Snakes on Mayan Tours

[caledonmango]

We would like to do a Mayan tour in Belize, but I have a real phobia of snakes. I can't even look at a picture of one. Did anyone see any on their tours of Lamanai or Altun Ha? I'm wondering if I should send the rest of our group on the tour, and just spend the day on the ship.

[Toyz711]

we did lamanai with NCL, our tour guide (who was great) was talking about this. she said that if she saw one, she never tells anyone...just keeps her eyes out and watches her flock. we had a young man with our group, he was the guides assistant...watched the rear of the group, helped people climb the site...i called him our protector.

we never saw anything other then the howler monkeys (in the trees). i grew up around snakes and know where to watch.

[driftwood]

. . . are probably the same as seeing a snake at home. We went to Altun Ha, Xunantunich, Cahal Pech, Lamanai and Tikal during a two-week visit to Belize in January 2008, and although we would have been happy to see snakes we saw only one that had been killed on a road (a harmless racer), and a captive collection that had been painstakingly made by a Belizean herpetologist. We had the best guides in Belize with us, and none of them spotted even one in two weeks.

 

If you are afraid of water birds such as herons and egrets and Great Frigate Birds, however, your luck has run out--they are all over the place, even in Belize City. You probably have a better chance of seeing a jaguar in the wild than any snake, and even the jaguars take pains to remain invisible as it is part of their mystique. You will PROBABLY see a howler monkey or two.