Travel Belize: Lamanai Maya Ruins Excursion
Travel Belize: Lamanai Maya Ruins Excursion
WAVEJourney Explores Lamanai Outpost Lodge!
Breakfast at Lamanai Outpost Lodge
Day 2:
Breakfast – We were woken at about 6 AM by what sounded like a scene straight out of the movie, Jurassic Park. The blood curdling screeching just turned out to be the local Howler monkeys above our cabana. Once we decided they were not going to get us, we both tried to sleep again until we went for breakfast.
A lovely start to our morning consisted of a breakfast with grapefruit juice, coffee, a fruit bowl (papaya, apple, pineapple, watermelon), and a spinach & vegetable egg dish served with fresh warm corn tortillas and sausage.
Our first excursion of the day wasn’t until 9 AM, so we had plenty of time to wander the grounds at Lamanai Outpost Lodge and listen to the music of the jungle.
Climbing Lamanai Maya Ruins
Lamanai Maya Ruins – Ruben, our guide for the Lamanai Maya Ruinsexcursion, awaited our group of 10 guests at the dock. He then took us on a quick boat ride (about 5 minutes) along the lagoon to the nearby Mayan site.
Lamanai Maya Ruins
Our 3-hour walking tour of the ruins was excellent, and Ruben was happy to impart his vast knowledge of this ancient site. We were even able to climb to the top of 2 ruins, and thankfully, the highest one had rope going up the center stairs which helped with balance when climbing.
Jaguar Temple at Lamanai Maya Ruins
Lunch – As soon as we arrived back to the lodge, we went straight for lunch. It was clear that we were not going to go hungry at any point on this trip!
Again we were delighted by the menu of mango juice, a fresh salsa with tortilla points appetizer, a tasty main course of ground-beef enchiladas with tomato sauce, cheese, tomatilla salsa, sour cream, and a small garden salad. Plus, the brownie and ice cream dessert was the perfect way to finish. Yum!
Lunch – Beef Enchiladas
The rest of the afternoon was free for us to relax and have some down time, so we went back to our cabana for a short siesta. That is, until the howler monkeys in the trees above us started their antics again.
Lamanai Cocktail Cruise
Cocktail Cruise – Our late-afternoon excursion at 4:30 PM was a cocktail cruise with a couple (Lucy and Russell) from England. During our 90-minute pontoon boat cruise on the New River lagoon, not only did we enjoy the rum cocktails and Belizian beers, but we saw a great variety of birds. Our bird sightings included a stork with 2 babies in a nest. Turns out the stork – Jabiru– is the largest flying bird in the region!
Dinner – Chicken Tamales
Dinner – An early dinner at 6:30 pm started with a shrimp cervice appetizer served with tortilla points. Followed by chicken tamales with a green salad for the main course. Another delicious dessert was then served – who can say no to banana cream pie? Not us!
Viv and Jill – Crocodile Encounter
Crocodile Encounter – Following dinner we went right to our 7:30 PM excursion – the Crocodile Encounter. We met up with guides Ruben, Eduardo, and Abdul, at the dock and set off across the lagoon on a marsh boat. This 90-minute excursion was thrilling! Ruben wore a helmet with spotlight on top so he could light up the marsh and look for the glowing red crocodile eyes. We all wore ear muffs to block the very loud noise from the air boat.
Finally, after a couple of false sightings, we found a tiny 6 month old male crocodile. As the lodge works with the University of Florida in crocodile research and data collection, Ruben had us take notes and record details of the young croc – which Jill named, Jack. As Jill held Jack, Viv took notes and Ruben recorded details of Jack’s weight, length, water temp (27 C), air temp (25 C), etc. After inserting a tracking chip, Ruben let Jack disappear back into the marsh. On our way back towards the lodge, we saw the red eyes of a couple of largish crocs glaring in the beam of the spotlight, and Ruben (being the joker that he is) pulled donuts in the marsh and got us totally wet with spray.
Crocodile Encounter
By 9 PM we were back to lodge, and checked the schedule for the following morning before retiring to our cabana. Although we were tired from all of the fun and interesting activities of the day, it did turn into a bit of a restless night once Jill found a bug (which she wouldn’t talk about) had crawled into bed with her. Did we mention we’re not fond of creepy crawlies?
– Click here to read Day 3 at Lamanai Outpost Lodge.
– Back to Day 1.
If you go:
– View WJs Lamanai Outpost Lodge Photos
Note: WJ thanks the following for their assistance with this trip – Belize Tourism and Lamanai Outpost Lodge.
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