We got up early to grab some breakfast before being picked up for the tour. As usual the tour was late so we sat around chatting to new and old friends. The shuttle eventually arrived and took us around the corner to the office where we got to know some of our fellow hikers. The shuttle dropped us here and then went to fetch some other hikers before we were on our way. The road was rather bumpy so we weren't able to catch up on any sleep but did manage to get to know our hiking team a little better.

At the start of the hike we grabbed a few snacks and were given our camping equipment before we got on our way. The first section was through some corn fields and then we entered the forest. I wasn't able to enjoy many of the views as I was concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other making sure I kept going. We continued through the corn fields and forest for about 4 hours before finally getting a little bit of a flat section. The whole hike had been up until then and we were all very happy to finally be using some different muscles but this didn't last long as there was plenty of uphill between the few flat sections.

After 4.5km we eventually hit the base camp at just over 3000m. As we arrived we saw Fuego erupting but due to the day light most of what we saw was the smoke. We set up the camp and made a fire before enjoying the sunset and some flying lava. We all sat around the camp fire chatting and enjoying a few drinks, hot chocolate and some pot noodles before trying to get some sleep. I didn't get much sleep and every time I heard a big eruption I would unzip the door and watch the lava for a while before trying to get some more sleep. 

During the night I kept waking up thinking that it was raining and wanting to get my bag which was outside but it was only ash from the volcano that was falling.