Job Discussion Forums

[tyreless]

Hello everybody. Not strictly an ESL topic but probably relevant for everybody heading from the Eurozone to Latin America as I will be doing. Years ago the US dollar was the foreign currency of choice in LA but given the recent fall of the US$ I am wondering wether this is still the case. Any advice from people out there on the ground would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance and a great day to everybody.
David

[Guy Courchesne]

If you're already using Euros (I guess you are for being in Germany), you can bring those and be fine. Why bother switching twice...to dollars, then local currency?

[tyreless]

First of all thanks for the speedy reply. I�ve been thinking along the same lines but I remember that it was next to impossible to change non-US$ travelers cheques in LA and the bank charges for using a cash machine there in combination with a German bank account were unpleasently high. On the other hand I�m not really keen on carrying lots of cash (dollar or euro) across LA. Anybody got some ideas?
Thanks David

[Justin Trullinger]

Where are you thinking of going? If it will be two changes, bring euros and avoid one.

But if you're going into a dolarized economy, then dollars, obviously.


Best,
justin

[tyreless]

I�ll be starting in Caracas and working my way to Panama. That�s the plan at the moment at least. Panama is a banking hub I was even able to change Deutsch Mark travel cheques into US$ dollar travel cheques but only after visiting pretty much every bank in town. I don�t really know about Colombia and Venezuela. As far as Bogota is concerned I should be OK with either. Smaller towns I don�t really know. What do people prefer over there?
Thanks
David

[lozwich]

In small towns in Colombia, people prefer Colombian pesos.

I'd bring dollars here.

On the side, how are you getting from Colombia to Panama? I would very very very strongly advise against travelling overland through the Darien Gap. It is incredibly dangerous.

[Twonny06]

Whether you bring dollars or Euros, you would still be able to transfer them at the local banks. I would suggest you bring two debit cards with you. One to keep in your wallet, and the other to keep in your apartment. You can use any ATM in Central America and it would do the conversion for you. I personally think thats better than carrying cash or travelers checks.

[tyreless]

As far as Colombia is concerned the dollar still seems to be more popular. All the same I didn't have any problems changing Euros so far.
David

[john_n_carolina]

...tyreless, you have Colombia spelled wrong in your location....