Lamanai?

[becwe]

Once you get to Lamanai on the boat can you wonder around by yourself if you want to look at wild life and not so much the ruins?

[Toyz711]

no...the tour guides were very careful to keep everyone together. they will let people go back to the picnic area, if the find the trail too difficult. but some of the critters are dangerous...like big snakes!! even the howler monkeys can cause some major problems.

our tour guide got upset when she heard the monkeys distrubing the group behind us. they throw things at the tourists.

the best wildlife viewing is the boat ride to lamanai, since the critters AT lamanai tend to stay hiden.

lamanai is a jungle, they do have snakes with nasty venom...besides boas and the monkeys.

our guide was asked about poisonous snakes..she told us she sees them most of the time, but never says anything as to not cause a panic or have someone do something stupid like try to hold it.

[MaryL31]

Snakes? Venomous? Guess I should have realized that they would be present, along with all the other wildlife we WANT to see...Will be going there next week...I, for one, will not be stepping ANYPLACE our guide does not direct me to!!!

[Toyz711]

the path is pretty clear...except for old stone steps and tree roots. the howler monkeys are more of a problem...when they get mad, they throw food and such, down on the tourist.

they didn't bother my group, just sat and watched us...but the next group, well, you could hear the monkeys screaming all the way to the other side of the site.

[tiyana4]

Lamanai is a beautiful place but the Fer De Lance (venemous) is very prominent in Belize. We learned about these very deadly snakes in St. Lucia. There are also tropical rattlesnakes in this area.

 

Our NCL sponsored tour guide, Mario hired a local lookout person who served as a spotter on our trip. He would point out crocodiles, birds, bats and other wildlife on the river and once we arrived at Lamanai, he spotted a family of black monkeys living in the trees near the buffet. They were harmless but you have to remember you are entering their turf. I suspect the local lookout person was also trained to spot snakes and other unwelcome critters. Please stick with your guides. Follow their lead and you will be fine.

 

 

 

 

Our NCL sponsored tour guide - Mario (he was very entertaining)

 

 

One of the local wildlife families

 

The local lookout is sitting at the front of the boat

 

Me on top of the tallest pyramid - see the jungle floor below (it was a long way down!)

[Toyz711]

your's did that, too? our NCL guide, jewell...had a young man with us. he joined us at the river boat. stayed with the slower walkers, helped people climb the tall site. he was very quiet..but very helpful to some on our tour. he was protecting the rear..of our group :D.

we had one man, he had a recent knee replacement..but he had his heart set on climbing the site. he got a little ways up and you could see him struggling..our young protector ran up and helped the man all the way and all the way down.

i enjoyed seeing a jacana on the boat ride...it's the bird that "walks on water". very cool to see. i didn't know i had so many photos of the monkeys, until i got back and edited the photos. i was just taking photos of where i thought they were, but they were high in the trees and hard to see the naked eye.

[DonMar]

We went to Lamanai on an indi tour in Feb 07 - fabulous!!!!! We were there only people (two of us and one tour guide) at the site so our tour guide would have taken us to whatever was of interest to us. We went to explore the ruins so we did that. We were there very early in the AM so the animals were still very active in the "cool" of the morning. Did not see any snakes.

 

Please note that this is a long day and when taking an indi tour there is some risk of not making it back to the last tender. That being said, we made it back with time to shop - and to date I have not read of anyone that has missed the tender. It is a risk that you need to be willing to take if you do not go through the ship.

[tiyana4]

Lamanai is definitely a full day trip. It's an hour or so to get to the boat dock, another hour or so up the river, the time you spend there and the return trip. It was very close to 8 hours and we were ship sponsored.

 

It was nice to have those extra guides along for the trip. I highly recommend this excursion.

[whitewhale2]

This trip sounds fantastic. Ususally take non-cruise line tours but will sign up on NCL Pearl in March for this one. Question, someone said in one of the posts that there were no shopping time, but where you caught the boats there were a few stands for people to shop. Is this true?? Just want a quick handicraft from the local area.

Thanks

[Toyz711]

there's a few vendors at the river area, we didn't see anything very good. more vendors at lamanai, they have some huts...near the restrooms..if you are quick, you may have time to shop there (we didn't). a few vendors outside the secure area, near the bus you take. you may have time, when you get droppen off back at the port. you have to walk through the regular shopping mall/stores to get from the bus to the tender boats. BUT most of what's in the "mall" is knock-off purses and such.

[Sue (mom of 3 boys!)]

poisonous snakes??:eek:

I know they are around and such, but I am wondering if the guides are prepared "just in case". It's a long trip back to the ship...

[ariansun72]

My DH and I will be going on this tour through NCL next month, and I was wondering if we should bring water with us, or will they provide it throughout the tour? Also, is it a good idea to bring a light rain jacket this time of the year? Thanks for any suggestions!

[Toyz711]

in dec, '07 we wore shorts and tank tops...the temps were in the high 70s to mid 80s. the tour guides gave us water as the rest stop between the bus and the boat ride, also a bottle as we left the tour boat at lamanai..BUT we brought water and drank all of it. it gets hot and humid under the trees..it is a jungle out there!

take bug spray, we didn't need it the day we were there..but others have needed it.