Just a quick addition here regarding the nasty American dollar. We just returned from a week in Providencialis (Turks and Caicos). Keeping in mind this thread, I asked a few locals about using the American dollar. I asked them if they had a local currency. The answers were all the same. "I think so, I've never seen it. Maybe if you check at the bank, they could show it to you." I was tempted to stop at the Bank of Belize there and check. I asked if they took Euros. The same answer. "I've never seen one. The Europeans we see here pay in US dollars." Interesting.

Been there, done that, the washing machine ate the T-shirt