Our crew spent New Year’s Eve in a small, quiet topical island paradise named Kanawa. While the island is beyond beautiful, it didn’t quite foster the best atmosphere for a rocking New Year’s Party…until we came along.

The beautiful nightly ambiance of Kanawa. This tree makes me think of the cover art of Jack Johnson’s In Between Dreams album. Photo Credit: Ellen

Suspecting that the evening would be tranquil, our crew mobilized to gather a few essentials: fireworks, drinks and snacks. It was also our intention to find killer speakers, but sadly, we didn’t accomplish that goal. Yet, as the quiet New Year’s Eve dinner our hotel hosted wound down, they lit a bonfire and turned up their massive speakers, which faced the sea making the sandy shore the perfect dance floor. A staff member began to play mediocre music from her cellphone, which got interrupted every other minute when she received a new text message. Unsurprisingly, the promising dance floor was empty.

Our last toast to 2013 with sopi, the traditional Flores moonshine.

After a few frustrating songs from this cellphone, I was able to weasel my iPod into the scenario and play DJ. Not long after, a few hotel guests joined the party. Then a few more guests shyly made their way in. Then, many of the staff members started dancing rowdily. Until finally, most of the people in all of Kanawa were on the dance floor, brimming with song requests. (I happily obliged since the majority were for Shakira.) And we all danced in the sand under a light rain until the ten-second countdown to 2013.

Me playing around with the fireworks, celebrating 2013. Photo Credit: Ellen

* for more logistical details about traveling to Flores check out this blog post.