$$Money taken in port???

[hoff4man02]

:confused: Can anyone tell me if they take US currency at the port shops or do I need to get it changed to their currebcy. If so, what is it? I don't have a clue. Thanks

hoff4man02

[dizneefreak28]

I was there last June and used US Currency at the port shops.

[murphysmum]

Hello...

 

We had a cruise stop there a couple of years ago and didn't bother to change money. Dollars were fine. After our tour, we asked to be let off in Belize City before the port shops. There was a small local outdoor crafts market selling beautiful weavings, tapestry and huipiles. All of the fabrics were actually from Guatemala (The women selling them told us they'd brought/bought them across the border.).

 

We'll be stopping in Belize next year on one of the new Alzamara (sp?) ships. I'm curious if anyone knows what kind of crafts are actually indigenous to Belize? Since their temples are Mayan, I would think that their textiles would be similar to those produced in Guatemala. Does anyone know?

 

It's SUCH a beautiful country; I'm anxious to return.

 

Enjoy!

 

murphysmum;)

[driftwood]

See below: response expanded.

[driftwood]

"Unlike Guatemala and Mexico, Belize has not developed a souvenir industry or nurtured Indian crafts. However, a couple of small operations around San Ignacio now teach old skills such as Maya pottery and slate carving."--Insight Guide Belize, rev. 2006.

 

The colorful Guatemalan cloth is quite legit, however, as Belize is full of Guatemalan refugees who escaped Guatemala long ago during the Reagan Administration/CIA-sponsored slaughters to the South of Belize, from Guatemala through Nicaragua.

 

One US dollar=2 Belizean dollars; there is no need to exchange currency.

[murphysmum]

Hello Driftwood....

 

Thanks for the information and insight. It's possible that, because my Spanish is limited, the women selling their fabrics were telling me that THEY had moved across the border when I asked if the fabrics were, indeed, Guatemalan.

 

RE: Your spot on comment about the devastation wreaked by our government...It was a travesty. I'm pleased to say, if you haven't been there recently, that I did an extensive trip through Guatemala last year and the areas previously affected are beginning to thrive due to a returning tourist trade. Many areas had just had huge setbacks and lost many family members because of the major mudslides, but had dug out and were getting on with their lives as best they could.

 

Our cruise will be stopping in Guatemala as well; I'm very much looking forward to visiting Guatemala again...and will go back soon for a longer land tour as well.

 

Again, thanks for the information.

 

murphysmum;)

[driftwood]

Honestly, murphysmum, even as a "well-informed" American citizen I had no idea of the extent of the carnage I referred to until I began reading up on Guatemala to prepare for a short stay at Tikal in January 2008. Your report of the more nearly current situation is very reassuring, as I was having well-founded nightmares from a book I read which was written (and painfully graphically photographed) in the early 1980's, and published by W.W. Norton in 1986.

 

I suppose we should note for our colleagues that the State Department within only the past three months has updated the country report on Guatemala to say that violent crime and armed robbery are pretty widespread and getting more rather than less serious. Tourists get "sheltered," but of course there can be no guarantees for anyone. Perhaps the American-supplied arms are now a bit rusty? One can only hope for the best!

[murphysmum]

Hi Driftwood...

 

I haven't read State Dept. warnings recently. When we went last year, the warnings were primarily for Guatemala City (which we bypassed) and for tourists hiking alone near the volcanos....with "caution" in the rest of the country.

 

In Antigua, they had armed "tourist police" on every street. Most of them spoke some English and were glad to give directions and a little history of the city or direct us to a good restaurant. We felt very safe and my understanding is that there's very little crime in Antigua now....of coure it's pretty mainstream.

 

At Lago Atitlan, we took boats to several of the Indian villages on our own. We were well received and people were very glad to see us. We traveled. with a driver and guide, through the hill country to many of the villages, wandered on our own, flew to Tikal and stayed in the jungle and never had/saw any problems or felt unsafe.

 

The main problem I saw was the utter poverty in a country torn by the years of unrest you mention. I didn't have the heart to "bargain" in the markets and we came home with many more "souveniers" than anyone could use.

 

I'm a pretty well-seasoned traveler, but I have to admit I had some trepidation about visiting Guatemala. What I found was a country of very friendly people, beautiful scenery, lovely lodgings and excellent food and a rich culture that shouldn't be missed.

 

murphysmum;)

[driftwood]

Hi Murphysmum!

 

I certainly defer to your more immediate experience on the topic, and I hope the Guatemalans are as happy with me as they were with you! The reference I was making may be found at

 

http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1129.html

 

under the heading "Safety and Security." I, too, try not to consult the State Department, as these days one would be hard-pressed to find a nation that the State Department says would be happy to have Americans visit.

 

But certainly some of us understand why that might be true. And we are just tiny bandages for some very deep wounds. :rolleyes:

[OttoCal]

A note about crafts and things to buy in Belize:

 

Marie Sharp's Hot Sauce is great- perfect for anyone who loves hot sauces.

 

Cashew Wine

 

Hand crafted jewelery made of local products- shells, nuts, wood

 

Items crafted from hardwoods (picture frames, cutting boards, etc)

 

Many of the fabrics are from Guatemala, but that does they are still very nice. There are areas where you can get local weavings (like Placencia).

 

Beware of the regulations regarding coral and conch shells, only certain types of coral may be taken out of the country, and there is a limit on the number of conch shells also. Personally, I skipped all of the pretty coral jewelry and went right got some great earrings made from cohune palms or some other nut.

