Belize Ruins Which One Is Best?

[sharpertravel]

I would like to do Mayan Ruins Shore Excursion but I am worried that it might be to hard for my Mother as she is 70. We are booked on the Carnival Legend and we leave February 22, 2009. Any one know which tour is best out of the three choices of Mayan Ruins tours?

[Rochmom]

My family did the Altun Ha tour without the river component.

 

The bus ride is quite long (45-60 minutes), but we had an excellent guide who gave us a lot of information about Belize. Once we reached the site, her partner took over, and he was a little dull. The site is beautifully groomed, so your mother shouldn't have much problem walking - the ground is mostly smooth. There is an opportunity to climb one of the pyramids, on the outside. It's about 52 feet, so it's like climbing five stories, and it's not nice, regular stairs, it's uneven rock, so depending on her condition, she might want to skip that - which many people did in our group.

 

We went in late August, and it was extremely hot and humid - our guide, unlike some of the others we saw - did his best to keep us in the shade as much as possible.

 

If you need more info, just post again - I'll try to help!

[DonMar]

Lamanai did not make the list? I vote, Lamanai.

[crusinpsychRN]

We went to the one Ivan and David tour. When we got there he gave us a 45 minutes lecture while we all stood looking at one pyramid. I thought what a rip off. Then we went around the bend and there were the ruins of a settlement and several more outstanding pyramids. Climbing one was a chore. Long ride was made longer when one woman went of local tour with a family and we drove her there. Wished I'd had a folding chair.

 

There was an older woman who identified herself as a teacher who was copying down EVERYTHING the guy said and when she would miss something she'd stop him and have him repeat. Real PIA.

 

I'd say it was pretty grueling and hot.

[Lard Greystoke]

I would like to do Mayan Ruins Shore Excursion but I am worried that it might be to hard for my Mother as she is 70. We are booked on the Carnival Legend and we leave February 22, 2009. Any one know which tour is best out of the three choices of Mayan Ruins tours?

 

Altun Ha is the shortest trip. As far as which is "best", Altun Ha, Lamanai and Xunantunich are all worthwhile sites. I agree that Lamanai ought to be on any list of "best" sites.

[Sherry Baby]

We booked Xunantunich tour through our cruise line, which was Jan. 11-18 on HAL Veendam. It is an all-day excursion. You need a very early tender (first) then after arriving on shore, you board a bus for 2 hours. The time at the site is about 1-1/2 hours, then we had a "native lunch" at a restaurant as part of our cost, then it was 2 hours back on the bus.

 

Our guide was of Mayan descent and he was so informative of all the history, ecology, society, etc. of all that we saw along the way & while at the site. I would highly recommend this tour. There was some walking, but the pace was leisurely, and it was not necessary to climb the pyramid to appreciate it. (We did climb- it was great!)