Radio interview with Unity Radio about the exhibition "Grottes d’Haïti, entre imaginaires et réalités", at UNESCO headquarters in Paris

Jean-François Fabriol, Carole Devillers, the journalist (who forgot to leave us a card with his name - sorry), Stéphanie Jagou et Olivier Testa

UNESCO hosts the exhibition The Caves of Haiti in january 2015. Come and watch, see, hear and feel the caves of Haiti

These billboards give visitors basic information on the respective cave with images and text in four languages (Creole, French, English and Spanish). They also remind them of the safety instructions.

A new phase of our project aiming at promoting the caves of Haiti will be launched in 2012. Called "Research and promotion of the cultural underground heritage of the Nippes department" this project has just received the support of the Foundation of France via FIL Culture Haiti’s call for projects. It will be undertaken conjointly by Carole Devillers and Olivier Testa with the Foundation Françoise Canez Auguste as the supporting structure.

The objective is to study the cultural heritage (pre-Columbian, historical, contemporary) present in the caves of the Nippes department touched by the earthquake - an heritage of great interest, yet little-known – and to heighten the local artists awareness of their region’s artistic roots, mainly Taino art. We will explore, photograph and study the caves as well as organize a photo exhibit at the Parc historique de la Canne à Sucre in Port-au-Prince.

The project will start in the first semester 2012

The highlight of our discoveries in 2009: the Cave of The Three Chimneys (Cave Bellony).
Haiti, in all respects, is like a rough diamond that needs to be chiseled to reveal its beauty. It’s not your typical tourist destination, and therein lies its uniqueness.

Similarly in our caving explorations, as we crawl our way in, rub our butts on slippery ground, and walk precariously on unstable rocks, cautiously descending into the bowels of the earth, I feel like chiselers at work, discarding the rough parts while hanging on to the hope of a fantastic discovery. When our torches illuminate in all their virginal glory the spectacular formations and draperies of the cave, we know we have reached the core of a magnificent diamond.

The first cave we explore is near Saut d’Eau (Centre Department), an area which has been dear to me since the mid 80’s and where I feel at home with the local people (the community and I built a primary school for the children of Haut Saut d’Eau twenty years ago - see PATCH Center of Hope school). Saut d’Eau is also the site of an annual vodou purification pilgrimage I covered for National Geographic (see NGS Mar 85).
However well I know Saut d’Eau, I had never visited the cave of Doco and so we start our expedition with this first cave. We get our guides (two brothers who happen to have been among the first students in our school in 1989), and the local houngan (vodou priest) joins us - the Doco cave being a “mystic cave”, it is used for vodou ceremonies and therefore we need the houngan’s introduction. “A bottle of rum and a whale” : this is what we are asked to bring to be in favor with Mèt Doko, the spirit residing in the cave.

By 7:00 am we’re on our way, but the sun is already very hot as we climb the hilly path, followed by a couple of curious young people with a blaring radio. Funny enough, the station is playing old French love songs of the 70’s. I find it quite amusing and it’s with the tune of the famous “La maladie d’amour” by Michel Sardou that we arrive at our destination, an hour and a half later.

Ever since my return from the expedition - and during the expedition - my nights have been filled with dreams of caves and caving. This was my first caving expedition. And just as Olivier, my nephew, was taken, as a five-year old boy, with my tales of exploration among the Wayana Indians in the Amazonian forest, I’ve now been bitten by the caving bug that got him long ago.
I can’t stop reading about it, looking at photos of caves around the world and thinking about our next expedition in Haiti.
As a photographer I’m discovering a totally new world and as an explorer, it’s tops.

The thrill mixed with apprehension of descending into the dark unknown, of exploring uncharted territory, and the high one feels upon finding spectacular works of nature, are one of a kind.

Trying to fathom the length of time it took for these beautiful and strange concretions to form is impossible as our minds are too limited to imagine that - thousands of millennia, one drop at a time. I shudder at the thought these formations could be broken in an instant of negligence or greed. It would almost seem like an assassination to me.


Being in such cave as the Cave of the Three Chimneys is like being in a temple or cathedral. One feels reverence and awe towards nature and the Creator, and needs time to savor the silence, the magnificence and the mystery.

Yes, caving is my new passion.

From speaking with locals, it seems each cave is inhabited by a “diab”, creole for spirit (not to be confused with devil) and everyone makes sure we’re aware of the danger. An older peasant refused to accompany us to a particular cave because, he said, the spirit of the cave would eat him. He specified it would not eat Olivier, but it would eat the guide.

Nevertheless, curiosity got the better of him and he followed our party to see what would happen.

On our way to the cave, we could hear vodou drums beating nearby as a ceremony was taking place. When we got to the cave of Nan Banbou, Olivier tied a long rope to climb down the dark and steep cavity and our old man stayed respectfully at a distance.

After the rope slacked off, he was sure Olivier had been eaten by the “diab”. An hour elapsed and no sign of Olivier. “ - Olivier!... Olivier!...” shouted one of our porters waiting at the small aperture and getting worried. No response. After some time we saw the rope tightening up again and a while later a muddy Olivier resurfaced.

Our Haitian party gave sighs of relief. Emboldened by the fact that the diab had not eaten anyone, our man offered to take us to explore a cave in his own field. But it started to rain so we appropriately took a raincheck!