[Travel Angel]

:confused: Can anyone tell me if they take US currency at the port shops or do I need to get it changed to their currebcy. If so, what is it? I don't have a clue. Thanks

hoff4man02

 

US Dollar is HAPPILY accepted, but you will probably get change in Belize currency.......

[driftwood]

One US Dollar=two Belize Dollars. One Belize Dollar=US Fifty Cents. Belize dollars are a yellowish metal coin; their smallest bill is BZ $2 (red) which is the same as our US $1 (green). Either currency is quite current anywhere in Belize. It is true that you will usually get change in Belize dollars (at the rate given above); after all, it IS Belize, and that's what they have on hand.

 

Always ask vendors if their price is quoted in Belize dollars or United States dollars, as there is very occasionally a little "confusion" when it seems advantageous . . . .

[shark_bait]

Honestly, murphysmum, even as a "well-informed" American citizen I had no idea of the extent of the carnage I referred to until I began reading up on Guatemala to prepare for a short stay at Tikal in January 2008. Your report of the more nearly current situation is very reassuring, as I was having well-founded nightmares from a book I read which was written (and painfully graphically photographed) in the early 1980's, and published by W.W. Norton in 1986.

 

I suppose we should note for our colleagues that the State Department within only the past three months has updated the country report on Guatemala to say that violent crime and armed robbery are pretty widespread and getting more rather than less serious. Tourists get "sheltered," but of course there can be no guarantees for anyone. Perhaps the American-supplied arms are now a bit rusty? One can only hope for the best!

 

 

Driftwood, do you happen to remember the name of this book? Would you recommend it?

[driftwood]

I'm not sure I would recommend it if you plan to visit Guatemala, as it will tell you "more than I ever wanted to know about polar bears," so to speak, but as a very chilling and very real book--with some very chillingly excellent photographs--yes, it must be a classic of its genre: Jean-Marie Simon, Guatemala: Eternal Spring--Eternal Tyranny, published by W.W. Norton, 1987. It has long been out of print, and when I was searching (to try to find the ISBN number for you, which I could not) I only found one copy available through Barnes & Noble online (at $15). My own copy I lent only a week or two ago to my best friend, so yes, I recommend it for very serious thinkers with strong stomachs.

 

But as you may see in the fact that I am able to respond to you, DW and I made it over the border into Guatemala, toured and photographed a tiny corner of Tikal in a visit lasting many hours, and returned safely to Belize on January 13, 2008; so it can be done--despite the fact that many war criminals are still in power in the new, "democratic" Guatemala, and that, as here in the United States, none of the war criminals in power or retired are in any danger of prosecution . . . . [Even present and former Presidents, living and dead--yes, you know who you are!]

[shark_bait]

Thank you sir.:) No not planning a trip to Guatemala but have recently become interested in Central America as a whole. History, culture, as well as current events. Pretty interesting part of the World. I will get on the Barnes & Noble Site right now. Thanks again for your help.

[driftwood]

Well, shark_bait, be careful what you wish for. Evidently a great deal of Latin American history is still being actively suppressed today, as United States involvement (public and private) in the thousands of schemes boiling over to the south of us is all too evident to the rest of the world (that is, beyond the Great Fence of Bush), and public ignorance has been all that has shored up our activities in the region (and of course the world). As Secretary of State Rice once observed on television to Oprah Winfrey, "I could let you see what is on my desk, but then I would have to kill you." Naturally all of us cheerful law-abiding citizens thought she was joking. She was not. This nation does not have clean hands, and perhaps they have never been dirtier than in its dealings with almost all of Latin America.

 

But those of us not engaged in buying drugs or guns--I trust that is still the majority of Cruise Critics, anyway--have even less knowledge of conditions which have been raging for many years now to the south of us. Canadians have a better idea than we, because they have fewer vested interests suppressing their acquisition of knowledge, because they tend to travel more to less expensive venues than we--and of course because their government is not riddled with "unindicted co-conspirators," as for example the elder President Bush was once referred to (on behalf of his efforts for President Reagan, the Father of Iran-Contra). Latin America has been the Happy Hunting Ground of the CIA for over a generation now, and perhaps two: and the bullets are still flying. Try not to catch one. Don't be a Baptist missionary, for example. Or walk, do not fly. ;)

 

A fairly dispassionate book that shows in little the squeeze put on tiny nations subject to United States economic pressures was written by a Belize politician, Assad Shoman, in the early 1990's: 13 Chapters of a History of Belize. Published in 1994 by The Angelus Press (fourth printing June 2000), its ISBN No. 976-8052-19-8, it was I believe initially intended as a history book for high school children in Belize. If you are interested in visiting Belize at some time in the future, I think you would find reading it very interesting, intellectually stimulating, and to the best of my ability to determine, accurate. Shoman, as surely one of Belize's foremost scholars, was perhaps quite naturally enmeshed in the recently deposed extremely corrupt government of Said Musa, he has useful ideas; but his personal integrity was such that the government had to ship him off to be the Ambassador to the Court of St. James so that he would not upset too many government schemes at home--"he talked too much." Mostly about unequal distribution of wealth--the Belize "trickle-down" theory.

 

Well, you will have your work cut out for you, from the Rio Grande south to Tierra del Fuego. Best wishes! The good news is that the cruise industry is evidently going to be the economic salvation of our neighbors to the south, as we are always willing to spend more on self-indulgence than anything else: and our neighbors have developed very strong backs. :rolleyes: