I'm hoping Gatowoman can give me an opinion on this, although any advice is welcome. Last year she recommended using ship's tours in Santo Tomas. But there's a local operator, Gus (Gustavo), who does the Rio Dulce tour, visits the school project, then goes to Livingston for lunch with dance performance, etc. It's much like the ship's tour, but lots cheaper.

Lots of people in the Guatemala forum on CC think Gus's tour is great, and I've also seen a video of it on youtube.

Mostly I'm wondering if I'd be better off with the ship's tour, despite the hefty pricetag--the single big benefit that I see is a boat with 15 people instead of 25, and lunch in a different hotel (maybe better?) (The Regent concierge tour is called "Visit to Q'eqchi Indigenous River Community".)

Oh, and while I'm on the subject, should I worry about my stomach in places like Guatemala and Belize? Does the old Mexican dictum pertain, no peeled fruit or fresh vegetables, etc.?

Thanks for any thoughts on this.

[Karen, feel free to move this to Ports later.]