The island of Montserrat is dominated by the majestic Soufrière Hills volcano. In 1995 it erupted after being dormant for hundreds of years, causing mass evacuations that resulted in half of the population never returning. A large part of the island still remains an exclusion zone, uninhabitable, with the previous capital, the now buried city of Plymouth, dubbed a ‘modern day Pompeii’. The eruption of 1995 technically still continues to this day, with activity monitored by the Volcano Observatory that I also visited- read about that here.
Visiting the Montserrat exclusion zone and buried city of Plymouth is one of the most interesting things you can do not only in Montserrat, but in the whole of the Caribbean. Entering the zone requires a special permit and a police escort to enter, but luckily I got the chance to visit as planned.
We entered the exclusion zone and drove into what used to be Plymouth. The scene in front of us was surreal: the skies were blue and in the beautiful sunshine, in the eerie silence, was almost a post-apocalyptic scene. Peeking out from the ground were the tower of a church; the remnants of the roofs and top floors of buildings that were literally covered by the eruption. Seeing it really made me feel the force of nature, and how helpless us humans really are in the face of it all.
Our guide and driver, Charles, also took us to visit an abandoned house and hotel. Seeing the rooms still filled with the belongings of those who had to leave their homes was quite humbling.
Entering the hotel felt like going into a movie set: phones and papers still in place at the reception desk, everything covered in ash and dust. Feeling like an urban explorer, I roamed through the rooms, wondering what the place looked like in its heyday.
I would wholeheartedly recommend visiting the exclusion zone for a different experience and to really understand the background of the island. It’s truly amazing to see how the island has managed to recover from such a disaster.
