Guatamala

Jan 13, Wednesday, Santo de Tomas, Guatamala


Still cloudy and a bit cool today as we arrive in Guatamala. Since Al has such a difficult time walking we did a town trolley tour today. Ron and Melanie went with us. The rest of the gang scattered; some doing the old fort tour; some doing the town and beach tour and yet others doing a river trip.

Our tour through the town made us glad of where we live and what we have. The average wage here is $250 month and gas is $5 plus a gallon…you do the math! No large super markets here either, you mostly do your shopping daily at the local outdoor market. We saw a lot of fresh produce that looked really good, however, our tour guide said most of the good produce is exported to WALMART! Their main export in Guatamala is sugar cane and most of it goes directly to Coca Cola; the second export is coffee and the third is banana’s, which once again goes mainly to Walmart. The other major industry here is tourisim. And yes, they LOVE the cruise ships. Poor is the only word I can use to describe what I saw today. However, the port seems to be very busy, lots of activity all day. And I had to laugh at our tour guide, Jorge, he was freezing today! He said it is the coldest it has been here in over 40 years -- it is about 65 degrees. The normal temperature for this time of year is 85+, so yes, the locals are cold.

I did contribute a few dollars to the local economy however. Right outside the cruise ship is a small shopping area….one more touristo trap! I bought a few trinkets to take home and some beautiful place mats…I love the vibrant colors.

Tonight after dinner we all scattered in different directions….some to the comedy show, some to bed, some to the casino; Suzi and I did some minor shopping on board and looked at the pictures the ship photographers take at every opportunity! I don’t know who that woman is with Al all of the time…she sure looks old!!!  Tomorrow is Belize.