Montserrat

It looks like a cloudy day in Montserrat in the Caribbean, at least from the perspective of the hllls on Antigua. That's a little unusual, since the sun was out in the surrounding area.

But those aren't clouds over the island. That's steam. You might want to blow up the photo a bit by clicking on it.

That brings us to the reason for that steam - a volcano. 

The Soufrière Hills volcano had been pretty quiet before July of 1995, but it sprung back to life in a big way. An eruption caused the destruction of the capital city of Plymouth, and many (two-thirds or so) had to flee the island. The docking area and the airport were in the damage zone, which was roughly the southern half of the island. 

The volcano has been pretty quiet since 2010, but an observatory has been keeping an eye on it since the eruption. A couple of hurricanes and the pandemic have slowed the rebuilding process. 

Montserrat has an interesting history. It was first sighted by Columbus in 1493, and settled by a bunch of Irishmen in 1632. The French took it over briefly around the American Revolution as something of a gesture, but returned it when the Treaty of Paris was signed. 

The place is considered an internally self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom. That's rather confusing. King Charles is considered the head of state, although he picked a Governor to run things. So does it count on your list of visited countries if you pay a visit? Probably not, but remember - it's your list. 

You can only fly into Montserrat at this point, as an airport has been built in recent years. This is off the beaten path, but might be worth investigating if you are a little adventurous.