No comments about Lonely Planet Guatemala Belize and Yucatan LA Ruta Maya (Lonely Planet Travel Survival Kit).

No comments about 2 Jamericans Travel to San Pedro, Belize.

3 comments about Adventuring in Central America: Guatemala Belize Honduras El Salvador Nicaragua Costa Rica Panama (Adventuring in Central America).

1. If you want to get a real feel for the place without falling asleep, save your money. The author takes an otherwise fascinating subject (the outdoors Central America) and, using lifeless prose, makes you wonder why you were ever interested in CA in the first place. Hotel listings are scant, as is specific information about destinations. No picutres or maps. Possibly good information about hiking, but not much on the safefy of such excursions. The Let's Go guidebook has more specific info (though not only on the outdoors) and is much more enjoyable to read.



2. Hi, I am working at ILISA Spanish Language Institute in San Jose, Costa Rica and I just want to let you know that this book help our students a lot by giving them helpful tips and by making any travel plans for the weekends. Thanks!



3. I live in Nicaragua -- can only comment on that location. This book is just ok to suppliment. Buy Lonely Plant Central America for detail (its better then the Rough Guide).

1 comments about Adventuring in Belize: The Sierra Club Travel Guide to the Islands, Waters, and Inland Parks of Central America's Tropical Paradise.

1. This was a different kind of guide book in a good way. It gave a nice history of the area and gave information to not only the usual tourist places but "off the beaten track" activities that we actually did in Belize.....and had a great time. Would give this one to any friend going to the area.

3 comments about Cruising Guide to Belize and Mexico's Caribbean Coast, including Guatemala's Rio Dulce.

1. Just checked here for the availability of this guide and was suprized to see no review. Having recently returned from cruising with friends in Belize I can say that this guide is often the only chart info available inside the reef. If you intend to cruise Belize obtain all available charts of course but be sure to get this book. Capt. Rauscher has obviously spent countless hours charting Belizean waters and although they are really no more than sketches (and do not purport to be more) they are invaluable for piloting within the 10 fath. curve. The guide also includes sailing directions and commentary on the various destinations.



2. I used this guide for pre-cruise planning and while on a 2 week charter in Belize last month. The book is well-written with good information. We cruised from Ambergris Cay to Placencia and found enough accuracy and detail to keep out of trouble (assuming you pay attention to your other sources of navigational information) and to make decisions about what to see and do. The sketch charts and regional maps provided were very helpful. Some of the assesments of the holding ground offered in various locations were a little more dire than we experienced. (We had a Delta, the author used a Bruce). Overall, the guide is well worth the money.



3. ...We used your books for years to guide cruisers passing thru New Haven, Belize. Your guide is the most accurate and informative of it's kind on southern Belize and the Rio Dulce...

No comments about 2007 Country Profile and Guide to Belize - National Travel Guidebook and Handbook - Doing Business, Economic Reports, USAID, Agriculture (Two CD-ROM Set).

2 comments about Fodor's Belize & Guatemala 4th ed..

1. I'm the guy who updated and revised the Belize section of this new Fodor's guide. Some things have changed since the book went to press. I'll be glad to try to answer questions about Belize if you'll e-mail me at bzefirst@aol.com.

   --Lan Sluder




2. I'm the guy who updated and revised the Belize section of this new Fodor's guide. Some things have changed since the book went to press. I'll be glad to try to answer questions about Belize if you'll e-mail me at bzefirst@aol.com.

   --Lan Sluder

3 comments about Guide to Caribbean Family Vacations (National Geographic Guide to Caribbean Family Vacations Includes the Islands and Coastal Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, and Honduras).

1. This book is a wonderful guide to the Caribbean.........It covers everything any family would want to know when visiting the Caribbean. Several ideas presented in the book were helpful on our recent vacation. I have several of Ms Stapen's books and have found them all to be quite informative and worthwhile.!!!!!!!!!!



2. I bought this book for the cool little section on Costa Rica. it was fine. I brought this along with the photo essay book "Costa Rica : The Last Country the Gods Made." Had a great time!



3. Book was informative. The lack of any critical ratings, reviews or "best lists" was disappointing. This is the reason why I buy travel books.

2 comments about Insight Guide Belize.

