The Goderich Signal-Star, 1973-05-31, Page 18PAGE 4A—GODERICH S1r,NA1..STAR. THURSDAY, MAY 31, 1973
Travel feature
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For the average tourist,
perhaps the British West In-
dian Island of Montserrat
represents much of what the
other Caribbean islands do in
the way of a winter retreat
from,the cold of North America
and certainly the pressures of a
busy life in • Canada or the
United States,
• - At least Montserrat tries to
offer those things but only suc-
ceeds so far as its existing
climate and way of life provide
those things on their own.
Although , the Montserrat
Tourist Board notes on its
travel pamphlets — "Do you
seek the pleasure of unwinding
from the stresses and strains of
a busy . life, in the cool breezes
of a green, peaceful tropical
islands-- rt dust cannot offer
the same sort of holiday a
tourist might find in the
Bahamas, Peurto Rico, Bar-
bados or Trinidad
It can not offer these things
because it •dust does not have
the heavy investment in big
hotels, with their night clubs.
casinos and high class bars.
Montserrat does noti-lhave the
charter boat lines to take
tourists fishing for the Carib-
bean trophy of their dreams.
And remember, 'Montserrat is
less than 40 square miles in
size.
Don't, however, from these
observations, jump to the con-
clusion that Montserrat is
merely some small back water
of 'the British West. Indies.
What it lacks in foreign invest-
ment in the tourist trade, it -
makes up .and surpasses in real
hospitality. and warmth.
Any of the tourist islands
mentioned above can offer a
bright night life with top notch
entertainment and an endless
list of suggested activities for
the tourist who might find him-
self bored, but few can offer the
unspoiled beauty and personal
attention found on Montserrat.
Although there are no
Holiday Inns or Hiltons there.
are several fine hotels „on the
island,
The Caribelle Inn , provides
both rooms and chalets and
comes complete with a swim-
ming pool. During our stay we
enjoyed,one of the finest meals
of our Caribbean visit at the
Caribelle. '
The Vire • Pointe Hotel • is
another fine establishment
providing a pool and beach side
bars as well as a tennis court
and -fine food.
The ,Coconut Hill Hotel, one
of the older accommodation
services on Montserrat, offers a
beach, a downtown Plymouth
location and good rooms in a
plantation type surrounding.
The Emerald :Isle Hotel is
located on a hill sloe of. the
slol)e of.
•
Ieeside of the island
overlooking the coastline, the
Harbor and nearby Plymouth.
Specializing in West Indian
cuisine ,it provides entertain-
ment, swimming pool and
cocktail lounge.
The Olveston House, one of
the smaller hotels of Mont-
serrat with only six double
rooms, also offers .a' swimming
pool and excellent Caribbean
surroundings.
Night life in Plymouth may
be limited in comparison to
some of Montserrat's Carib-
bean neighbors but, it can be
most enjoyable. Steel bandy,
native to the island, put up the
entertainment in comfortable
and friendly surroundings.
It's hard to picture all those
bogged cars as y a, January
snowstorm hits your home
town while you sit beside a
pool, overlooking the lights of
.Plymouth and its harbor, with
a steel band banging out those
Caribbean rhythms. And so it
should be.
For North Americans the
Caribbean, and islands like
Montserrat, are a retreat and
Montserrat lives up to that ex-
pectation in every way.
If one stops to consider it,
though accommodation, meals
and entertainment to pass.
those warm Caribbean nights,
are only one part of a vacation
experience.
Vacations mean different
things to different people and
in that respect it is fortunate an
island like Montserrat still
exists. An island that can offer
the important gore of a fine
holiday, good food and comfor-
table accommodation, and still
provide a place to let your hair
down without the pressure of
an endless round of formal
cocktail parties and the like.
Thirty nine and one half
square miles may sound like a
very small chunk of property to
Canadians accustomed to
thinking in terms of millions of
square miles but it took Peg
and me every bit of our two
weeks to explore even a large
portion of Montserrat.
