A church steeple rising out of the volcanic ash is the only evidence it ever existed. The town was completely buried and half the islands' population relocated elsewhere. Many, many homes that look intact had to be evacuated and the residents cannot return.

The remaining Montserattians are a very proud people and carrying on with life as usual on the remaining 1/3 of this beautiful gem of an island. They always have their antenna up for reports of volcanic activity developing and a contingency plan for safety.

We looked in awe as we sailed by and could smell burning sulphur and see steam coming from the volcano. It was quite spectacular and we saw it first hand.

Yet another island where goats are very prevalent. Curried goat, with peas and rice, is common on all the islands and quite delicious.

Seeing these cute little kids with their mom makes me wonder if I'll still be interested in ordering the local dish.

With new activity as recently as January 2007, and new areas evacuated, there is no doubt this volcano isn't finished displaying her power. The former viewing areas are now in restricted areas and high fines are issued to anyone entering the zone. We had the best view when we sailed by on our way to Guadeloupe.

This was the view of the Soufriere Hills Volcano as we approached the island from Nevis. We had seen documentaries on Montserrat and were very interested in visiting the island and seeing the volcano for ourselves. We were more than impressed with what we saw.