a pizza the night of the going away party, and started talking about hiking and actually seeing different parts of Haiti. She promised to let me know when she was going again, and since her sister was in town from D.C- she decided today was the day. Erica in on a year long contact with a company called SOIL (http://www.oursoil.org/who-we-are/mission/). Basically what they do is promote good health by using resources already in Haiti and educating Haitians on transferring their waste into resources.  

Our drive to Kenscoff was enjoyable especially when the temps started dropping. The high today in the city is 98*. Summer is here, along with rainy season. We arrived at the base a little after 9am, and started our journey up. Erica is very familiar with this hike as she has done it several times before, so luckily for Meredith and I we had ourselves a little history lesson. We hiked on the Wynn Farm Ecological Reserve. Erica met Jane (the organizer of this farm) a few weeks ago when they had a small team in town, and today we were fortunate to have the chance to meet her briefly. Check out their website for more information. It is another pretty awesome company doing some amazing things for Haiti. (http://wynnefarm.org)

The views today were breathtaking. It was amazingly quiet up there, the air was crisp and clean, and it gave you just a glimpse of God's beauty and be still with Him for a bit. I throughly enjoyed this moment. A lot of people only see Haiti for the poor sick kids living in tent's. Yes there is some of that, but there is so much more to Haiti, and I am so thankful to be able to experience this. 

Once we finally make it to the top, we stopped and chatted with Jane for a few minutes, walked through a few of the gardens, and greenhouses (sorry, I didn't get any pictures), before heading back down. 

The hike was delicious and something I will definitely remember and recommend for anyone coming to Haiti.