The story behind the three-day pilgrimage started in 1847, when our Lady of Mount Carmel, the patron saint of Ville-Bonheur, is said to have appeared on a palm tree and begun to heal the sick. Ever since, thousands of believers and adventurers make the trip to the pounding 100-foot-high waterfall singing and chanting as they bath.

It is also a perfect occasion for visitors to have a good time while eating their favorite dishes, which are the deep fried plantains, boiled cabbage-palm, and goat on the grill spruced up with a cup of heavy rhum. The ambiance in the town of Saut-d'Eau is animated with live street bands playing drums and horns made of metal sheet. On the other hand, the mood is intense inside the church where hundreds of worshipers are begging the Virgin Mary for miracle.

This celebration is indeed profitable for truck riders and local residents who make their money guiding visitors to the village and even renting their homes to some of them. The latters accordingly enjoy the ambiance after the 2-hour-trip from Port-au-Prince to the beautiful waterfall. Our Lady of Mount Carmel is also celebrated in Port-au-Prince, Cabaret, Bizoton (Carrefour), Arniquet, Grand-Goave, Cayes-Jacmel, Bas-Limbé, Capotille.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Saut-d'Eau, Ville-Bonheur

The stairs leading to the beautiful waterfall of Saut-d'Eau

Saut-d'Eau's dazzling water

A driver on a SUV leaving the waterfall

Every year, from July 14 to July 16, rich, poor, and middle class Haitians from around the country and abroad travel to make the long journey to the Saut-d'Eau waterfall located nearby Mirebalais and 60 miles north of Port-au-Prince.

People come on foot, into trucks, public buses, in air-conditioned SUVs, atop a rented horse or donkey to transform the tiny village of Ville-Bonheur into a huge multi-religious fair and street party.

There are valid reasons for people to come to the dazzling water of this cascade. Some believers go there to ask for a job, money to pay debts, good luck, cure and others show up to have fun while many worshipers of Catholic and Vodou religions make their demand to Our Lady of Mount Carmel.