The Pilgrimage to Sodo 2009 - $750.00

In 2009, Sosyete du Marche will be offering a life time experience. We will be leading a Pilgrimage to the holy falls of Saut d'Eau, and performing our house Lave Tet ritual under those falls at Saut d'Eau in the Artibonite Valley of Haiti.

Legend has it that in the mid-1800s an image of the Virgin Mary appeared near the waterfalls of Saut d'Eau. Today, most pilgrims pay homage to the goddess of love - Erzulie - the equivalent of the Virgin Mary in Vodou. For some pilgrims, the journey can take days on the back of a truck, donkey, horse, or on foot - the road into the mountains is pocked with craters five feet deep. Even in an all-terrain vehicle, the 40-mile trip from Port-au-Prince takes five hours. Most make the final four miles on foot, crossing the river and climbing down the cliffs to the holy grotto where it is said the Virgin appeared.

Pilgrims strip and submerge themselves in the water, bathing with soap and aromatic leaves like mint. Some stand under the cascade with arms stretched wide, and ask Erzulie for favors. The water is the cleansing agent for all who come to Saut d'Eau.

The itinerary is set and will follow this schedule:

DAY ONE:(Thursday)
 Arrival in Port Au Prince, with transfer to the Hotel Oloffson. We will drop our things, then head to the Vodou museum in Petionville, to see the most amazing collection of antique Vodou drums, spirit dolls and ephermera from the colonial period. We will return to the Oloffson, to host a pool side talk on Saut d'Eau, followed by dinner on the Oloffson porch. The hotel is a wonderful old Victorian style mansion, situated on the hills above Port au Prince. A gated residence, the hotel features a huge pool, balconies overlooking the city of Port au Prince and the most amazing collection of Vodou art anywhere in Haiti. The proprietor, Richard Morse, is the owner as well as the leader of the in-house band called RAM. They often play on Thursday nights, so with luck, we'll get a free concert as well.

DAY TWO:( Friday)
 After breakfast, we will pack up and travel to Croix de Bouquet, where the Iron workers do their magic with hammer and steel. The origins of Haitian ironwork, known as "Fer-de-Coupe", is credited to Georges Liataud, a blacksmith born in 1899, in Croix-de-Bouquets, a small town 30 minutes outside of Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince. Artists buy old steel oil drums, flatten them out, and trace patterns onto the metal sheets. No mechanized tools are used; they are cut by blows of a hammer-on-chisel, and then sanded, sculpted, and either left natural or are brightly painted. Today, Croix-de-Bouquets is the center for "Fer-de-Coupe" where the sound of chisels and hammers is heard everywhere. A wonderful village on the outskirts of Port au Prince, you will have a chance to shop and talk with the many artists whose work is inspired by Vodou. We will stop here before heading up to the road into Mirabelaise for the night.

After the Ironworkers village, we travel to the town of Mirabelaise, north of Port-au-Prince. A small miracle, Mirabelaise has something that not even Port-au-Prince can claim - electricity 24/7! Paved streets, street lights and even a cool resort to stay at. We'll kick off our shoes and spend the afternoon cooling off at the pool, examining our purchases and getting ready for the next day at Sodo. The Hotel de Mirabelaise is beautifully situated within an hour of the Ironworker's village, and offers a wonderful respite from the heat and dust. Dinner in town that evening and breakfast the next morning will help us all be prepared for the journey ahead.

DAY THREE:(Saturday)
After breakfast, we will load into our bus and head for Saut d'Eau. It's a ride over rough country roads, without paving, so be prepared! The villages are small and the road winding, but the scenery stunning. After leaving the hustle of Port-au-Prince, and the "city-fication" of Mirabelaise, the Artibonite rolls out before us like a green swarth of Eden. Big Mapou trees line the roads, spreading their huge canopies over the roadway. It's a pale reminder of what Haiti might have looked like at the time of Columbus's landing. Tall Royal palms spread out over farms that cover the thin hillsides in multiple terraces. We'll only be able to drive so far. They don't call it 'Mont Cabrit' (Goat Mountain) without reason! The last mile we will walk, true Pilgrims in the end, up the steep slopes of the mountain, to the hill top village that precedes our descent to the grotto of the falls.

A short walk through the village and across a shallow waterway, takes us to the path that descend into the grotto. We'll approach with humbleness and reverence. The view as you descend the walk is spectacular, the roar of the falls immense and the thrum of electricity palatable.

We will make offerings to Dambala and Erzulie at the foot of the falls. Then, we will enter and perform Lave Tet for everyone at the base of the falls. You may bring clothing to change into - it is traditional to leave something old behind. There is a secret grotto at the falls, where we will leave offerings for the Spirits. And we will sing for the spirits as we leave this most sacred sight. We are not on a time table for the Falls - we will stay until everyone is done and we are thoroughly drenched.

Our return trip will take us back through the village of Saut d'Eau and down the mountain, to our waiting vehicle. We will then take the road through St. Marc and stop over night at the beach resorts of Ouanga Bay Resort, along the Arcadian coast. Dinner and drinks on the beach will top of a fine day of introspection and water!

DAY FOUR: (Sunday):
After breakfast, we return to Port-au-Prince in the morning. There will be time to go to the galleries in Petionville for some last minute shopping. In the evening, we will make offerings in the garden of the Oloffson to the spirits, and have a final dinner on the verandah.

DAY FIVE: DEPARTURE
Morning transfer to the airport for flights home.

The price of $750.00 includes: all transfers to and from hotels; two nights at the Hotel Oloffson, one night in Mirabelaise; one night in Ouanga Bay; two meals daily; trips to Croix de Bouquet, Saut d'Eau and galleries of Petionville We are working with the best travel agent in Haiti, Jacqui Labrom, to get organized and priced right. If you are interested in attending our Lave of the Falls, please contact us at mambo@sosyetedumarche.com. We will put your name and e-mail on our list, and as we finalized details, you'll be kept up-to -date with the latest news and offerings!

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