The well-used taxi manned by George White lumbers up the paved road to St. George’s Hill. As we approach the summit, White slows to appreciate the nearly ripe bounty of mangoes hanging from five trees next to the road. The landscape is green and serene, with cows grazing contentedly.
At first glance, you could be on most any of the Caribbean’s mountainous islands. But then we pass a scattering of derelict, abandoned houses, a few with collapsed roofs. There’s not a human sound in the air–no soca music from a passing car, no children laughing in the street. As we crest the hill, the culprit responsible looms into view: Montserrat’s Soufriere Hills volcano stands before us–less than two miles away–implacable and all commanding.
Steam and gas exhale along the rim of the crater, concealing remnants of the enormous lava dome that has bulged and collapsed repeatedly during a decade of eruption. What’s left of the dome is out of sight, but my eyes follow the path of now-cool ash flows that roared over the crater walls and down the western flanks of the peak. One gray “river” crashed against the base of St. George’s Hill and made a right turn into Belham Valley, consuming a golf course in its path. Another ash flow continued straight west, rolling over the island’s former capital of Plymouth.
The settlement had been inundated, one eruption after another, creating a ghost town under a blanket of ash more than 10 feet deep in places.
The island wasn’t always this way. During the 1970s and 1980s, Montserrat prospered gently as a quiet retreat. There was an 11-hole golf course, beaches of ebony or honey-colored sand, and a dive shop–attractions that drew 36,000 visitors to the island in 1994. A recording studio lured Elton John and Paul McCartney to record albums. In 1979, Jimmy Buffett climbed the then-dormant volcano and returned on the same day to the studio to write and record an unusually prophetic hit “Volcano”:
“Now I don’t know
“I don’t know where I’m a gonna go
“When the volcano blow”
It’s been said that Montserrat–12 miles long, 7 miles wide–is precisely the wrong size for an erupting volcano. If the island were larger, a post-volcano future might have been easier to plan for. If it were much smaller, a full evacuation of Montserrat would have been inescapable.
Instead, when Soufriere Hills reawakened after three centuries of slumber in July 1995, only the southern two-thirds of the island was declared unsafe. The capital and its residents were moved north, crammed into a few square inhabitable miles, ducking the sometimes heavy ashfall (and coming out for the inevitable clean-up after each eruption).
In June 1997, the volcano’s first major dome collapse occurred, sending a superheated cloud of ash, gas and rock exploding down the mountain, scorching everything in its path. Nineteen people–most of them farmers tending crops in the restricted area–were killed in a matter of minutes, and the island’s airport runway was buried.
Since then, Montserratians who stayed have coped with the conflagrations, while Britain pumped money into rebuilding the infrastructure (the island is a British Overseas Territory). The population dwindled to about 2,500 residents, down from 11,000 in 1995.
With the airport buried in ash, tourism plummeted. The island had just under 8,000 stayover visitors in 2004, and another 5,000 people who made day trips, mostly via a heavily subsidized ferry that travels twice daily between Montserrat and neighboring Antigua. A few small hotels and other lodgings are open.
But today, Montserrat is finally looking at a more positive future. There’s been no new dome growth since July 2003. Islanders who settled in England and the United States are returning, bringing the population up to about 4,700.
A new $18.5 million airport–officially called Gerald’s Airport–opened July 11, and officials hope it will increase overnight tourism 5 to 10 percent annually. The government, with subsidies from Britain, is spending $2.7 million to promote tourism and build parks and nature trails. Although the southern half of the island is expected to be uninhabitable for years to come, some sections have been opened for exploration during daylight hours, and the ruins of Plymouth can be viewed with a police escort. (See If You Go for details.) For my visit I traveled via ferry, landing at Little Bay, in the north, where the island’s capital has been rebuilt. After exiting customs, a freshly painted sign greets me: “Welcome to Montserrat–Still Here, Still Nice.” I meet Mr. White, who takes me through St. John’s, location of the audacious new ridgetop airport.
We continue over to Jack Boy Hill, a lookout at the road’s end. The east-side landscape is awesome–broad gray flows of ash flood the formerly green slopes, extending the shoreline out by several hundreds yards. The bare outline of the former airport can be spotted, covered in a few feet of ash. Picnic tables are set up for nights when volcanic activity can be appreciated from this safe distance.
