Lamanai trip

[mcsnow]

Has anyone still reading been on the Lamanai trip? I have a few questions. I know they say that you get lunch. What was it like (I am diabetic). Also, was there any chance to buy souvenirs? If so, what kinds and where?

Thanks!

Margaret

[CaribbeanBound]

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 al 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. 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 Celebrity-sponsored tour, there are "no worries!" They were not going to strand 5% of their passengers in Belize. 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. Our only loss was an inability to shop for souvenirs at the pier as they were all closed. We arrived after first-seating dinner had begun and arrangements were made to seat first-seating diners in the second dinner seating.

They did have small hut at the site with lots of miscellaneous crafts, shot glasses, and other soverniers.

Also check out [url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=488097554&m=2953013457"]chesterh's[/url] video version of this tour!

[rjscott]

We did the Lamanai excursion through Belizeshoreexcursions.com and had a great trip. The food was typical local food; chicken, beans & rice, with plantain pieces. Also plenty of water and pop. Our driver was very informative throughout the drive to the boat, then the boat skipper took over. He was of Mayan descent, so his perspective on things was very interesting. There were a few crafts at the entrance to the ruins, but we did have time to do a bit of shopping at the port b/f reboarding the tender back to the ship.