It is in that exploration that
Montserrat can offer something
other islands fail on.
Millions of years ago the
island was formed' through
volcanic eruption, unlike many
of the other Caribbean islands
which are coral in formation.
As a result skin and scuba
divers may be disappointed in
underwater exploration but
hikers and campers will find
climbing the steep,[ rocky 4nd
jungle covered mountain sides
a ohallange indeed.
There are two "Soufriere
Hills" high in the south moun-
tains of the island— Soufriere
meaning sulphur and the hills
Joie Your Fellow Canadians on
TRAVELLINGA'S 1973 -.
Community Friendship Tour to the
British Isles.I and Southern Ireland
.,
"You are invited / to . attend a SPECIAL PRE -TOUR
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over the Itinerary of the Tour, meet the Tour Hosts Walter and
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22 DAYS — DEPARTING FROM TORONTO
SEPTEMBER 9, 1973
This outstanding tour has been especially arranged for you
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r ` We ars happy to announce that
this Tour will be personally eicor-'
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former Warden for the County of
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Membership on this Tour is limited to 32 persons.
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actually being semi -active
volcanos.
Its quite a climb up into the
cone from where one must park
the jeep, but its an experience
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remained fairly dormant.
A visit to the Soufriere Hills
is a must foo the hardier, more
adventuring tourist, the excit-
ment heightened by the fact
the edge of a river gorge.
Agajfthe climb is worth the,
energy expended.
The waterfall brink is in a
horse shoe shape with crystal
well worth the. effort. Down in-
side the volcanic cone itself you
walk on crusted sulphur which
once spewed out of the moun-
tain top. Numerous geysers of
hot steam still belch and the
water running from the crevices
is well above boiling in tem-
perature.
Combined with the tropical
heat, the temperature makes it
difficult to breath, especially
since the smell of molten
Sulphur lies thick on the air. At
one point I knelt down to
photograph some of the spur-
ting steam and gave myself a
rather nasty burn since the
ground on which we were
walking is also rather warm.
The last time the volcano
erupted was during the 1920's
and since that time it has
that only a very few feet
beneath one's feet hot lava is
still bubbling and ready to
burst out again.
On another hiking adventure
we camped high in the southern
hills, south of Castle Peak, and
just downstream from the
Great Alp Falls.
The falls represents one of
Montserrat's most impressive
natural tourist attractions but
getting to it makes the ex-
perience all the more exciting.
There are no chairlifts up the
mountainsides, or roadways
with a car park overlooking its
splendor. To get there it means .
a two to three hour elimb up
the mountainsides along a goat
path. The trail winds under
thick tropical vegetations and
at times clings precariously to
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shopping, theatres and entertainment.
You get something else that's special at til( Lord
Simcoe it's friendly hospitality you will enjoy through-
out your stay with us.
Colour TV in every room, fully air conditioned.
Lord Simcoe Hotel (J)
Sce your travel agent or contact us at:
150 King Street West, Toronto. Telephone: 362-1848.
clear water cascading down
some 70 feet into a mountain
pool. After the exhausting
climb in 80 degree plus tem-
peratures a shower under this
falls can prove to be one of the
most rewarding parts of the ex-
pedition.
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That night we camped down-
stream from the falls. A guide
and bearer cooked our meals
and helped around our camp- '
site. Across the river, high on
the 'cliffs, we could watch the
scurry of large . Iguanas, those
ugly but harmless giant lizards
of the tropics.
Montserrat makes for safe
outdoor holidaying. The
Iguanas though huge, are har-
mless. There are snakes but
none poisonous and insects
were few and far between
during our visit.
The only major danger is in
the form of a tree- The sap of
that plant, looking muat like
the sap of a milk weed, is
deadly poison. Taken internally
it will kill in a matter of ho'trs
and' if spattered4 on the skin
(continued on page 7A)
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