Lamanai Tour / How much walking ??

[pitmindi]

Hi I am leaving on March 8 on the NCL Pearl. I am planning a Belize excursion. Would Lamanai be too much for my 72 year old mom??? She can walk, but VERY SLOWLY. She had a full knee replacement 3 months ago. How much walking would she HAVE to do??? I know she would wait for my daughter and I while we climbed, and she never minds waiting, but I am concerned about getting from the boat to the ruins with my mom. I would walk with her, but I doubt the whole group would go that slowly. For those of you who have gone on this tour, would you suggest we go to Lamanai or choose something else??? Thanks!!! PS I called NCL but they are not helpful. They barely know anything about the excursions they offer!!!

[Toyz711]

we had someone who had a knee replacement, on our tour, he did great..even climbed the tallest of the site. BUT he was in great shape otherwise.

the path is about a mile to mile 1/2 around the site. not paved!! it's uneven, can be muddy. you need to step over rocks, tree roots, etc.

it is a jungle...

plus, they only have so much time to make it around..time is of value on this tour, since you have to be back in time for the last tender to the ship. my DH was surprised i made it through, without tripping.

most photos on the area are in my webshot link, in my signature.

what to expect:

an hour or more bus ride (our bus had holes in the seat..but it ran good and the air worked)

over an hour on an open speed boat

dock at orange river is OK, still needs to be able to make big step down on to the boat. dock at lamanai is narrow, more "rough"....hasn't been updated as a "tourist" dock.

heat..we had high 80s, even under the trees..very humid.

 

we had a few slow pokes, but we had another person on our tour, he was young and we called him our "protector". he stayed in back of the group (to watch the howler monkey or watch for snakes..did i say it was a jungle?). but at each site, we had to wait for them to catch up...they don't allow you to wander by yourself. you only have an hour, plus time for lunch...before you want to get on the boat and return.

[BonnieLark]

Hi I am leaving on March 8 on the NCL Pearl. I am planning a Belize excursion. Would Lamanai be too much for my 72 year old mom??? She can walk, but VERY SLOWLY. She had a full knee replacement 3 months ago. How much walking would she HAVE to do??? I know she would wait for my daughter and I while we climbed, and she never minds waiting, but I am concerned about getting from the boat to the ruins with my mom. I would walk with her, but I doubt the whole group would go that slowly. For those of you who have gone on this tour, would you suggest we go to Lamanai or choose something else??? Thanks!!! PS I called NCL but they are not helpful. They barely know anything about the excursions they offer!!!

 

We took the NCL Lamanai excursion a couple weeks ago. There was a bit of walking and the ground is uneven. If she can walk well without assistance she would probably be OK. Our tour moved slowly and the guide constantly checked to make sure we were all there. I've attached some pictures of the boat dock at Lamanai and the roughest of the path. The other areas were fairly level and easy to walk on. Some people in other groups had folks with walkers and they were having much difficulty. Make sure to wear good shoes. People in flip flops had a more difficult time too. Lamanai was a great tour and I'm glad I did it even with all the travel time. It was an adventure.