Lamanai & the River Boat

[nasvhillecruise]

We decided to take this NCL excursion rather than an independent company simply because it was a LONG excursion & we didn't want to chance missing the ship. The main thing to realize is: the excursion is BOTH the Lamanai ruins AND the River Boat trip. We had a lady on the excursion very upset because we were stopping so often to look at wildlife. Personally, I enjoyed this part of the excursion as much as I did the ruins.

 

We tendered in Belize but because of the length of the excursion, we were on the 1st tender. We were loaded onto a bus as soon as we got off of the tender. The tour guide, Mario, was super-knowledgeable and talked throughout the 45-minute drive to the river boat. The sound system was not very good, though, and he was difficult to hear.

 

When we arrived at the river, we were able to use the restrooms (very clean). There were several vendors there, mainly selling wooden carvings. Adrian drove up on our boat and we loaded on. He was the wildlife spotter and did an excellent job of it. How he was able to spot anything, I have NO CLUE. We saw a couple of crocs, several iguanas, numerous birds, some STRANGE looking bats, birds, and termite nests. Unfortunately, we did not see or hear any howler monkeys. It was about an hour or a little more trip on the river.

 

When we arrived at Lamanai, we had a lunch cooked by the locals, consisting of chicken, two types of rices, and a dessert (I didn't like the dessert, not quite sure what it was). We were given a few minutes to look at the museum and the shopping area before beginning the tour.

 

We did not tour all of the ruins, but we made it to most of them. Again, Mario was very knowledgeable and provided much information about each of the sites.

 

If you are in shape to climb the pyramid, CLIMB IT!!! It's a beautiful view from the top & well worth it. It's not terribly strenuous, and I'm 40 and overweight. I did learn it's probably NOT the smartest thing to do with a 5-yr old. Michael (my son) scampered up, but I was TERRIFIED about getting him down. Of course, he scampered down as easily as he went up, but I was scared to death he would slip and fall. It was probably my worst moment as a mom.

 

We were able to see 5 sites (3 pyramids, a living area, and a sports area) before getting back on the boat. The trip back on the boat was faster & it was REALLY nice to have the breeze after a HOT HUMID day.

 

Once back to the dock, there were locals selling local beer (hubby loved it), candy bars & water. The trip back on the bus was MISERABLE as the air was barely working and we were all hot & tired. Once back, we tendered back to the ship & off to the next port.

 

Overall, I LOVED the excursion. Be SURE and take sunscreen and bug spray, and expect to be HOT & TIRED when you return to the ship.

[Toyz711]

when we were there, the howler monkeys were in the trees at lamanai. just past the restrooms, before you start on the path to the sites. we, only, saw flashes for black in the trees and heard the leaves rustle. another review said the monkeys were throwing things down at the tourist. our guide kept her eye on the monkeys, at one point she heard a some noises, you could see her turn and watch. we didn't have any monkey problems.

glad you had a good time on this tour, it's a very interesting site..and you are right, the boat trip adds to it.

[nasvhillecruise]

That was my only regret, that we didn't see the monkeys. But we got to play with monkeys at Victor's in Roatan & on the City Tour in Santo Tomas, so I guess that kinda made up for it.

[Toyz711]

most, you would see a tree limb sway and then hear some grunts. the whole area was so "Jurassic Park", that it was spooky when the trees started to shake.:eek: i had to crop and blow up the photo, to get the monkeys to show up.

i just thought the whole area was unbelieveable!! love that fact that it's not right next to a major highway or big city.

[NEW 2 CRUISIN]

After all the research and planning for this cruise, I am totally expecting that this excursion will be a highlight of our vacation!

With only 5 days til we head to Florida to escape the snow up here, we are all very excited.

Even more special will be traveling with my Mom and Dad for the first time in many years since we all grew up and moved out. I am really looking forward to watching THEM have a good time, much like they did for ME all those years while I was growing up!

I really can't wait!

 

:)

[Toyz711]

make sure you have GOOD walking shoes...you will be hiking over tree limbs, rocks and such...on an uneven path. if you do the excursion through NCL, they should give you a bottle of water...but take some more. you will need lots of room on your memory card...you never know when the perfect photo op will happen. during the river part, i had my digital set for acton shots.

just don't let the condition of the bus scare you, ours wasn't that comfortable and didn't look that great...but the river boat and the mayan ruins more then made up for it.

have a great time...!

http://www.belizeexplorer.com/cgi-local/explorer.cgi?db=explorer&uid=default&Category=Mayan+Sites&view_records=1&nh=6&mh=1

[cookielover]

We did this excursion through Royal Caribbean last week and thoroughly enjoyed it. Adrian was our spotter also, and the young woman who narrated the bus ride (Jewel, I think her name was) was very informative. I was glad we had scheduled this, as it was very windy and a lot of the snorkeling and fishing excursions were cancelled. Another Royal Carib. ship was not even able to stay in the area and left, so those passengers missed all their excursions. That would be a bummer!

