My Nomad Diary, Week 12: My Volcanic Christmas Chronicles

Moments from the week:

Climbing an active volcano
Running for the first time since before my operation

My favourite places this week:

Week 12 and we are at 3 months!?

Welcome to a fresh week—and it’s not any ordinary Monday because today I hit the gym, hopped on a treadmill, and ran for the first time since July. Four months post-op, and we are in business, yeeeees. It was probably not the best idea to go from nothing for four months and dive head-first into a 5K, but I got it done lovely jubbly.
Other than that, not a lot, really. Hostel life is starting to wear me down, and I need some alone time. I have an Airbnb next week, and I need to knuckle down on some work. I’ve been quite lax the last couple of weeks, but it is Christmas.
Later in the day, I found a couple of nice co-working spots and some cafés, but that’s about it, really!
That night, I was having a drink at the hostel bar and a random couple from the UK turned up, which turned into me singing Bohemian Rhapsody in a karaoke bar a few hours later with some locals. And that is why I love to travel solo, every day is a surprise 😂

Unsurprisingly, Tuesday was nothing short of painful and not a lot happened, tomorrow is Christmas and, personally, it’s never really done it for me, I’m not religious, not into the whole over-consumerism vibe and don’t have much in the way of family, so it’s just another day in the diary.

So, fast-forward to Thursday (Boxing Day, for the cultured among us) and I’m ticking off another item from my bucket list… climbing an active volcano. A slight problem though, that over-ambitious 5K I did the other day basically feels like I’ve done an uphill marathon, I’m not in marvellous shape by any means.
A tour bus picked us up from the hostel at about 9 am and after a few errands, we reached La Soledad, where the trail starts. To basecamp, it’s about 7K with 1,200m of gain (starting at about 1,500masl), it’s a beast of a climb but not insurmountable.
With a few breaks thrown in, we reached Acatenango basecamp about six hours later. Antigua is overlooked by three volcanoes; Agua (3,760 m / 12,340 ft), Fuego (3,763 m / 12,346 ft) and Acatenango (3,976 m / 13,045 ft) and after a short break, we’re offered the option to descend about 500m to then ascend again to climb Fuego, which is currently active.
Naturally, old Billy Big Bollocks here decided he could take on two volcanoes in one day and well, it was just a bit of a silly idea.
Climbing Fuego is certifiably miserable, covered in ash, steeper than my patience for small talk and about as safe as using a colander as a parachute. The second hike takes about 90 minutes each way but the view from the top is certainly a memory I’ll hold dear for a long time.
All-in-all it’s about 12 hours on your feet and then you’re chucked in a cabin with four other people.
My advice? Spend a bit more money on one of the more expensive tour providers, comfort is a premium and it’s a tough day out.
My recommendations would be (in no particular order): Wicho & Charlie’s, V-Hiking, CA Travelers and Old Town Outfitters.

It’s Friday morning and, after probably the worst sleep in my 35-year tenure on this spinning rock, it’s time to hike again. There’s the option to do a sunrise hike from basecamp to the peak of Acatenango (about 1K and 200m incline) but I couldn’t possibly climb anymore, my legs were shot. At about 9 am, we started our 7K decline and were wrapped up in about two hours.
By about 1 pm we were back at our hostel and I grabbed my bags and headed to my Airbnb, which will be my home for the next week – I have not been alone for an extended period since October and it’s starting to show 😂
My Airbnb is great, it’s a one-bedroom apartment above the owner’s property and they have three dogs, Tortilla, Brownie and I can’t remember the third dog, but I love Tortilla and Brownie. I hereby call on Airbnb to implement a “has dogs” search filter, immediately.

Ah, le weekend, and what am I doing today? Going to a bloody activity park for some trails. I found this place about a 15-minute drive outside of the city called Carmona Trails which is a huge park for running, walking & biking; if I was in better shape, I’d set up shop here for a week for sure.
Reflecting on Antigua so far, it’s a trail-running and hiking paradise, there’s three volcanoes in this city alone with a further 20 (or possibly 30) more spread around the country. I’ll come back to Antigua for a longer stay next year when I’m properly healed from my surgery.

Wrapping up my final day of week 12 and it’s a fairly typical Sunday for me. I’ve been pretty flat-out for three months, so I decided to just do absolutely nothing. I stayed at home the entire day, watched TV, read books and went to bed early. I feel there’s this pressure created by social media to be doing something cool every day and, as a result, I keep my social media activity low and when I do post, it’s historic content. I then find that my decisions as a nomad are more about what I want, rather than what looks good on Instagram.

Moving on at the end of next week to a new base of operations, tune in next week for all the goss. Ciao 👋