The Emerald and Ash Isle

The harbour at Montserrat.  

The people of Montserrat are trying so hard to recover from a series of volcanic eruptions over the last 20 years or so.  There is a new tiny development composed on three or four bars and eateries near the port and only beach, to welcome the very occasional “adventure” cruiselines and a scant handful of yachties and taxis to take these few on a tour of the island.  The tiny port is really only a small indent on the lee side of the eruption-safe northern tip of the island, just around the headland from the full Atlantic force.  It’s windy and rolly.   The locals are incredibly friendly, helpful and accommodating - they invited us to encourage our friends to visit.

On our way by, we actually sailed in the exclusion zone.  A no-no but we go where the wind takes us.  Here the emerald is clearly demarcated from the ash.  The ash on the right was the airport.  The ash on the left was a village that was completely swept into the ocean adding several hundred meters of "land"mass to the island.  The smoke in the middle is actually rising from the hot spot of the current flows.

The north end of the island is beautiful - few beaches but mountainous and, indeed, emerald.  Celebrations of St Patrick’s Day rank second in the world and last a week.

Beneath the locals’ ebullience was a sad interior which became apparent when speaking of the “crisis” or “tragedy”.  The pain was clear and the tone was hushed.  And a visit to the southern third of the island revealed why. 

Peter and I rented a car to do our own tour of the island.  The owner of the rental picked us up, drove us 30 minutes to the airport to get a local licence, proudly pointing out the sites as he drove, then took us another 20 minutes to his home/office to pick up the car, and then led us to his favourite restaurant and then to the hardware store at our request.  The entire rental process took at least a couple of hours of his time for about US$40 for which he was very grateful.

View from the Montserrat Volcano Observatory.  In the distance is the volcano.  Between the observatory and the volcano is the exclusion zone including home's, businesses and farms, all abandoned and off limits.  The helicopter is now the only business left for researchers and tourists.  Driving through the zone that was available to us was eery.  Only the occasional car or taxi with tourist, or dump truck carrying ash to the port shared the roads that were overgrown and potholed.

Definitely awe-inspiring.  The peak was, unfortunately, under cloud while we were there but the smoke and devastation were clear.

The capitol, Plymouth, is completely covered by ash and mud.  Those buildings that were high enough are abandoned and now falling apart and covered with growth.  Seemed like Armageddon.  So very sad.

We made our way up incredibly steep narrow roads that became even slimmer as we climbed.  The Montserrat Volcano Observatory was awesome in the true sense.  The volcano happened to be in cloud - not unusual - but we could see smoke rising from the hot spots in the gullies even below the cloud line.  An amazing video showed the lively and, seemingly, thriving scene in the capital, Plymouth, before the devastating series of eruptions in the 1990’s lined up against the same valley with buildings totally buried in ash and mud.  Although much of the city is off limits except by special permit, for obvious reasons, we were able to take our car through the still abandoned “Exclusion Zone”.  An abandoned hotel on a ridge with pool, hallways and dining room full of mud offered a view, once spectacular, of city and sea.  Now, a wasteland.  So very sad.

The ash is everywhere.

Plymouth, a thriving capitol in the 1980's, was evacuated early because of scientific prediction of eruption so that very few lives were lost. 

A hike on the second day, also in the Exclusion Zone, driving on roads left to degrade, gave us a vantage of the airport that had been swept into the sea by mud, lava and ash.  Scary.

View of the airport land from our hike in beautiful mountains and emerald growth.

It was a sad visit.  The industry on the island now revolves around the event which has rocked the inhabitants.  Ash is their only export and tourism is based on viewing the apocalyptic devastation and volcano. The power of nature can be cruel.