Around The World In 80 Waves

I started the day watching England struggle to beat Italy in the six nations, setting up a mouth-watering final clash of this year’s championship in Cardiff next week.

I followed that with a great Skype conversation with my mum back in the UK. It was great to use the residence’s internet connections to see the folks back at home. Apparantly it was 1C there and about to snow. Not much chance of that here.

The staff do not work at the weekends here, so as my contribution to Mother’s day here I allowed the Ambassador a day off and cooked everybody a Sunday roast. Roast beef, cauliflower, mash, beans, carrots roast potatoes and lashings of gravy. It was an absolute feast and I had also prepared a giant lime jelly laced with fruit cocktail for desert.

It also gave us the excuse to tuck into some more of the wine I have brought across two continents from the Napa valley. The Syrah tasted like Ribena and we quickly polished off both bottles.

Other than that not much going on apart from enjoying the Top Gear Africa special on the iPlayer in the evening.

Dear Mum

Hope you have a fantastic day today and that you like the flowers and chocolates that should be delivered today.

I trust they will have arrived on time as arranged.

I will be thinking of you all day today.

Lots of love

Robert

XXX

I was up at 5.30 to meet some of the embassy staff who would be climbing the active volcano with me. Ismael and Sara who are both locals, joined me for the drive from Guatemala City and we picked up Eleanor, an American trainer who works for the embassy and is here for the week  in Antigua before starting the ascent. The first thing we saw was this geothermal facility which uses the heat produced by the volcano to generate electricity for the surrounding area.

Ismael had brought us to the base of Mount Pacaya and we started the climb. I had barely been able to walk the previous day so was glad that my legs were even moving, however it was really tough until we climbed through a layer of smog and the air cleaned up. You can see some of the path in this picture, which never let up.

The hike was all the more difficult because there was no shelter from the relentless sun, which we had started early to avoid the worst of.

We saw a few others on the climb using horses to do the work for them, but that wouldnt be the way I wanted to reach the summit. To help us along Ismael had brought along walking sticks for everybody. As you can see I was more interested in fencing with mine.

Going completely to the summit had been prohibited a week earlier due to the increased activity being shown by the volcano, so the highest we were able to get was a small vent which had formed about a 100m down from the rim of the crater.

Parts of this vent were still red hot but that didn’t stop Sara from scaling the chimney which had formed on top of it. The fine pieces of rock are very hard but the lumps of it are surprisingly brittle. When Sara descended a few sizable pieces fell off the side of the chimney so I thought it best not to try and climb to the top myself.

We sat at the base of the chimney and had a bite to eat, that is until it was actually burning our backsides. There was also a rather ominous rumble from the main volcano, so we started the descent back to the little town at the edge of the national park where we left the car, and where this picture was taken.

A quick drive back to Antigua where we enjoyed a wonderful lunch and then honed our haggling skills in the markets there. We hung around drinking cocktails on a rooftop terrace until the sun went down behind the mountains and it was time to go home.

I’m heading off to scale an active volcano today. Will let you know how I get on.

Cymru am byth for the rugby versus Scotland in the interim.

It was another relatively quiet day here at the Residence. Once again I took part in their regular Friday football match. This week however we played for more than two hours from midday in the 36C heat, and not having eaten beforehand I was a dead-man walking by the time I threw in the towel. Despite drinking nearly 3 litres of water I could barely walk back to the house, and a shower didn’t do anything to help my legs which had completely given up.

By the time I had surfaced from my room there was a children’s birthday party going on, complete with bouncy castle, because it was Amy 5th birthday. Amy is a big fan of the Barbie themed surf movie ‘A Mermaid’s Tale’ so I bought her a doll of one of the characters from the film, and a surfing themed colouring book.

All of the children seemed to be having fun, but I had to dash off and collect my car from the mechanics. Unfortunately that meant I missed this huge my little pony styled pinata getting beating to pieces by the children. Once it is open all the sweets which have been placed inside fall to the floor for all the kids to pounce upon.