Before its last collapse, the dome’s elevation had grown to more than 3,600 feet, towering next to the island’s official “highest” point, 3,002-foot Chances Peak. On many days lava was being extruded at a volume comparable to two or three refrigerators per second. This wasn’t the swift-moving orange rivers one sees in Hawaii. Montserrat’s lava is the viscous type, rising slowly within the crater bowl for weeks or months, until the superheated unstable dome would disintegrate under its own weight, crashing down the slopes to obliterate anything in its path.
On the west side of the island, the Montserrat Volcano Observatory is perched on the slopes of Centre Hills, which offers another remarkable view. Tours of the MVO are conducted by scientists Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, offering the latest prognosis on the future of Soufriere Hills. Today’s report: The scientists are cautiously predicting a slowdown in activity.
“If it was a heart patient, you’d be giving CPR by now,” jokes Dr. Vicky Hards, resident vulcanologist. “I suspect over the next few years it’s just going to turn off.”
Tasked with taking the pulse of a dying monster, scientists will be keeping a close eye on Montserrat for years to come. Mick Strutt, another vulcanologist with the MVO, says it will take time before scientists can identify a date when–upon reflection–they’ll be able to determine that the eruption ended. But despite the slowdown in action, Strutt remains effusive in his appreciation of Soufriere Hills.
“It’s the best volcano in the world,” he says.
Soufriere Hills isn’t the only sightseeing attraction the island has to offer. Ishwar Persad, marketing manager for the Montserrat Tourist Board, says the diving and snorkeling is excellent–in part because of the island’s low population and minimal pollution–and birdwatchers come to spot the endemic Montserrat oriole, among other species.
“There are six hiking trails now and six more in development,” says Persad. “We have deserted pearl gray beaches where you can go and you won’t be harassed like on some islands, and you can rent a bike and explore the villages, although it’s bit tough because of the mountainous topography.”
Visiting the local rum shops, crayfish hunting at night, and turtle nesting in August and September are other activities Persad hopes will bring back visitors to pre-volcano levels.
But the volcano is the chief attraction.
I make one more stop, at the ruins of Plymouth. The main road into town passes a cemetery swathed in ash, the gravestones barely peeking up from the cinders. Rainfall on the upper slopes has created deep new gullies, while in other areas the hardened ash flows are high enough that one can step from the ground onto the roofs of some downtown buildings.
A shoe store sits idle, its dirt-covered inventory still perched on the racks, while another shop has racks of spices and sodas. I open an ash-caked bottle of black peppercorns and discover their fragrance is still intact. I consider for a moment carrying it home as a souvenir, until I realize I’m standing in a modern Pompeii-in-the-making.
The pepper is returned to the shelf, for another visitor to ponder.
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IF YOU GO
GETTING THERE
Montserrat’s new Gerald’s Airport opened July 11, and WINAIR has four daily flights scheduled from St. Maarten and Antigua, using 19-seat DHC-6 aircraft (similar to what the airline uses for flights to nearby St. Barts and Saba). A promotional fare of $99 round-trip is available through the end of 2005 (888-255-6889; www.fly-winair.com).
The 144-passenger ferry from Antigua to Montserrat takes one hour and runs twice daily except Sundays (with the airport opening, however, the schedule is expected to end on July 31). Cost is $75 round-trip during the week and $52 round-trip on Saturday.
TOURING THE ISLAND
It’s easy to visit on a day trip. The going rate for a full-day driving tour of Montserrat is $100 for up to four passengers; check with Thomas Lee (664-492-1649) or George White (664-492-1342). Antigua-based Jenny Tours (268-464-4188) and D and J Tours (268-464-9453) do day trips from Antigua for $120-$160 including ferry, driver and lunch.
Police-escorted tours of Plymouth, which last about an hour, can be arranged through lodging facilities or through the Montserrat Tourist Board. A two-day notice is needed, and cost is about $56 (a hazard allowance paid to the police escort).
WHERE TO STAY
There are two hotels on the island. The 22-room Vue Pointe Hotel, opened in 1961, offers cottages with views of the steaming volcano. The Wednesday-night barbecue has been an island institution for 40 years, and the black sand beach below is bigger than ever. Doubles $105-$120 (664-491-5210; www.vuepointe.com).
The 18-room Tropical Mansion Suites, opened in 1999, is on a hill near the new airport. What it lacks in charm it makes up for with modern amenities, like air conditioning in four rooms. Doubles $119-$150, including continental breakfast (664-491-8767; tropicalmansion.com).
There also are inexpensive guest houses, apartments and appealing villas for rent.
INFORMATION
Montserrat Tourist Board, 664-491-2230; www.visitmontserrat.com.
— David Swanson
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ctc-travel@tribune.com
