Mayan Ruins of Xunantunich & Marimba Lunch

[Buckeyefan]

Hi everyone. Leaving next week and have booked this excursion. Has anyone had any experience with this tour? I figure that it will take the whole 7 hours (booked thru RCL) so they should hold for us if we run late. Anything else I should be aware of. By the way - this is my post cancer treatment celebration so I'm still in the mild activity state.

 

Thanks.

 

Kathleen

[lesia]

I did this in Dec 07. It was really nice. You take a bus ride, about 2 hours, to the site. You go over on a hand crank ferry, then they van you up to the beginning site. Then, you walk up to the ruins - it is not bad, but not easy. If you need to, they will take you in a van closer, but I would check early with that. We had a 90 year old on our tour and they drove him up. they have a small museum at the site, very interesting. the climb up the tower is tough, i hate heights, but I did it.

 

then, you stop for lunch - it was preplated, not spicy, and a bottle drink. We got back to the dock close to the end time, but had time to shop cause the line was so long to get on the boats.

 

I'm doing the lamanai river tour next time, just to see something different.

[CRUISERTN]

I have done both Xuantunich and Lamanai and both are wonderful. You spend time on the River for the Lamanai tour and the ruins are more in the jungle where Xuantunich are more out in the open. You will see and hear howler monkeys in Lamanai and possibly even see Toucans, and will see a monkey or two and caiman while traveling on the river.....Altun-ha is also nice and more similar to Lamanai than to Xuantunich. The included lunch for Xuantunich is a sit-down at a local restaurant; the lunch in Lamanai is more of a box lunch with chicken and rice and you eat in the jungle area at the site. Not as many ruins at Lamanai but the ones there are well preserved and interesting....they are still excavating there....you travel more into the interior of the country on the Lamanai excursion.

[Buckeyefan]

For those interested this was a very nice tour. Exactly as Lesia described. We did see an igauna in a tree. Very educational to my teenage daughter to see how Belizians live on the trip. Horses, cows and goats just grazing by the road. The lunch at the hotel was delightful. There were a couple of vendors selling crafts but absolutely no hard sell. Made it to the last tender but very little time to purchase anything in the port.