Sadly after collecting my car from the garage and wincing at the bill of 6000 Quetzales I got stuck in the Friday afternoon traffic jam as everybody made a break from the city for the weekend and sitting in the 36C heat for nearly two hours in my car breathing hot traffic fumes was just painful.

I returned to the residence to then eat the entire leftovers from the party because I knew I wold need the energy for the following day.

The staff of the embassy were having an away day at a coffee plantation just down the road from Antigua and were kind enough to invite me to join them for the afternoon.

Phil and I took a short drive to the plantation after lunch.

Now I am not a huge filter coffee fan because I can’t think of any other drink that you might have that you would still be tasting half an hour after having consumed it.

However I was looking forward to getting a better appreciation of what is required to put a brew in a cup in front of me. he planatation was huge and you can see the ripe red fruits on one of the bushes here.

Before I eloborate further on that I wanted to show you this picture of my clean shaven self with Carmen and Eusenia who have been looking after me at the Residence, which was taken at the plantation.

As you can see I am a tad taller than the ladies and the fellas here are not a great deal nearer my height.

It was for this reason that my lip warmer got removed yesterday. It was a bit of a pointless disguise here.

There may yet be another facial creation on this trip, but for now I am happy to look 10 years younger again. (At least that is what the staff tell me.)

We took a guided tour of the plantation seeing the whole of the production process. It begins with this nursery of young saplings that will later be fused on to existing bushes.

The ‘cherries’ from the bushes are hand picked with spoilt or damaged ones cast aside. From this point the low quality cherries are further sifted by a floating process akin to that for identify a witch in medieval times, with the naff ones being kept aside for the production of instant coffee!

A machines squeeze the beans out of the cherries and the beans undertake a drying process which is done naturally in the sun. You can see the guy here turning them over to ensure there are no bikini marks on their tan.

There are then further hand sifting processes to ensure the quality of beans is maintained, before the beans are ready for roasting and then packaging.

Can somebody put the kettle on?

Myself and Phil drove to Antigua yesterday, which was the capital of Guatemala until a massive earthquake levelled it in 1773 and it was moved to Guatemala City.

It is a beautiful town with a colonial charm, because Guatemala was under Spanish rule until 1821.

As with everywhere I go here there are huge volcanoes overshadowing everything.

Antigua is no different and there are two massive ones overshadowing the town.

We have a wonder around this traveller hotspot, but it feels a wee bit sterile because of the five star hotels and so many foreign faces that are knocking about.

Phil takes me to a favourite cafe of his for lunch and we both have a chuckle at this statue in the courtyard at the back.

You may well be wondering how I have managed to get such VIP treatment by the British Ambassador.

In order to ensure that British diplomatic missions worldwide are not unduly visited by a hoard of thirsty surfers I should probably tell you that the Ambassador, Sarah, and her husband Phil are good friends of mine whom I have known for many years having met on a skiing holiday in France.

Visting them and enjoying being a part of events at the embassy through this week was something I simply couldn’t miss.

I think having a crusty surfer rolling through town spices things up a bit here too. Although I dont think I look too shabby in this picture taken of us all just before the British Ball.

The little lady in front is one of their daughters, Amy.

A few more things about my current home.

First it has the sort of barbeque I have always dreamed off. A giant thing set in brick, which is big enough to cook a whole pig on, and has enough surfaces around that no child can tip over, no matter how hard they try.

Second, like all garages there are items laying around the one here which rarely get used, such as the airport style metal detector, which you can see here.

It is next to the armoured car, complete with diplomatic plates, which I am not showing for security reasons.

The little green surf machine fits right in with such esteemed company.

Thirdly I have mentioned Guatemalan volcanoes previously.

I am told there are 37 active ones here and this one you can see from the grounds of the Residence. I believe it is called Mount Pacaya

Finally now that the marquee has gone I can show you the full extent of the grounds to which I am becoming accustomed.

I could easily get used to this!

We all miss the comforts of home when away and turning up here with a bountiful supply of HP Sauce, Marmite, Hob-Nobs, Polos, Fruit Pastilles and Heinz Baked Beans amongst other things means I am very popular.

My stash of PG Tips is a welcome addition here too.

Anyone for a cup of tea, with a biscuit or two?