Garibaldi Hill

Once back in the car we continued our drive on up to Garibaldi Hill, where we were promised a birds eye view of the previous town of Plymouth below on one side, lush green mountains of the central hills falling away to the coast on the other, and a perfect panorama of the Caribbean sea with views to Redondo and Nevis to the west.
The drive up the hill was an adventure all by itself. The road was not so much a road more the remnants of a road. George's little car tipped and struggled over boulders and rocks, dips and craters in the side of the hill as it made its way precariously on up. Then, as if the road alone wasn't enough excitement we came across a humongous sleeping bull that was sporting the largest pair of horns I have ever seen, right there in the middle of our path. George carefully maneuvered the car past the sleeping giant, and my eyes almost popped straight out of my head when I glimpsed the shear drop beneath us as we passed.
I have to say I was more than a little nervous, but Edi and Bob appeared unconcerned, or maybe it's a guy thing, you know, don't show fear, anyway I was terrified. Bob and Edi actually appeared to be enjoying the drive up the hill. As we climbed higher we could clearly see the trails of the rivers of ash that had flowed from the top of the volcano down to the ocean below. One can only imagine the horror. When the first eruption occurred in August 1995, the defenseless town of Plymouth was thrown into total darkness for a full 15 minutes as the thick cloud of ash hovered above it. Standing there on top of the hill looking down on the remnants of town beneath us, it was a sight I will not easily forget.
George gave us time to look around and take photos before returning to the car and starting our decent. I have to say I wasn't exactly thrilled at the prospect of the drive down the side of the hill, the drive up had aged me 10 years.
As I predicted the drive down was a real heart stopper for me, as George took off at speed. Bob caught sight of my terrified expression in the mirror and asked George if he would slow down for us to take photos, when he was really just trying to prevent the coronary that was threatening to occur right there in the back seat.
Visions of our little car bouncing off a boulder and taking flight over the cliff edge, with all of us inside screaming like banshees as we plunged to our deaths in the sea of ash below were vivid in my mind. I think I may have actually bruised Edi's arm with my vice like grip on the way down. After 10 of the longest minutes in my life we arrived safely at the foot of the hill, miracles do happen!
For information on Monsterrat go to www.visitmontserrat.com and for the current alert level for the volcano go to www.mvo.com