CaribbeanMontserrat

Montserrat is a beautiful island with a sad story

By June 6, 2017 2 Comments
Montserrat - Melek - On Break Water
Montserrat - Melek - Little Harbor

The new little harbor and town after the volcano took out the capital.

After beautiful Antigua, we sailed to an island with big mountains. Apparently, they were volcanos! One of them is active and the other 2 are not. Shane is gonna write about the history and eruption times with some photos of the abandoned city before and after. I on the other hand would like to mention our day in this cute little island.

Montserrat - Melek - Pointing to Volcano

This was the capital and the volcano is in the background.

We arranged a tour to go up the mountain where the observatory was and at first I thought we could see the abandoned city of Plymouth from the top but basically it wasn’t the case. They showed us a movie about the eruptions and how the city looked before and after. From the terrace, you could see the volcano and valley, but the city was too far away to see the settlement. By getting a permit you could get in to the city. At first I didn’t think it was worth it, but Shane insisted that we do it! I am so glad we did as it was amazing to see the buried houses and walking on the roofs.

Montserrat - Melek - Plymouth

The old police station was completely buried and we walked right onto the roof.

I could tell it was a beautiful city with nice restaurants, a very pretty hotel, a big supermarket and beautiful houses. It was sad that 29 people died with the last eruption, thousands lost their houses, and the whole city was buried under ash and mud. They said people had only 90 seconds to run away when the hot ash was coming down. Our guide showed us his old house and where his mum lived. He was sad but they looked like they didn’t really let this incident effect their life and just continued on with it.

It was a really rare experience for me. I both liked being in the city and seeing the houses, but I also felt the sorrow experienced there.

I will let Shane tell you more about the city & its history on Thursday!

2 Comments

  • Shane says:

    Barbara,

    As always, thank you for reading. I look forward to seeing you on the Guiding Light soon.

    Shane

  • Barbars says:

    Interesting story and photos. I flew over the area during the eruptions. The lava flows into the water were spectacular and beautiful. but It was very sad to see the destruction and loss of life. I am enjoyreading about your adventures. You and Shane bring the Caribbean alive

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