The somewhat flirty receptionist at the Royal Oasis Hotel recommended I fly to Cap-Haitien instead of the eight hour bus ride over unpredictable roads, so the following morning I was driven back across town to the airport to catch a 9:45 flight. Unfortunately, my driver dropped me off at the wrong airport. At first I was quite suspicious when several porters, eager to earn some money refused my bag and promptly told me that I was not in the right place. No one...

On arriving into Port-au-Prince customs, I was quite curtly refused change when I used a twenty dollar bill to pay for the $10 entry fee but then moments later a passport official laughed loudly while trying to teach me how to say "thank you" in creole. This exchange was only the beginning of my Haiti in contrast. From the airport to the Royal Oasis hotel I white knuckled the thirty minute drive through the frenetic, pot holed streets of Port-au-prince, only t...