1. We'll be using this book, I'm sure, on our first trip to Belize in May of 1999. Belize isn't a country that most people have been to --- I would imagine --- so I think that pictures would have helped this book out tremendously.

   Having done TONS of research on the web about our impending trip, I plan to use this book more as a hard copy of things I would have hand written had I not been too LAZY! Almost everything I have gathered in my quest on the web seems to be included. And, from what I gather, the information seems to be in line with what I've learned from people who have actually been to Belize.




2. I very much like this book with all the beautiful pictures included. I am trying to get in touch with the editors, if you have contact to them, please send it to me.

5 comments about Following Mateo.

1. I really enjoyed this book. Without even noticing, I learned about the country of Belize and the Mayan culture as the author creatively wove historical details into a humorous, touching account of his own journey. I found myself both sympathizing and laughing with him as he tries to learn, and keep up, with the ins and outs of an unfamiliar culture. I became quickly invested in the main character and eager for him to come out on top!



2. Following Mateo is a personal memoir of Tom Molanphy's two year stint as a volunteer educator in Belize. Mateo is a Mayan Indian whom the author becomes very close to in the course of his internship. Following Mateo, the title, refers to the author's attempts to get Mateo to take him to the bush country of Belize. The author has successfully integrated history, anthropology, cross cultural studies and religion into this highly readable memoir.
   I am a college professor teaching English l02 - a writing course using argument from social science topics and also literature, particulary memoir. My students - all l05 of them - absolutely loved the book. They liked the author's descriptive writing style which made them feel they were right there in Belize.They liked the many lively characters that the author presents. They liked the way the author integrated his personal journey with the daily events. They liked reading about a young man on an adventure who had questions about life, about religion, about risktaking. They liked the crosscultural atmosphere of the book and the way the author showed these differences. They liked the light hearted and humorous aspects of the book. They liked the various insights the author gained during his journey, especially about friendship. In writing their essays they were able to center on diverse messages and were often able to interract with the memoir from their own experiences. One student said she liked the book because the author opened himself up and was not "preachy". I thoroughly enjoyed the book and the essays my students were able to write due to the many insights the author offered. It was indeed a journey of joy. I recommend this book to college professors of freshman writing and senior high school teachers as well as volunteer coordinators in various non-profit groups.



3. Following Mateo is definitely a down to earth book. My friend Tom definitely put it right about life in the southern villages of Toledo and also as a missionary. I've known Tom for the two years that he spent here in Belize. I loved the book and will definitely read it again.



4. Tom Molanphy has a good story to tell about a search for self in a country of different cultures, languages, races,etc. While reading "Following Mateo" I was transported back from the hazzles of everyday life and never-ending city activity to Southern Belize where, through Tom's creative descriptions, I found myself engulfed by nature. Peppered with humor Tom lets us experience father nature in a unique fashion. He tells of how it demands respect,of how we have to adjust to accommodate it and of how rough it can be and yet how soothing her gentle embrace. The book took me through trails under the towering canopies and over mountains that lead to discoveries of people living from the land. People who have learned to coexist and respect the land.
   The book was and excellent read. It thought me about the journey of life and the little journeys within. It also thought me to, every now and then, "stop and smell the flowers, but to be careful not to get stung by a bee that may have beat me to those flowers".



5. An odyssey: into the jungles and wetlands of Belize, into the hearts and lives of a few native Belizians, and into the process of self knowledge and maturity, best describes, for me, Tom Molanphy's well crafted adventure/pilgrimage book: Following Mateo! Tom writes with grace and great self deprecating humor and enthusiasm about his journey to Belize as a volunteer teacher, his evolving friendship with an older tribal wise man and leader, Mateo, and their adventures.

   Through an invitation to personally tutor Mateo's young daughter, Tom experiences the hospitality of Mateo's family and a growing knowledge of their way of life. Tom's desire to get Mateo to take him "into the bush," i.e., the deep jungle territory where (in his perception) ancient ritual hunting and gathering rites of the Ke'kechi take place. His subsequent hiking adventures to "prove" his capabilities to Mateo provide hilarious incidents of gradual self awareness for this young American "gringo," Tom.

   As a veteran Jr. High/High School humanities teacher, I feel that this is a book that would appeal to this age range of student. It is a very "good read" for the adult reader as well.