Can an elderly lady handle a Lamanai tour?

[COCRU]

Hi everyone. For those of you who have been on a Lamanai excursion (we are on NCL), do you think an elderly lady who is in reasonably good shape and doesn't have any mobility problems can handle that tour? It doesn't look too strenuous or like she would have to climb at the ruins unless she wanted to.

[DonMar]

Hi everyone. For those of you who have been on a Lamanai excursion (we are on NCL), do you think an elderly lady who is in reasonably good shape and doesn't have any mobility problems can handle that tour? It doesn't look too strenuous or like she would have to climb at the ruins unless she wanted to.

 

 

Things to think about...

 

The day will be long and warm.

The ride to Orange Walk is about an hour (each way).

The boat ride is about an hour (each way) and is very fast - and fun!

The grounds at Lamanai are uneven and small areas can be a bit slippery.

They ruins are outstanding and the environment is wonderful.

The climb up the largest ruin is not like climbing stairs, but well worth the time, effort and sore muscles.

It might be one of the most memorable excursions ever.

 

Maybe some others who have been on the NCL excursion (we did an indi) could help answer your question a bit better. If you do a search on this thread for Lamanai - you will come across photos - also a Google Picture search and YouTube. Just to give you some idea of the location.

[Toyz711]

did it with NCL, my DH was surprised i made it without help. we had an extra guide/assistance, this kid helped a couple of people getting up and over tree roots, muddy area, slick stone steps.

that's just the regular path!!

we had one couple, both in their 60s and he had a replacement knee. it was his dream to climb the site and he did (with help from the kid/assistance guide)

 

the mile path is very uneven...it's a dirt path, so if it's rain..if will be muddy and slick. at one point there are wood steps, at another point there are stone steps. plus you need to be able to step down into the boat and up out of the boat. (someone reported, on CC, that someone from their tour fell stepping from the boat to the dock).

you need to be able to walk a mile to mile 1/2..there's no place to sit down, there is one bench at one of the ruins, stone to sit on at 2 of them..the jaguar ruin has no where to sit and it's in the open, it was very hot as the guide talked.

 

you have an hour in a bus like this one...the engine ran great and the bus driver was super. the seat were awful, old and uncomfortable..this bus did have a toilet that worked!! (some don't) and good air conditioner (some don't)

 

 

then you need to be able to step down from these docks to the boats, they do try to help..restrooms are in those white buildings..vendors are under the thatched area. tour guide passed out bottle water. this is the "rest stop" and change to boats area. the docks at lamanai are just a thin, narrow wood dock.

 

 

this is the start of the path to the sites...

 

you can see the wetness on these stone/wood steps...that's just getting to the ruins (mask ruin)...you leave through another path,through the ball court.

 

 

another thing to consider, there are no nearby towns...it's an hour boat ride back to the bus and an hour from there back to the ship. if something was to happen...it a LONG time back.

we were there last dec (on the NCL spirit) we had temps of high 80s/low 90s and 90% humidity. thank goodness lamanai has tree cover, the day before in quirigua (santo tomas) is was no shade and hotter.

[driftwood]

It really does not matter with or through whom you book : the company with the boats on the New River provides everything from the time you get on the boat--the hour boat trip with nature lecture from the dock to the Mennonite Settlement at Shipyard, and the half-hour high speed boat trip from that point to the Lamanai site; the plain and nutritious hot lunch with cold drinks (including bottled water); the excellently guided tour of the rather extensive site; and the high-speed one-hour boat trip from Lamanai back up the New River to your waiting tour bus.

 

The road distance from Belize City to the boat landing is right at 59 miles, but the highway is in excellent repair. THIS IS A FULL-DAY TRIP for any cruiseship passenger; the idea is to get you from the Cruiseship Terminal in Belize City to the boat landing by 10 AM, and return you to the Cruiseship Terminal by about 4 PM. IT WILL BE HOT when you are in the open, and hot enough when you are in the shade, so you must consciously and conscientiously continue drinking water all day or you WILL get dehydrated. The path at Lamanai from the picnic area to the ancient site is very good and well-paved, but there are occasional single steps up which have a very high rise, and when my wife and I visited in January it crossed my mind that these would be a bit strenuous for anyone. The temples themselves are steep and higher than they look, but I suppose if you have no trouble with the rises in the path, you might make it up one of the temples. Getting down again is the harder part. The Jaguar Temple is NOT the highest temple; the High Temple is farther into the site; do not suppose that you will be able to climb both of them with the same zeal.

 

This tour will take seven hours out of your day. Altun Ha as an ancient Mayan site is a good alternative, as it is a half-day trip and the site has been engineered to be a little more user-friendly. But half of the trip is on the Old Northern Highway, and about that the less said, the better. :rolleyes:

[COCRU]

Thank you very much everyone for your detailed responses. :) The information you provided is exactly what I needed to know. Now we can make an informed decision about whether or not this excursion is the best one for us.