Joint birthday celebrations at the Foret de pins, the  vast expanse of tropical and subtropical forests of conifers, which extends on both sides of the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The wooded area originally covered 15% of the island of Hispaniola but now, it’s a great deal less.

But it’s supposed to be beautiful and serene.

So we’re off – bearing Gateau Seche (a Haitian speciality, dry cake, which doesn’t sound good but tastes great) and homemade chocolate cake with lemon filling (for Michael).