Right off the coast near Belize City the itsy-bitsy islet Caye Caulker turned out to be the region’s backpacker Mecca despite lacking the centerpiece of any Caribbean island bubble: a beach. Everything else that caters to the hedonistic needs of the rucksack pilgrimage was right in place – party hostels with wicked names, reggae joints, seafood-barbecues at street food stalls that were more food than street. The Creole population was sprinkled with Chinese, South Asian and Caucasian, and beamed friendly rays into the atmosphere to come your way. The chilled law of the kingdom forbade cars and demanded leisure, so golf-carts, hammocks and taking life belizy it was (can’t make these expressions up).

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