NCL - Belize mayan ruins excursion

[dalgirl]

We have narrowed our chose for excursion to either Altun Ha & The Olde Belize River or Lamanai & New River Safari. Can anyone who has taken one or both of these comment on which was the best to see? Thanks!

[Toyz711]

last year, as i was planning our trip on the NCL spirit...everyone was coming back and talking about lamanai and the river safari. with all the good reviews, that's the one we took.

all i can saw was that it was amazing. our guide, jewel, was outstanding...the only guide we have had that was better was in turkey.

jewel was very well informed, grew up in belize city (not far from the docks), well spoken and very patient. our bus could have been better..but it ran well..bus driver was nice and so was the boat captain.

it's an hour drive to the speed boats. the boats are fast (have to be to get to the time limits), but makes stops for local river traffic...and wildlife. we didn't see any big 'gater, just a couple of babies..did see some interesting birds/critters.

the sites is not ruins...the jungle has protected the area so well that the site looks like it could still be an active living area.

you can get some information on this site:

http://www.belizeexplorer.com/cgi-local/explorer.cgi?db=explorer&uid=default&Category=Mayan+Sites&view_records=1&nh=1

lamanai has only 3 building uncovered and a small ball court...you can climb the tallest. the area is a recent discovery. with the river being the only way there, it is never crowded by tourist or tours. we had 23 on our tour/boat and there was 1 other boat with about the same number. we never got close to them, they ate lunch while we toured the sites. as we ate, they toured the site. the only noise you hear is the birds and the howler monkeys (they stay in the trees near the visitor center)

photos are in my webshot link in my signature...just go to my belize file.

[dalgirl]

Thanks for the info - great photos. I know we will take one of these tours and Lamanai looks good.