“Welcome to Labadee…” says the sign. On the island of Hispaniola in the western Caribbean, you can find the poorest country in the western hemisphere, Haiti. About 78% of the 8.7 million people live on less than $2.00 per day. Unfortunately the country has been plagued by a long history of government corruption and political violence.
Isolated from the rest of the country, the port of Labadee is actually a private resort operated by the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. Thousands of tourist come here every week on the mega-cruise boats. Despite Haiti’s difficulties, they are working hard to develop the untapped tourism industry, hopefully one of these days the cruise boat tourist will get an opportunity to see more of Haitian UNESCO treasures like the Citadel and Sans-Souci Palace.
Those on the correct cruise:
- Milosh, Serbia
- Munden
- Pan
- Karel