Celebrating the Holidays Solo

Our Christmas this year was spent in Panajachel, which is the tourist town of Lake Atitlan. Overall, we weren’t big fans of the place, since we had experienced the other side of the lake first, which was more our style of a laid back and less touristy atmosphere. We ended up getting a place out in the bush away from the chaos of the town centre yet was still only a 20 minute walk away. It was nice, we set out to the market to get our food for Christmas dinner a few days in advance because opening hours seemed to be a little sketchy during the holidays. We returned home and spent the next two days in the hammock, chilling out, playing silly Christmas tunes from our past and reminiscing.

In Guatemala they celebrate on the 25th at midnight, so late in the evening of the 24th at 11:45 we set out to see the amazing set of fireworks everyone was talking about. We walked to the lake and sat down with some beer because we could see all the little towns around the lake. There was a couple fireworks at first and then it suddenly intensified; I looked at my watch and yep, it was 11:59 and then it went CRAZY! Fireworks all around the lake from every household/community/walkway/alleyway that anyone could light off. It was magical, albeit a bit scary; we started walking closer to town. There was an overwhelming amount of fireworks being set off all at once, it was wonderful. It lasted about an hour before it started dying down; and while the main display slowly faded, the explosions were heard well into the morning and into the following evening.

For Christmas dinner itself, we bought ham and made potatoes with mushroom gravy, as well as some broccoli for colour and much needed nutrients We ended up having orange juice, sugar and cumin seeds so I made a glaze for our ham, which ended up being amazing! We also found a cheap box of wine and celebrated Christmas by ourselves. Probably our first Christmas without any family or friends to celebrate with, and while a little strange, it’s all part of the travel experience!

A few days later, we left Panajachel on a bus and headed out to Antigua for New Years. I have to say Central America loves their fireworks. This was a great light show as well. We ended up having to do some work on our website for a couple of long days and only ended up making it to the main part of the fireworks, but it was still very eventful and amazing. Anyone with the a lighter could set off fireworks no matter their age or proximity to the crowd. We shared some hugs and several frosty beers with random people we met in the streets and the happiness was definitely spread. Soon after the crowd dissipated, Mark and I called it an early evening. While we enjoyed two great celebrations, I have to say this year was quite different than the last couple years we celebrated with friends and family. Needless to say we got ahead on what needed to be done, and we are ready for 2018!