Exotic Places: Haiti & Jamaica

* Superstition in Haiti

Haiti is a country in the Caribbean Sea on the island of Hispaniola, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Its capital is Port au Prince. For many years it was ruled by the dictators François Duvalier and his son Jean-Claude Duvalier, but now has an elected government. Many people still think of voodoo (= a religion based on magic) and zombies (= dead people who are brought back to life by magic) when they think of Haiti. In Haiti voodoo believers pray and perform animal sacrifices to feed—and beckon—the spirits. Then they dance until a spirit takes over their bodies. Voodoo, meaning "spirit," is reckoned to be one of the world's oldest ancestral, nature-honouring traditions.

* Reggae Music & Rastafarians in Jamaica

Jamaica is an island in the Caribbean Sea which is an independent state and a member of the British Commonwealth. Its capital is Kingston. Many slaves were brought there from Africa from the 17th to the 19th centuries to work on the sugar and banana farms. Jamaica is now known as a beautiful place for tourists to visit, and as the home of the reggae music and the rastafarian religion.