Like many developing nations, Haiti is what you make of it. Those with images of witchcraft, sinister vodou priests and grinding poverty will likely find much to reinforce these stereotypes. However, for those with patience and an open mind, Haiti is a cultural and spiritual wonderland that is unique among post-colonial nations. It is extremely helpful when traveling in Haiti to have a local contact, through a church, a hotel, or just through making friends with someone. Experiences like dining locally, riding on a tap-tap, or strolling through one of the insanely crowded outdoor markets are great fun and very worth doing, but much safer and easier if you have a trusted Haitian to go along as a guide and interpreter. The native Taino Amerindians - who inhabited the island when it was invaded and rebaptized Hispaniola by Columbus in 1492 - were virtually annihilated by Spanish settlers within 25 years. In the early 17th century the French established a presence on Hispaniola and in 1697 Spain ceded to the French the western third of the island. The French colony of Saint-Domingue, with an economy based mostly on sugar and coffee-related industries, became one of the wealthiest in the Caribbean, but only through the heavy kidnapping and enslavement of Africans and considerable environmental degradation. In the late 18th century, Saint-Domingues’s nearly 500,000 slaves revolted and, after a prolonged struggle, ousted the French and created Haiti - the first black republic - in 1804. Haiti, like most other countries during the 19th and 20th centuries, experienced the pressures of international imperialism, internal political instability and the economic difficulties of a producer of primary goods. A first major strike was dealt against national sovereignty with the American occupation of 1915-1934. The following 20 years saw once again different struggles for leadership which ended with the victory of Fran??ois (Papa Doc) Duvalier. Duvalier's family dictatorship las...