[Toyz711]

i wonder if is was the same jewell we had? we did it through NCL, but they all use grey lines for their tours. we didn't see that much wildlife on the boat trip, many of the winter birds/critters weren't on their normal branches, yet.

we had this great young kid with us...he helped the people on the walk, ran up to help several with the climb up the site. i got the idea he was the groups protector...always a few step behind our group, watching in every direction. he was so kind to a couple of the older women, staying near.

[Brickwood]

Did this just about a year ago with Princess and highly recommend it. They didn't guarantee that we'd see the wildlife but in addition to a number of other flora/fauna, we were we were lucky enough to see a troop of monkeys at the sight as well as some pretty spectacular alligators on the way back. Do climb the ruins if you are at all able. DH and I both went up, but I made the mistake of looking back down about 3/4 of the way up at the first level area and just couldn't get myself to go the last little way. As someone else said, it is very easy going up, but going back down looks really scary. Not hard as I found out, just looks scary. DH made it to the top and took some spectacular pictures - you are above the tree canopy once you get to the top and can see for miles.

[DonMar]

Did this just about a year ago with Princess and highly recommend it. They didn't guarantee that we'd see the wildlife but in addition to a number of other flora/fauna, we were we were lucky enough to see a troop of monkeys at the sight as well as some pretty spectacular alligators on the way back. Do climb the ruins if you are at all able. DH and I both went up, but I made the mistake of looking back down about 3/4 of the way up at the first level area and just couldn't get myself to go the last little way. As someone else said, it is very easy going up, but going back down looks really scary. Not hard as I found out, just looks scary. DH made it to the top and took some spectacular pictures - you are above the tree canopy once you get to the top and can see for miles.

 

We too went to Lamanai in Feb 07 (Belize Cruise Excursions) and loved it. We also saw a huge troop of Howler Monkeys at the site. What was even better was the background noise they created as we walked through the site. We were the only people at the site and it was very early in the AM so they might have been more active at this time.

 

I agree - do not look down as you are climbing the pyramid. Going up is great and once you are up there you have to get down. I went slowly.

Here is a photo of me going down.

[cookielover]

i wonder if is was the same jewell we had? we did it through NCL, but they all use grey lines for their tours. we didn't see that much wildlife on the boat trip, many of the winter birds/critters weren't on their normal branches, yet.

we had this great young kid with us...he helped the people on the walk, ran up to help several with the climb up the site. i got the idea he was the groups protector...always a few step behind our group, watching in every direction. he was so kind to a couple of the older women, staying near.

 

Yep, that looks like her. We didn't have the young kid with us though. I learned a lot from her talk on the bus.

[Toyz711]

we thought she was one of the best guides we have had. she put a personal touch to her stories of the area, as well as knowing it's history.

[NEW 2 CRUISIN]

We did the Lamanai trip last week through NCL and all I can say right now is...

IT ROCKED!

 

More about the excursion when I file my "official" trip report, but it certainly was a favorite highlight of the entire cruise!

 

:)

[Lowbrow]

I've copied the Belize portion of my review here. The first post in this thread does a very good job of describing it. We also had Mario for our tour....

 

Belize - We booked the Lamanai tour through NCL. Took about a 45 minute bus ride. The city itself is pretty rundown. Said they'd been hit with a few hurricanes over the years. Then onto a boat headed for Lamanai. We'd slow down whenever he spotted wildlife. I don't know how he spotted these things when we were going that fast but he did (iguanas, baby crocodiles, various birds, bats, turtle, lizards). This was my favorite part of the tour. Once at the ruins we had a very good rice and beans, chicken lunch. Then onto the ruins. Showed us three temples and the ballcourt. Me and hubby climbed the highest one. Also saw (and heard) a howler monkey. Then boat ride and bus ride back. We really enjoyed this tour, though not one of our favorites.

[cmarrero1014]

Loved this excursion too but it is very long. Felt rushed but a great experience overall.