Tuesday 23rd January 18
Jo le Taxi takes us round Montserrat
Jo the taxi has been tooting for business on the VHF, and he was warmly recommended by Sam (Wanderlust), so we decide to let him show us his island. He really got us to realise the power and destruction the volcano brought to Montserrat over 20 years ago. Using old photographs showing how it use to be and what it looks like now: we spend a good chunk of the afternoon looking at things that weren’t there anymore, buried under feet of hashes or barely visible as nature reclaimed whole villages and erased all human traces under thick vegetation in the deserted evacuated area at the foot of the volcano. Although it was fascinating, the game of looking for things that simply were not there anymore got a bit tiresome, so I started asking question about less recent history and the fauna (prompted by the sighting of an agouti). Don’t think Jo liked it much! The observatory gave us stunning views of the smoking volcano. Although the last eruption was in 1997, the volcano is still very much active. Not so the observatory, I was expecting it to be a hive of activity, with researchers and people everywhere, we had the place to our own. The film was interesting but there was not much of a display apart from a few posters on the walls, not as good as the St Pierre observatory in Martinique. Lunch was fantastic though, good old traditional home cooking, loved the pumpkin dumpling . The restricted access zone is huge, covering half of the island, you need a special permit to get in, so our view of the buried Plymouth was from a distance. Still impressive though, especially when we were shown picture of this thriving capital before the eruption. Jo told many stories of how things here before during and after the catastrophe and this definitely made the tour a success. It was nice to see that some people are making the most of the land fertilised by the hashes and loads of little gardens are dotted amongst the thick bush growing in the restricted zone. The most stunning views were the ashes’ flow over Plymouth and the extra land jutting out, filling the bay. Still no vegetation on it yet, so the scene is apocalyptic. This feeling is reinforced by the incessant movement of the huge trucks moving gravel up and down the rutted tracks, no other human activity visible. I guess the 5,000 people left on the island are grateful for the work. Interesting to hear that most of the population relocated in the UK after the eruption and that out of the one left, more than half are from other Caribbean islands, here to get access to a British passport after 5 years residency in Montserrat.
Back to little bay we have a run around on the beach with Mizzen, watching the pelicans dive for their supper. Our is masterfully concocted by Allan, on board Time after Time. We are introduced to the game of sequence. We like that card game with a twist.