JUST MISSING A MAJOR ERUPTION!
When I was offered the chance to go on a nice helicopter trip around Antigua I jumped at the chance. When I was told we would be visiting the volcanic island of Montserrat I became slightly nervous. When I was told it was active and had erupted recently I became very nervous!
I then experienced one of the trips of my life...
We arrived at Caribbean helicopters in good time to receive a 15 minute safety briefing. We were told that the helicopter we were to travel in was statistically the safest single engine aircraft in the world. I couldn’t help wondering though how many had been tested flying straight at an active volcano!
We departed from Caribbean Helicopter’s helipad near Fort James. We started by buzzing the cruise liners moored at Heritage Quay. I wondered whether we might give the hot funnels a bit of a fly-by just to get some practice in for the volcano!
We then flew out to sea over crystal clear seas around Antigua. We were at around 2,000 feet but the water was so clear we could see the reef at the bottom of the sea. I even managed to see some sea turtles. Our pilot said that from February until April you can even see whales as they come to give birth in the safety of the Antiguan waters.
The flight took around 15 minutes and we saw the island virtually as soon as we left Antigua. Not because of its size but the column of steam and ash that was billowing from the top of it. The volcano had been dormant for millions of years and then a couple of thousand years ago it woke up…. with indigestion!
We swept in dodging in and out of the mountains and the cloud of ash and steam. On the other side of the island I saw a sight that I had never seen before and will probably never again.
It was the former capital of Plymouth which had been swallowed up by an eruption in 1997. We saw the houses that had been overcome by the lava and ash perfectly preserved apart from their roofs which had just disappeared. It was like getting a tour of Pompei just a few weeks after it was engulfed. There was thick brown mud everywhere. It was like God had decided to put a facial mud pack on the whole town!
We flew around the volcano for around 20 minutes weaving in and out of the mountains, trees and wrecked houses. All the time we were being updated with interesting facts about the island’s history including the options to leave that the British had given after the last major eruption.
A few days after we visited the volcano erupted again, this time engulfing the former airport! Luckily they had moved the airport a few years before otherwise it would have been one of the best excuses I have ever heard for missing a flight. “Sorry I didn’t get back to work on time but the airport was engulfed by a volcano!”
If you are lucky enough to visit Antigua while Montserrat is still active then this trip has to be near the top of the list.
To find out more about Caribbean Helicopters click here.
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