On Kathy’s recommendation, Jeff and I went to Ile a Vache this weekend.  It’s really a bit of paradise, just off the southern coast of Haiti.  So this post will be mostly photos.

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The hardest part was getting there.  We took a bus to Les Cayes from the Leogane bus station, and then a boat to the island.  Yes, it’s the largest island off the south coast of Haiti on the bottom left of the map above, and no, it’s not cow-shaped that we could tell.

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We got a “special delivery” to the island.

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Most everyone else was sailing, fishing we think.

Below – Unloading the boat.  You can also get to the island by helo.  You can guess why they rushed us over, to avoid any rough seas.

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Greeted with a rum punch, of course.

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It’s the 57th best beach in the world, so they say (Check out CNN’s list).

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The only cow-themed item we saw – a chair in our room.

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Another shot of the beach.  The water was warm and clear and a beautiful pale blue.

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Sunset the first night.

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Sunset the second night.

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The moon setting one morning.

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The view from one of our hill climbs.

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We stayed in of of those orange-roofed houses, right on the beach.

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There was a cave along the beach along this peninsula.

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Can you see it?  There’s a photo from the inside on the Ile-a-Vache website.

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One of the sights on the way to climbing the opposite hill – a handmade boat.

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Took this photo for Sandey – thought she’d like the bridle.

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View from the hilltop.

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Lots of palms and blue sky.

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This lake was a ways away, as was Port Morgan, where the pirate Henry Morgan is said to have stayed.

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Henry’s ship??  For you, Jeremy.

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We slipped and slid down the hill back to the bay as it had rained, creating an amazing double rainbow.

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There are a few cows.

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Never saw a set of horns like these.  They don’t seem to dehorn cows in Haiti, at least not very often.

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A weekend filled with amazing natural beauty.

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It was fun to travel through a part of Haiti unaffected by the 2010 earthquake – we could really tell the difference as we traveled back into Leogane.