If you are itching to sneak away and stay warm during the holidays, visit these hot destinations.
There’s a point during the holiday season when you feel downright exhausted. The point when you have decorated all you can decorate, you’ve shopped for all the gifts on the list and you have gobbled up one too many candy canes. What if you could skip all of that and escape to a tropical destination? Here are four excellent choices where you can easily join in with the locals as they celebrate the holidays (and kick up your feet while you’re at it).
Montego Bay, Jamaica
Christmas in Montego Bay is generally a mixture of longstanding family traditions. “Typically, families join together to enjoy the day and take in individuals who are alone,” says Michelle Patterson, a wedding manager at Hummingbird Hall, a boutique wedding venue in Jamaica.
“The run up to Christmas in Jamaica is treated with much excitement,” Patterson says. “The external signs that Christmas is coming include: reggae versions of traditional Christmas carols; Christmas lights being erected by town councils, shopping plazas and hotels; and goats and pigs being fattened (curried goat is a year-round Jamaican favourite, but especially prized during Christmas).”
The night before Christmas is especially important in Jamaica. “Most Jamaicans do not purchase gifts until December 24, and thoroughly enjoy purchasing gifts at the Grand Market,” she explains. “During Grand Market, shops remain open all night, shoppers dress in new clothes, carol singers entertain shoppers and families shop together. ”
In the evenings there are Junkanoo parades, which are masquerades meant to entertain and “frighten” people into giving to worthy causes. Religious concerts abound during this season, as do pantomimes (in patois) for children and adults. Christian Jamaicans attend a Watch Night Service, where the tradition is for individuals to wait in church until midnight to watch for the coming of Christ.
As for Christmas day, it tends to begin with a huge cooked breakfast. “Families breakfast together and may then go to the beach to enjoy the water,” Patterson says. Children are sometimes given noisy toys, firecrackers and sparklers to enjoy while at the beach.
After that, the feasting begins at home. The emphasis is on meats, fish and seafood, and homemade drinks such as carrot juice punch and sorrel (handmade from a Jamaican flower and mixed with rum and ginger) help complement the meal. Ackee and saltfish — Jamaica’s national dish — is common, as well as liver, boiled dumplings, yam, porridge and curried chicken. Also popular are milo and porridge; mannish water, a soup made using the entrails, head and bones of a goat; and Christmas cake, which includes rum-soaked fruits.
The special day is also marked by weddings galore. “Many couples choose to get married on Christmas day because of the number of visitors from overseas who are likely to attend; and the fact that warm weather is almost guaranteed,” she says. “To marry on Christmas Day in Jamaica holds special significance. A Christmas wedding signifies affluence and excess, as it is often more costly to marry on this public holiday. Often couples pick up on the Christmas colour of red, which also symbolises romance and love. The next best thing to marrying on Christmas Day is to get engaged on that day. This signifies in the minds of Jamaicans uniqueness and exclusivity.”
Havana, Cuba
Since the Pope’s visit to Havana in 1998, Cubans seem to be embracing Christmas celebrations more than ever. “Nativity scenes [appeared] in churches and public homes, and even Christmas trees imported from China went on sale,” says journalist Christopher Baker, who has been writing about Cuba for decades.
One of his favourite things about Cuba during the holidays is the elaborate nativity scenes many devout Christians set up in their living rooms. “The doors and windows of Cuban homes are typically left open to the street, so that passersby can view the nativity scenes,” he says.
And don’t forget about the feasting. No holiday meal is complete without roasting a pig. “The pork is typically served with rice and black beans; starch veggies, such as yucca and malanga; and fried plantains,” Baker explains. “There will be ropa vieja (braised beef), and flan for dessert.”
There is very little gift giving or exchange in Cuba, he says, so Christmas is not marked by shopping frenzies or marketing hype. Christmas feels more like another reason for Cubans to get together and crank up the music and dance.
La Ceiba, Honduras
If you’re looking for some unique holiday celebrations, head down to the city of La Ceiba in Honduras. When planning your getaway, keep in mind that Christmas is celebrated on December 24 rather than the 25. “This is the time when families gather together at midnight and throw firecrackers,” says Shary Juárez, marketing coordinator at the Honduran Tourism Institute. “At midnight, there is a tradition of throwing firecrackers and a gift exchange called cuchumbo.”
This is also the time when families get together for a traditional meal of pork leg, ham, stuffed chicken, and rice and beans with coconut, pork and potatoes. For dessert it’s torrejas, rosquillas and mapled sugar cane pumpkin. Rompopo (eggnog) is popular, too.
And, it wouldn’t be a traditional Christmas meal without tamales. These delicious treats are typically filled with chicken, pork and some combination of rice, potatoes, garbanzos, peas and green olives, all wrapped in banana leaves. You’ll see women selling tamales to friends and neighbours. Other times they are exchanging them as if they were cookies.
Miami, Florida
“Miami is a diverse community that celebrates not only American Christmas holiday traditions, but also traditions that reflect the varied and rich heritage of our residents,” says William D. Talbert, III, president and CEO of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau (GMCVB). “From holiday extravaganzas to parades and holiday celebrations, Miami’s calendar is packed with holiday traditions.”
Kwanzaa celebrations are held throughout Miami’s African-American community, and Santa Claus is called “Papa Nwel” in Miami’s Little Haiti neighbourhood. Better yet, the Christmas holiday season extends into January, with events that include an alternative to traditional parades, such as the King Mango Strut Parade, Coconut Grove’s zany spoof of events and people in the news, and the Three Kings parade in the heart of Little Havana.
For Cubans, Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) features the traditional Cuban feast: Cuban-style roast pork, black beans and rice, yucca, maduros (fried plantains) and flan. The pig is roasted in a special grill called a Caja China. Throughout Miami, restaurants tout a vast variety of holiday cuisine and culinary delights that reflects the community’s international connections.
“Miamians take great pride in decorating our lush tropical landscape in holiday lights,” says Talbert. “Decorated palm trees are as much a holiday tradition as Christmas trees.”
One of Talbert’s favourite family traditions is eating stone crabs on New Year’s Day. “And Christmas brunch by the swimming pool [is a] family tradition,” says Talbert. “December weather is always beautiful in Miami!”
Getting There: Cayman Airways offers daily flights to Miami and multiple flights weekly to Montego Bay, La Cieba and Havana from Grand Cayman.
Source: caymanairwaysmagazine.com