Central America

Caribbean white-sand beaches and offshore reefs border lazy backpacker towns while, not far away, coffee-scented mountains reach, Dr Seuss–like, through smoke-ring clouds. Spanish haciendas line the cobblestone streets of 16th-century colonial towns under the ominous gaze of lava-gurgling volcanoes. Wander through dense jungle to find Mayan pyramids that date back a millennium as bulldog-sized rodents scurry past and howler monkeys commute in the treetops above you.
Central America – Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and parts of southern Mexico – is distinctly apart from its bigger, more well-known American neighbors. That it remains a mystery to so many, makes the trip all the more rewarding.