Lamanai Questions

[thescot123]

Have finally decided to do my first Mayan tour and booked the Lamanai tour via the ship. Decided to book via the ship due to the tendering mess and the fact that the ship won't leave without you since it is 7 1/2 hour tour.

 

Have seen some wonderful youtube videos of this tour and look forward to climbing up to the top of the temple. I am physically fit, work out in gym daily, so should have no issues with this climb.

 

Does anyone have any recommendations on what to take on this tour?

 

For example,

 

1. What type of bug spray?

2. What type of shoes - sandles or closed shoes like sneakers?

 

I do plan on taking a poncho since it is the rainy season.

[JimAOk1945]

Lamanai is a great tour. We were on the Royal Caribbean Mariner of the Seas in Dec 2011. DW and I took a cruise line excursion there.

It would be best to wear closed toe shoes. The paths are rough, uneven, and rocky in places. It was very humid and warm when we were there so I was glad I packed bottled water for us in my backpack. Also, it had rained that morning so the ground was slippery.

I forgot to pack bug spray which was a big mistake since my wife seems to attract mosquitos more than I do. Fortunately one of the ladies on our tour gave her a couple of the bug repellant wipes (I don't remember the name, sorry). She wiped her exposed skin with the wipes and it seemed to help.

Have fun. It's a great excursion.

[thescot123]

Lamanai is a great tour. We were on the Royal Caribbean Mariner of the Seas in Dec 2011. DW and I took a cruise line excursion there.

It would be best to wear closed toe shoes. The paths are rough, uneven, and rocky in places. It was very humid and warm when we were there so I was glad I packed bottled water for us in my backpack. Also, it had rained that morning so the ground was slippery.

I forgot to pack bug spray which was a big mistake since my wife seems to attract mosquitos more than I do. Fortunately one of the ladies on our tour gave her a couple of the bug repellant wipes (I don't remember the name, sorry). She wiped her exposed skin with the wipes and it seemed to help.

Have fun. It's a great excursion.

 

Thanks for the advice. Have purchased some bug spray. Must remember the water as don't want to get dehydrated. This is my first Mayan ruin.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[JimAOk1945]

My wife's a "photo bug" and takes loads of pictures. You might enjoy seeing the short musical slide-show she made with a few of the pictures she took on our excursion.

 

Lamanai Shore Excursion

[thescot123]

My wife's a "photo bug" and takes loads of pictures. You might enjoy seeing the short musical slide-show she made with a few of the pictures she took on our excursion.

 

Lamanai Shore Excursion

 

Nice photos. Those monkeys are the spider type which took my glasses in Roatan. Cannot wait for this trip as it look fun. Did you climb up the temple?

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[JimAOk1945]

No, DW and I didn't climb the temple. The steps looked way too narrow and slippery.

There were a lot of people climbing it and they said the view from the top was nice.

Maybe when you get back you can write a review of your cruise. :D

[thescot123]

The tour is thur NCL and is said is 7 1/2 hours long.

 

For anyone has done this tour can you answer the following questions.

 

1. How long is the bus ride and is it air conditioned?

2. How long is the boat ride and is it open to the sun or is there a canopy.

3. How much time to you have at the site?

 

Thanks

[CaribbeanBound]

We did this cruise several years ago while on Celebrity.

 

Once at the Belize pier we were greeted with a nice Welcome sign. There are only a handful of shops at the pier. I am guessing there were about 90 folks on this tour. We were herded onto 1 of 3 air conditioned buses. Whatever bus you get becomes your tour group, and included a guide that not only narrated the bus tour and answered our questions but also drove our boat on the jungle cruise and lead our excursion of the ruins. Our experienced guide was Vel, and he was breaking in a very pretty young guide-in-training that joined us for the duration of the tour. Our guides were very friendly, knowledgeable, and proud of their country.

 

Belize is a poor country with great natural and historical assets. One idiot on the bus asked "Why are there bars on the windows of houses?" during an otherwise interesting Q&A about the country. (Answer: they have a crime problem related to a "crack" problem). The housing and habitat reminded us a lot of Waimanalo on Oahu (sans the bars). We learned a lot about the city and country on our 1.25 hour bus tour over a paved 2-lane road to the boat dock. [side note: from visible signage along the road it appears Pepsi "controls" the less populated part of the country while Coca-Cola "owns" Belize City itself]. Each bus unloaded their groups into a large thatched roof building sporting restrooms and a couple of artisans. Within a few minutes we were loaded onto covered boats with comfortable seats and two powerful outboard motors.

 

We snaked South down the river to the Lamanai Ruin site. As I recall, our boats did have a canopy. The boats Our guide plying us with information and pointing out numerous birds (including King Fisher, Blue Herrin, Vultures, and Snow Egrets), baby crocodiles, and a huge green iguana, as well as various flora and fauna. We also found the huge termite nests in the trees to be of interest to all. One of the 3 boats experienced engine trouble which slowed us down a bit, but that boat was never abandoned. Our boat held back each time to make sure they were not stranded.

 

Once we arrived at Lamanai, we ate a hearty lunch of Mayan chicken, rice, coleslaw, coconut tarts, and bottled Pepsi and water. We started our tour in a small museum with interesting Mayan artifacts and continued on by foot through an impressive jungle featuring vines, "Jurassic Park"-sized palm fronds, medicinal trees, and Howler Monkeys. We spent about 1.5 hours exploring 3 large Mayan temples and the remains of a small Mayan town. Our guides provided an enormous amount of insight and kept us moving at a reasonable clip.

 

We returned to the boats, sped back up the river, and returned to the buses just before nightfall. We arrived back at the docks about an hour after the final tender was suppose to leave for the ship. Our guides, to their credit, had made the decision to give us the full tour --- not an abridged tour --- even though we had arrived late. After all, we were paying the full price of the tour and they weren't going to let us get anything less. It was clear, back in Lamanai, that we were not going to make the tender cutoff time. This began to cause great distress among some tour passengers. Just remember, that if you are on a cruise-sponsored tour, there are "no worries!" They were not going to strand any of their passengers in Belize if they are on a cruise-sponsored excursion. Sure enough, we were met at the pier with a nice large boat that easily and comfortably sped all of us back to the ship, which was beautifully illuminated out on the sea. Bottom line: take this tour.

 

More "Secrets of the Caribbean": http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/caribbean-secrets.html

[JimAOk1945]

CaribbeanBound,

Your experience sounds a lot like our excursion on RC Mariner of the Seas. I agree that it was fantastic!

thescot123,

Our bus was air conditioned, and our boat was covered by a canopy. You might want to call NCL if the website doesn't give you enough information about this excursion.

[thescot123]

Thanks for your extensive descriptions of the tour. you have all put my fears at bay and I will consider and look forward to this tour. It is my first Mayan ruins, usually in Belize I would go snorkeling but the past problems with tour operators has put me off these tours.

 

I am glad that I have decided to book via the ship as have been on NCL when it was held up waiting for this same tour to return. It would be a disaster to book a private tour that misses the boat and which leaves you stranded in a foreign country with no passport.

 

Had heard that the SAS (British Elite forces) stills trains troops in the jungles of Belize.

 

Thanks

 

Tony

[Grego]

Thanks for all the useful information. We have booked this tour through NCL for our upcoming December voyage.