Monster Rat

Little Bay, Monserrat

Did that title get your attention?

It is just a silly little nickname we gave the island of Monserrat back in the 90s.  It has nothing to do with anything, it was just fun to say.  Of course the island was wholly undeserving of anything the nickname might imply being one of the most unspoiled and pristine islands in the Leeward Island chain and certainly one of my favourites.

The first time I visited in 1991, we anchored and cleared customs in the quaint and picturesque capital of Plymouth.  I remember sweet island cottages with colourful, well manicured flower gardens.  The people proud of their homes and it showed.  The buildings were neat and freshly painted and everyone was very friendly, greeting the tourists and making us all feel welcome.  They even stamp your passport with a shamrock commemorating their Irish heritage.  It was such a quiet and pleasant getaway that many famous musicians came here to record.

Of all the places I am revisiting now on this trip, Monserrat and especially this beautiful town has seen the most change.  It was completely evacuated in 1995 when the long inactive volcano of Soufrière erupted then permanently abandoned in 1997 after it was substantially burnt and mostly buried by a series of pyroclastic flows lasting several years.  I had a chance to fly over the island by helicopter in 1997 with a film crew and it was an awesome sight to behold, but a terrible story for the local population who relocated by the thousands to other islands or distant lands leaving everything behind.  Now I had a chance to come back almost thirty years later to see how the island coped with this disaster that touched all of us in neighbouring islands and the world.

It was a beautiful day sail from Nevis to the newly built port and anchorage of Little Bay in the northwest corner.  It was a small fishing village but has been transformed into a commercial port and point of entry with a stunning anchorage around the corner for yachts.  It was mostly inaccessible before but is now set up to receive visitors disembarking from inter-island ferries a few times a week and has a nice reception area with souvenir and dive shops and restaurants which support the new industry of Volcano Tours.  On good recommendation, we aligned ourselves with Joe who picked us up and gave us a very enlightening tour of the volcano and its devastating effects on the island, its communities and eco system.

It shouldn't be surprising that what is commonly understood about volcanos and what happens to a community when a volcano erupts is pure conjecture and my imaginings even after seeing the eruptions from the air were completely mistaken.  The story of Monserrat and the Soufriere volcano is fraught with scandal, political corruption, and terrible loss and Joe was just the person to give us an account because he was there when it happened and evacuated his family from his mountain home which he showed us buried in the newly grown jungle which has almost completely engulfed the evacuated areas.  He had the most incredible photos of the places to which he took us pre-eruptions which were mind blowing.  It is hard to imagine a place you've never seen when it is gone, but Joe could show us a road that leads to nowhere and then pull up a photo of a bridge or shop or neighbourhood which once existed harmoniously in that exact spot and by looking intently through the trees and growth you could see a facade or gateway or wall of a once magnificent estate or the garden of an island cottage that resembles the one in the photo.  It was hard to believe even seeing it for ourselves that the lower half of the island is indeed a ghost town now covered in jungle which flourished in the volcanic ash and proliferated over twenty years to this great extent. And sadly, there is no going back.  Most of it will never be recovered.  The people here lost everything.  Some lost their lives.

And what happened to the people?  Most of them were aware of the eruptions and it was no surprise that they were asked to relocate to safer areas but they were told that they were going away for the weekend.  Then were housed in communal shelters and never allowed to go back.  The evacuated areas were fenced off and guarded and it was nearly impossible to get back in.  When I asked about all their belongings and what they took with them, Joe pointed out that not many people would carry a lot of stuff with them for a weekend.  Even so, where would they store it all at a shelter?  Many people took personal items that they could carry only and some went back to collect things later, sometimes illegally, but anyone who could, left the island.

So here we are twenty years later.  Joe made his living for years as a taxi driver and now does well again with his volcano tours.  He says he wouldn't want to live anywhere else.  The  communities have been relocated and the northern areas are still green and luscious.  The economy is recovering and the people are as friendly as ever and willing to share their story openly and honestly.  Their resilience is astonishing and heartwarming and hopeful.  Some of the people who left have made their way back home again and the new industry of sand mining and export has provided economic growth beyond tourism, building from the ashes, so to speak.

We drove by a natural spring at the side of a road.  Embedded in the rocky cliffs is a sign that reads, "Drink here if you want to come back to Monserrat".  It is about the only thing I do remember that I could recognise about my former visit long ago.  I did drink from the fountain then and I am so glad to return to this beautiful place and witness this incredible story; one very dear to my heart and a true example of the enduring Caribbean soul. 

View from the Observatory Station

All of this jungle is new growth in the last 20 years covering residential communities.  You can still see the power lines.

Residence overgrown by jungle.

Another beautiful home buried in jungle.

Plymouth zoomed in from our vantage point.

Plymouth zoomed out.

Another damaged and abandoned house outside Plymouth.

Another view of Plymouth.

Sand mining.

New port of Little Bay

Part of the growing VOLCANO industry!