Near Plymouth, Montserrat

MONSTER RAT
Montserrat, or "Monster Rat" as Sebastian calls it, is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean similar to the British Virgin and Cayman Islands. While not a country in the strict definition, I count it since it's so far removed from Britain - besides, try to convince someone from Liverpool you've been to Britain because you went to Jack Boy Hill on Montserrat.

We did a day trip from Antigua, taking the first flight out at 7am and the last flight back leaving Montserrat at 5:30pm. The check in at the airport in Antigua was super quick but when we got into the waiting area there were no other passengers around and all of the shops and food stalls past security were closed. We waited at least 30 minutes by ourselves, until about 3 minutes before our scheduled departure the guy who checked us in came by and said "Let's go." He walked us out onto the tarmac and across to our waiting plane. Seb and I were the only passengers so we sat right behind the pilot for the short 18 minute flight. It was another really beautiful morning but difficult to get decent photographs without propellers in the way.

Montserrat, volcano covered in clouds on the left

Coming in to land at John A Osborne airport, Montserrat

As soon as we got through immigration and customs (90 seconds) I called one of the local taxi/tour operators, Charles Daly, and rented on of his Nissan sedans for the day for US$50. While he made his way to the airport I got a Montserrat drivers license for US$20 from the same guy at immigration. In a change from regular rental car orthodoxy the car had almost no gas in it so I followed Charles to the nearest gas station and put in double the amount of gas I thought I'd need. Turns out I put in about 20x more than I needed.

Back to driving on the left, back to an automatic transmission, back to potholes, back to lots of random honking, back to goats and chickens beside the road, back to precious few street signs. When you look at the tourist map of Montserrat there aren't that many roads so it should be difficult to get lost but within 15 minutes I was at the local landfill until I realized I'd missed the turn, and the closed gate, for the Jack Boy Hill lookout site. Even though it was a nice day there were clouds surrounding the volcano but we saw some of the devastation on the east coast of the island, included the now buried former airport.
 

Seb at Jack Boy Hill

Montserrat is known for the Soufriere Hills volcano which ended about 400 years of dormancy in 1995 when a series of eruptions began which led to the abandonment and eventual destruction of the former capital, Plymouth. Two thirds of the population left for Britain or other Caribbean islands and Montserrat was divided into a Safe Zone, a Daytime Only Zone, and an Exclusion Zone (which I call the Zone of Certain Death. Those who have stayed are rebuilding and with foreign aid a new capital at Little Bay is beginning to take shape. There are precious few tourists these days, and most of those that come are focused on all things volcano related.

From Jack Boy Hill I drove through St John's and Sweeney's to the new capital at Little Bay. It's a very small bay and there is a lot of work currently underway but it appears that this location will serve mainly for administrative purposes - it didn't appear they were building a lot of residential buildings in the area. The drive down the western coast is quite pretty and we made a few stops along the way, notably the Runaway Ghaut to take a drink, thus ensuring our return to Montserrat someday.

We spent some time at the Montserrat Volcano Observatory and watched an excellent documentary about the eruptions but as we drove further south the road signs and roads became harder to find. After a few wrong turns we were very close to the Exclusion Zone - so close in fact that I almost drove the car into a dried up river bed as the road had been washed away. The photo below showed where I actually came to a sudden stop - luckily I wasn't driving very fast.

Washed out road

After I retraced my steps I came across the Exclusion Zone sign - it's possible to drive past it but the roads are in such poor shape a four-wheel drive is the only way of making any progress. There should have been a sign to prevent me reaching the washed out bridge. The goats and chickens in the north were replaced by huge iguanas in the south - most of them just amble out of the way as cars approach but get a little too close and they scurry away quickly.

The Exclusion Zone sign

Garibaldi Hill is the best and safest place to get views of Plymouth and the Soufriere Hills. Plymouth was by all accounts a pretty place but now there's nothing of value for anyone except scientists. The guy who rented me the car for the day says he still visits his old house, what's left of it. "It's still mine", he said.

Soufriere Hills volcano and the deserted city of Plymouth

The drive back up the coast was lovely but a cockroach in the car walking over my feet as I drove almost caused another traffic mishap. I brought the car to a halt as I took cover on the road - Seb was unaware what was going on and I wasn't about to freak him out. I never did find it so I spent the last hour of the drive half expecting it to make an encore appearance.

MONTSERRAT QUICK GUIDE
Capital: Little Bay (was Plymouth)
Currency: East Caribbean Dollar
Language: English
Drive on the Left
Beer of choice: There wasn't a local one so I had an Amstel