Montserrat

A police escort waits patiently as I stroll the ash-blanketed streets of Montserrat's capital, Plymouth. Behind me, cattle meander through the vast gray expanse of hardened mudflows spewed by Montserrat's volcano—flanked by stunning emerald greensward. Before me a pristine beach glistens like black pearls in the sun. Graceful Georgian buildings poke up like restless sprites: the bell turret of the War Memorial, the gables of Government House. Suddenly I stop short to avoid plunging through a collapsed roof. A droll yet dreamlike store display is revealed: untouched rows of sneakers and Swatches in a former shop—a good 15 feet underground.

Aficionados have always regarded Montserrat as an idyllic, fairy-tale island. But in 1995, Grimm turned grim when the Soufrière Hills volcano erupted, literally throwing the island into the fire. The frilly Victorian gingerbreads of the capital, Plymouth, were buried, much of the tourism infrastructure was wiped out, and more than half the original 11,000 residents departed and have not been able to return. Though the volcano still belches (plumes of ash are visible from as far as Antigua), plucky locals joke that new beachfront is being created. The volcano itself is an ecotourism spot drawing travelers curious to see the awesome devastation. Ironically, other fringe benefits exist. Volcanic deposits enriched the already fertile soil; locals claim their fruit and vegetable crops have increased and improved. The slightly warmer waters have attracted even more-varied marine life for divers and snorkelers to appreciate, along with new underwater rock formations.

Although an "Exclusion Zone" covers half the island, the rest is safe; in fact, the zone was slightly retracted after the volcano's lava dome partially collapsed during a pyroclastic flow in July 2003. Seismologists and vulcanologists conduct regular risk analyses and simulation studies; as a result, the Daytime Exclusion Zone shrank after a May 2006 collapse, then expanded again after activity in early 2008 and again in January 2009. Visitors expecting mass devastation are in for a surprise; Montserrat ranks among the region's most pristine, serene destinations, its luxuriant vegetation and jagged green hills justifying the moniker Emerald Isle.

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